This 2-Season Sitcom’s Controversial Decision Completely Changed Its Entire Premise in the Worst Way
After the massive success of The King of Queens in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Kevin James returned to CBS in 2016 with another multi-camera sitcom, Kevin Can Wait. To the network, it likely felt like a safe bet with a familiar star, a traditional format and a network audience that had embraced him for nearly a decade. While the show received some pretty gnarly criticism in its first season, it performed well enough to earn a second.
But it was between Seasons 1 and 2 that Kevin Can Wait made a creative decision that would ultimately define its legacy. Rather than simply refining what was already working, the series took a sharp turn, fundamentally altering its premise in an effort to retool the show. What followed wasn’t just a tonal adjustment, but a drastic overhaul that quickly alienated viewers, led to declining ratings, and turned Kevin Can Wait into a cautionary tale about nostalgia-driven television decisions.
What Was ‘Kevin Can Wait’ Originally About?
Kevin Can Wait began as a fairly traditional sitcom, especially for CBS. Kevin James played Kevin Gable, a recently retired police officer adjusting to life at home with his wife Donna (Erinn Hayes) and their three children. The early episodes leaned into familiar sitcom territory, not entirely unlike The King of Queens, with storylines centered on family dynamics and domestic disruptions. Those included Kevin struggling to adapt to retirement, and their oldest daughter Kendra (Taylor Spreitler) announcing her engagement to a boyfriend the family barely knew, alongside broader, occasionally more absurd comedic plots.
Hayes’ Donna was positioned as a grounded counterbalance to James’ broad comedic style. She served as the show’s emotional anchor, portraying a smart, patient woman who was often the most level-headed person in the room. Donna was ultimately a supportive wife, even when Kevin engaged in objectively “man-child” behavior alongside his friends and while navigating life with their three children. Despite mixed reactions to the series overall, and criticism that it never reached the heights of The King of Queens, Donna quickly became a fan favorite.
Leah Remini appeared briefly in the two-part Season 1 finale in a guest role as Vanessa Cellucci, Kevin’s former police partner. At the time, the cameo felt like a playful nod to King of Queens fans rather than a signal of things to come. But as Season 1 ratings declined over time, it became clear the creative team was looking for a major reset that would soon lean heavily on that familiar chemistry and dramatically alter the show’s original premise.
‘Kevin Can Wait’s Radical Overhaul Changed Everything for the CBS Sitcom
Leah Remini and Kevin James in Kevin Can WaitImage via CBS
Between Seasons 1 and 2, Kevin Can Wait made a decision that stunned viewers. Erinn Hayes was let go from the series, and Donna Gable was abruptly killed off off-screen. When the show returned, it had jumped forward in time, with Kevin suddenly a widower and the series almost entirely retooled. Leah Remini was promoted to a series regular, effectively stepping into the female lead role as the show shifted direction. While the intent behind the overhaul was publicly framed as a creative choice, the reasoning quickly became a point of contention.
Kevin James defended the decision at the time, saying the change gave the series “weightier” material and a new narrative drive. For many viewers, however, the pivot felt calculated rather than organic, particularly given how abruptly Donna was written out. Hayes, though disappointed to leave the show, urged fans not to direct their frustration toward Remini. Still, the larger strategy was hard to ignore: CBS and the creative team were clearly attempting to recapture the dynamic that made The King of Queens a long-running success by reuniting James and Remini at the center of the series.
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The backlash was swift. Ratings declined throughout Season 2, and criticism mounted over the decision to discard a popular female lead. Despite the drastic reset, Kevin Can Wait never recovered its momentum and was cancelled after its second season. What might have been remembered as a modest sitcom instead became defined by its controversy in a creative gamble that didn’t align with what audiences were looking for and one that would later be examined — and even parodied — in unexpected ways.
‘Kevin Can Wait’s Controversy Inspired the AMC Series ‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’
Annie Murphy in Kevin Can F**k Himself Season 2Image via AMC+
In 2021, AMC’s Kevin Can F**k Himself took the familiar sitcom framework that Kevin Can Wait inadvertently embodied and deconstructed it entirely. While not a direct parody, the series examined the misogyny and tonal imbalance baked into many traditional American sitcoms centered on “lovable” men. Starring Annie Murphy, fresh off her Emmy win for Schitt’s Creek, the show follows Allison McRoberts, a woman struggling to redefine her life inside an unhappy marriage to her husband Kevin (Eric Petersen), a character modeled after the “man-child” sitcom archetype seen in shows like The Honeymooners, The King of Queens, and, unmistakably, Kevin Can Wait.
The series’ bold dual-format structure, shifting between brightly lit multi-cam sitcom scenes and stark single-camera drama, made its critique explicit. It highlighted how female characters in these comedies are often sidelined, erased, or emotionally burdened to prop up male leads. Given Kevin Can Wait’s own creative overhaul, it was impossible not to see the CBS sitcom as part of that lineage. Adding another layer of resonance, Erinn Hayes later appeared on Kevin Can F**k Himself as Kevin’s new girlfriend, a casting choice that felt pointed even if never directly addressed.
Kevin Can Wait may not have started on especially strong footing, but the drastic creative swing only made its shortcomings more visible. Sitcom audiences have changed since The King of Queens, and the series might have earned more goodwill had it allowed itself to evolve rather than look backward. Leah Remini’s involvement was never the problem, as she is consistently fantastic. In this case, however, the shift felt less like inspired casting and more like a creative team running out of ideas. In that way, Kevin Can F**k Himself did not just comment on familiar sitcom tropes. It also turned Kevin Can Wait into a cautionary tale of a sitcom misfiring.
