"Friends" cast roundup

What with the launch of Courteney Cox's "Dirt," this seems as good a time as any to check in. So, in no particular order...

1) Cox. "Dirt" represents her first big return to TV, and the show has some interesting moments, most of them having little to do with her. The schizophrenic paparazzo -- or "pap," as is apparently the insider term -- is compulsively watchable, in a shift-uncomfortably-in-your-seat kind of way. I wish "A Beautiful Mind" had done as good a job translating hallucinations to the screen. But Cox's Lucy Spiller is supposed to be the moral center of the story, and I'm not feeling it. It's not that I'm thinking of Monica (I never think of Monica). It's just that I think the character is a little too mentally-wispy to be believed. Anyone who could rise to the top of a vicious tabloid magazine is not constitutionally equipped to have trouble sleeping at night. And I don't care that she has a stun gun next to her bed.

2) Matthew Perry. I've got issues with "Studio 60." Man, do I have issues. But Perry is a revelation; his caustic line delivery always transcends the show's easy moralism. That he didn't get a Golden Globe nod is a crime.

3) Jennifer Aniston. Poor Jen. She's made it to the movie A-list, but all anyone can think about are the supermarket tabloids. That must be the lowest level of hell: being famous for being dumped for Angelina Jolie. I think Britney actually has it better.

4) Lisa Kudrow. Weird creative decision. Her performance in "The Comeback" might have been great, but that show was soooo hard to watch. Her whole schtick is exuding likability, so nobody wanted to see her humiliated, over and over and over and over and over again.

5) David Schwimmer. Who? Oh, yeah, that guy on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

5) Matt LeBlanc. "Joey" is dead. Long live "Joey." Time for us all to move on.