Iqbal Theba to Guest on "Extended Family"

[JamesG]

"Friends" Easter Egg on "Extended Family"? Mike O’Malley Enlists Iqbal Theba for Familiar Role
by Ryan Schwartz
Feb. 5, 2024


Twenty-five years after treating Joey Tribbiani, character actor Iqbal Theba is monitoring another case of kidney stones on "Extended Family" — and TVLine has your exclusive first look.

It was the fall of 1998 when "Friends" aired its milestone 100th episode. Phoebe was set to deliver Frank and Alice’s triplets, yet it was Joey who suddenly found himself hunched over in abdominal distress. Soon after, an emergency room doc (Theba) diagnosed TV’s Dr. Drake Ramoray with “kidney stones!”



This Tuesday, Theba returns to NBC’s primetime line-up by way of "Extended Family" (8:30/7:30c) — and he’s scrubbing in to oversee Bobby’s (Lenny Clarke) kidney stone extraction. It doubles as a "Glee" reunion for Theba (Principal Figgins) and Mike O’Malley (Burt Hummel), who genuinely was stunned when TVLine brought the "Friends" link to his attention.

“I hadn’t seen this Friends episode and had no idea Iqbal did this! This is awesome,” O’Malley said. “I guess this is an unintended homage to Iqbal’s versatility. Great minds think alike!”

https://tvline.com/previews/extended...or-1235142150/

[icecream]

Kidney stones are never funny. I have stuck with Extended Family for now but this could be my final episode.