Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc is coming back to television. And this time, he’s leaving Joey Tribbiani behind.

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LeBlanc, 43, is set to star in a new comedy called Episodes, a satire of the American television industry, co-produced by premium network Showtime and the BBC.

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The show, which will debut on Showtime in January 2011, follows two writers who bring their hit British TV show to the United States, only to have it completely changed by American producers. LeBlanc plays an actor cast as a hockey coach in the show within a show. Interestingly, his character is also named Matt LeBlanc.

“He’s a character that happens to have the same name as me,” LeBlanc told reporters at a press event for the show. “There are some similarities, but, for the most part, it’s fictitious.”

So what has Matt LeBlanc been up to for the past few years? After the cancellation of Joey, his short-lived sitcom followup to Friends, back in 2006, the actor decided it was time to take a break. “I wanted to take some time off and spend time with my daughter,” he said.

However, LeBlanc’s family-focused downtime was interrupted by the chance to work with a familiar face. When he learned that Friends co-creator David Crane was the writer behind Episodes, it didn’t take much convincing to seal the deal. “I committed right there,” he revealed. “It’s nice to be back with writing I have real faith in.”