Friends: Matt LeBlanc on strangest place show has been mentioned

Now that he has finished filming the final season of Episodes, Matt LeBlanc is headed back into the multicam sitcom game whence he sprang: The Friends alum (and Top Gear host) stars in CBS’ Man With a Plan as a contractor who goes through the parenting ringer when his wife returns to the workforce. And even as LeBlanc sets his sights on new comedy successes, he can be reminded anytime, anywhere of a certain old one. EW asked the 49-year-old actor to recall the strangest place that anyone has ever brought up the hit NBC sitcom to him, and his answer involved his character’s signature catchphrase and an exotic encounter that took place earlier this year on the other side of the globe.

“I was in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, shooting a thing for Top Gear,'” he recalls. “I mean, we were far away from civilization. And these people were wearing robes, and they live in caves and stuff. They called me Joey and said, ‘How you doin’?’ in a really butchered accent. It was like, ‘Oh wow. Did not see that one coming.’… The show is everywhere. It still holds up.”

To read more from our Fall TV Preview, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here – and subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

Which leads to another sure-to-be-asked-a-lot question: Will one of his Friends co-stars pop up on Man With a Plan? Asked to sum up the situation as “They’ll be there for you” or “We’re on a break,” LeBlanc says, “We’re on a break. Because there’s no plan to have anything like that. The most logical one would be Matthew [Perry] because he’s on another CBS show [The Odd Couple] and they’re right next door, but there hasn’t been any talk for any of that yet. There’s been a lot of questions about that…”

RELATED: Hear what TV shows to watch and avoid this fall

Man With a Plan, which also stars Kevin Nealon and Liza Snyder, launches Oct. 24.