LeBlanc finally struck sitcom gold as part of the twentysomething ensemble series, "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), as aspiring actor Joey Tribiani. The beefy actor provided enough charm and wit to his character to elevate what could have been just another "himbo" role. He has also appeared in more serious TV projects including "Anything to Survive" (ABC, 1990), a telefilm co-starring Robert Conrad, and two feature-length installments of Showtime's stylish "Rebel Highway" (1994) series: the John Milius-directed "Motorcycle Gang" and "Reform School Girl", helmed by Jonathan Kaplan. The former was a "family against nature" tale while the latter two were zesty remakes of two 1957 American International Pictures drive-in flicks. His feature debut, "Ed" (1996), in which he played straight man to a chimp, however, failed to win over critics and audiences. LeBlanc fared somewhat better with his turn as Major Don West in the feature version of the 60s TV series "Lost in Space" (1998). He also brought a dash of Joey-esque charm to his role as Lucy Liu's Hollywood actor boyfriend in the smash 2000 remake "Charlie's Angels."

In 2002, LeBlanc challenged his beefy boy image in his starring turn as O'Rourke in the war comedy "All The Queen's Men," in which he is asked to cross enemy lines while cross-dressed in order to infiltrate a factory which exclusively employs women but the film was roundly panned, but LeBlanc re-earned audience's goodwill with another small but sparkling turn in "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle" (2003) and a heavily hyped storyline on "Friends" that had womanizing Joey falling for his close gal pal Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), a turn of events LeBlanc pulled off with surprising vulnerability and his increasingly disarming comedic delivery. As the venerable series headed into its final season, NBC announced that upon the conclusion of "Friends" the character of Joey Tribiani would be spun off into his own solo series, produced by a team of "Friends" scribes and starring LeBlanc, who would also have a creative and financial stake in the new venture.