Kevin Can Wait - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Cast Topic!

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Maharincess]

I love Kevin James but I'm not sure if I liked this show or not. Now that the daughter and the weirdo boyfriend are moving in, it has some potential. 

I'm a huge King of Queens fan and find myself wishing they'd just picked that up 15 years later,   I'd love to see Doug and Carrie dealing with two teenagers and Arthur. 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Maharincess

[BusyOctober]

DVR'd it and watched this morning. Meh.  I like Kevin James, but it may take a few episodes to make me enjoy the rest of the cast.  Wife and younger kids barely registered interest. The older daughter looks a little like Miley Cyrus in her Disney days, so I may never be able to like her character.  

I don't get the premise...he retires, but needs to rent out the garage for income?  Why retire then? He still looks capable of doing his police work.  Can't he go back there, even part time at a desk? Or why not line up a part time job as a security guard (Mall Cop???). I know that many people can't afford to retire if they don't have pensions or 401ks but I also know that cops have a pretty good pension plan.

I also don't think my parents would be so understanding about the boyfriend/fiancé & drop out of school situation.  If her parents are so chill and loving, why did she have to hide the BF or the engagement for so long? 

[Maharincess]

I was hoping that his brother wouldn't be cast on this show,  I should have known better.  Has he ever been in anything that Kevin wasn't in?  I'd be a little embarrassed about that if I were him. 

[msani19]

I feel like Kevin James can play exactly one character. Himself. This was like King of Queens, different wife, different job, kids instead of Arthur, different gang of guys hanging around all the time. If this was 2006, I think this might have been decent. However, TV has really advanced in the 10 years he was last on the air and I think expectations are very different. This was so old school, not in a retro, snarky, wistful, skillful way, just old and stale. Either way, I know for sure Kevin James is the one laughing all the way to the bank while I sit here writing this comment! lol.

[RedFire2000]

King Of Queens is one of my favorite sitcoms, but this show was terrible and unfunny. Downright embarrassing to watch...

[Kromm]

Why?

[dinkysquid]

This was HORRIBLE!!!! Humiliating and embarrassing, like a drunk uncle at a wedding. I LOVED King of Queens, watched every season and loved the characters but THIS?!!! 

As others have mentioned here, it's Doug Heffernen but in a different house, different wife and - horrors! - this time around, he's got kids...not one but three and one has got her loser boyfriend moving in thus throwing a wrench into Kevin's retirement plans. Hilarity ensues.

Where to start? The ever-annoying, stupid and unnecessary laugh track, the wife - a terrible actress - who looks too young. Her and oldest daughter look more like friends than mother and daughter. 

The two younger kids? No comment. 

Of course his brother shows up. I kept waiting to see Spence and Deacon. And Carey's Dad come up from the basement.

That idiotic go kart race scene at the end was just wrong. Was it the worst thing about the show? Well, it was up there but for worst, that is very strong competition.

Most times I think that shows need a few episodes to "find their groove" but I don't think this steaming pile of dung ever will. I see that James is listed as producer and writer so he has no one to blame for this fiasco but himself.

I tuned in ONCE to check it out. And that will be all.

RIP King of Queens. This usurper is destined to fail. At least, I hope it fails.

[dinkysquid]

15 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I don't get the premise...he retires, but needs to rent out the garage for income?  Why retire then? He still looks capable of doing his police work.  Can't he go back there, even part time at a desk? Or why not line up a part time job as a security guard (Mall Cop???). I know that many people can't afford to retire if they don't have pensions or 401ks but I also know that cops have a pretty good pension plan.

I also don't think my parents would be so understanding about the boyfriend/fiancé & drop out of school situation.  If her parents are so chill and loving, why did she have to hide the BF or the engagement for so long? 

Don't stress yourself wasting one more second trying to figure this mess out. NOTHING about this crap fest makes any sense.....NOTHING!!

Let's hope it will crash and burn quickly.

[K-9]

Looks like Kevin is going to have various jobs throughout the season... kind of like on "King of Queens" when Doug worked as a substitute high school teacher.

[Cherry Cola]

Hated it.  I am instantly turned off by laugh tracks.  Whyyyyy do they insist on using them.  Boo.  And I do like Kevin James.  

[mansonlamps]

I had to give Kevin James a chance since I loved KOQ, but this was so bad I'm not even going to waste my time with another episode.  There are to many choices these days to waste your time on crap.

[bilgistic]

Oh, dear. I love King of Queens so much. (See screen name.) (Hey, @Maharincess!) I love Kevin James, but this was rough.

I am reminding myself that I didn't watch KOQ from day one, though--after watching a few mid-run shows, I watched reruns until I caught up to the then-still-live show. I gave it a chance to get better then. Remember, there was an odd-fit sister on KOQ who faded away? Richie came and went. Carrie changed careers.

KOQ had Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara and Patton Oswalt. This show has...Kevin's brother, Gary Valentine. Again.

I'm going to give it a little time. KJ has a small piece of my heart. Dammit.

Edited September 24, 2016 by bilgistic

[Maharincess]

@bilgistic,  I remember Sarah Spooner!  I was happy when she went the way of Chuck from Happy Days and disappeared.  

[bilgistic]

Ricki Lake played Kevin's sister. His mom was played by Jenny O'Hara, a character actress who has been working in TV and movies for probably 50 years. It was a powerhouse cast.

[Maharincess]

Wasn't playing Veronica Ulchin Anne Meara's last acting job before her death?  She and Jerry are my couple idols.  You're so right about the King of Queens cast. 

[msani19]

My BF was the one who got me into KOQ (King of Queens) in the first place. I decided to have him watch this show to see if he'd think it was funny or if i was being unfair in my assessment. I was not unfair, he laughed exactly once. He finally agreed that this was a weak KOQ premise which is how I described the show to him.  Let's see how long this show lasts. I'm not a good judge of what will or will not be successful.

[bilgistic]

Wasn't King of Queens also a spinoff from Everybody Loves Raymond?

[Mountainair]

Was it? I know Raymond made an appearance in a few episodes but I didn't realize it was spinoff. 

I never watched ELR and came into KOQ live towards the end of its run but loved it and still watch the reruns. 

This didn't do it for me which was disappointing. I'll give it another shot this week and keep it on the DVR for when I have nothing else to watch. 

This kind of reminded me of that Tim Allen show- Still Standing? I've only seen about 10 minutes of one but he has the daughter and baby that live with them and he has to deal with the baby's daddy often. 

[bilgistic]

I thought it was a spinoff, but Wikipedia doesn't mention it. I never watched Everybody Loves Raymond, but Ray made appearances on the show, so I assumed. My apologies!

[Maharincess]

Kevin James played a guy named Kevin on Everybody Loves Raymond, he may have played Doug Heffernan to but I'm not sure.  Everyone from Raymond except for Brad Garrett were on King Of Queens. 

They interacted but I don't think it was technically a spin off. 

Edited September 26, 2016 by Maharincess

[Phishbulb]

On 9/21/2016 at 5:51 PM, BusyOctober said:

Or why not line up a part time job as a security guard (Mall Cop???).

Haha! 

The older daughter's acting style is very Disney Channel show-ish. Looking at her IMDB page, I guess she's never done any kid's shows, but it seems like she should have.

[vmcd88]

After a long Monday my expectations must be low cause I watched it and didnt hate it.  I did keep thinking "where is Carrie?"  The wife reminds me of Savannah Gutherie from the Today Show.  The daughter and the weird boyfriend I can do without.  In a perfect world Kevin will divorce this new wife, marry Carrie.  Wonder how long this show will last.

[juliet73]

I agree with everyone else. It's not KoQ even though Kevin acts/looks/is Doug. I'll give it a couple of more episodes... 

Just to add: why does Kevin James (and other average looking overweight male leads) ALWAYS have a beautiful thin wife? 

Sitcoms are usually much better when there is no laugh track and  minimal/no children involved. 

[jewel21]

I actually found myself laughing quite a few times tonight. Which is good considering I didn't laugh once during the pilot. Hopefully this show will get better with time.

Edited September 27, 2016 by jewel21

[backformore]

I liked Kevin James on King of Queens.  The character, Doug, was a messy immature shlub, but there was something endearing about him.  But the same character, I assume married over 20 years,  with three kids, seems like an immature selfish asshole.   Like he's still Doug Heffernan, but having kids didn't change him in any way.  Nor did years of police work. 

And - His wife does not look old enough to have a kid in college.  The best character is the daughter's weird boyfriend.

[NYGirl]

I like it.  I've laughed out loud during both episodes.  The little boy acts just like Kevin.  I like how the wife doesn't treat him like crap like Carrie did.  And yes I think he just plays himself in every show.

[J-Man]

They have WAY too many regular characters for a half-hour sitcom. Most sitcoms only have four to six regulars when they start out, and then as they wear out their storylines, add more after a few seasons. (Example: Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette on "Big Bang.") I counted TEN regulars who've already been in the first two episodes. It seems like the writers/showrunners want to make sure they have enough different characters to give them virtually unlimited options for them to interact with each other to avoid running out of ideas. If they don't think they have enough ideas with just five or six characters, they're already in trouble. 

[bilgistic]

I thought the second episode was better than the pilot. The actor who plays the wife is not great, Bob, but she pulled off a couple good lines. Kevin James needs someone with a strong personality to balance his, I think.

The older daughter is bland. The boyfriend is a dope. The younger kids are supposed to be funny, I guess, but I don't like "sitcom kids". The only one of the "buddies" I like at all is Gary Valentine, a.k.a., Kevin James's brother. Kevin James is really carrying this show. I agree it needs fewer people. And, you know, maybe some that could act.

[juliet73]

Second episode was alright, but still Doug Heffernan.  I agree about too many characters.  Lose the kids first and the boyfriend and a couple of Doug's, I mean Kevin's, cop buddies. Maybe bring in Deacon and Spence...  

[alexa]

That is a good point about all of the characters.  Sometimes when they go to a scene with a whole other group I forget who those people are.

[Cementhead]

Yeah, as a huge King of Queens and Kevin James fan, I just can't do it.   I just cannot un-see Doug H. and I keep waiting for Carrie to walk through the front door and ask WTF is going on and just who in the hell is this new young broad and who the hell do all these kids belong to....?   I usually do not have any problems seeing an actor in a new role in a new show, take Jerry Stiller even for instance.  I never once had a problem seeing him as Arthur after watching him be Frank Costanza all those years.  But I just can't with this show.  It's just all too ingrained in my head and this just all feels wrong.

And I wonder why Kevin even felt the need to come back for this?   One would assume that he would have some serious King of Queens money to live off of, along with the money that he rakes in from his movies.  His movies are all pretty terrible, IMO, but those types of movies make mucho, mucho bucks.  See: Adam Sandler.  This show just seems so tired & played out and too mediocre.  I guess I just want better for Kevin James, who by all accounts, seems to be a great guy!  Leah Remini had nothing but wonderful things to say about him in her book, which I was so relieved and happy to read because I would have been heartbroken to read anything negative about him and her King of Queens experience.

Oh, and forgot to say how terrible the title of this show is.  Like roll- your-eyes- into- the- back- of- your- head bad.  A big, giant groan bad.  So cheesy and dated feeling. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Cementhead

[beesknees]

On 9/21/2016 at 4:41 PM, Maharincess said:

I love Kevin James but I'm not sure if I liked this show or not. Now that the daughter and the weirdo boyfriend are moving in, it has some potential. 

I'm a huge King of Queens fan and find myself wishing they'd just picked that up 15 years later,   I'd love to see Doug and Carrie dealing with two teenagers and Arthur. 

I agree with you M - I was excited to see the show but soooo mediocre that I switched to some other non descript cable TV show in after about 10 mins. (and I'm being tres generous here - it was more like - 5-6 mins if that).  could already tell I hated it and it was so disappointing.  IMHO the WRITING SUCKS.

I miss King of Queens very much.  I still watch the old episodes when I come across them.  Witty writing/scripts and dynamite cast and storylines.  I see this franchise not seeing a second season.  I'd bet on it and it's a shame.

[random chance]

On 9/21/2016 at 7:52 PM, msani19 said:

If this was 2006, I think this might have been decent. However, TV has really advanced in the 10 years he was last on the air

Yes, I agree, it's no longer enough to have plot complications like "the daughter's boyfriend is a goofy feminine nerd." (The premise of Coach for God's sake!)

On 9/22/2016 at 8:07 AM, dinkysquid said:

the wife - a terrible actress - who looks too young.

It's like they cast the show in 1980! It's ok now for the wife to look like she graduated from high school.

On 9/24/2016 at 1:12 PM, bilgistic said:

KOQ had Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara and Patton Oswalt. This show has...Kevin's brother, Gary Valentine. Again.

I like Gary Valentine but his presence just underlines for me who's missing.

On 9/26/2016 at 3:46 PM, vmcd88 said:

After a long Monday my expectations must be low cause I watched it and didnt hate it.  I did keep thinking "where is Carrie?" 

I'm not saying it's fair but throughout the entire episode I was imagining Carrie's reactions and her delivery. I would have been so on board a "KOQ the later years" - with his age-appropriate wife Carrie and their older kids. I'll give this a few more episodes but it's more out of nostalgia than anything.

On 9/28/2016 at 2:05 PM, Cementhead said:

I just cannot un-see Doug H. and I keep waiting for Carrie to walk through the front door and ask WTF is going on and just who in the hell is this new young broad and who the hell do all these kids belong to....? 

Exactly.

[Squirrely]

On 9/23/2016 at 6:01 PM, Frootloop Dingus said:

Hated it.  I am instantly turned off by laugh tracks.  Whyyyyy do they insist on using them.  Boo.  And I do like Kevin James.  

I can handle laugh tracks when they're used in moderation. But dear god, they've added it after every single line in this show! I tuned into episode 2 to see if they toned it down, but no. I'm so distracted by it that I wasn't sure if it was tainting my opinion, but it sounds like this one would be a stinker either way. 

[mansonlamps]

The only nice thing I can say about this show is the casting of the two youngest kids is good, they really look like they could be Kevin James's.  Other than that, this was painful to watch for me, just so bad.

[sandyskyblue]

I really wanted to like this show as I loved Kevin as Doug....and granted, it is challenging to start a new show like this when most of us watched KOQ and are used to Doug and Carrie...I believe the reason KOQ worked so well was that the relationship between Doug and Carrie was comedy gold and that only happens rarely, think Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, Lucy and Ricky....Kevin and the wife on this show do not have that kind of connection at all....sadly, I would rather play solitaire on line than watch this show....

[juliet73]

Ep 3 and it's getting worse.  I agree with everyone else that the wife and Kevin really don't have any chemistry.  I miss Carrie... Plus, when Doug did stupid stuff, Carrie's reactions were so much better, funnier, realistic etc. This wife/writing is just blah. This show reminds me of the awful "sitcoms" my kids watch on Nickelodeon. 

[random chance]

I agree, and the wife is just too generic overall. There is no bite to her.

Too many scenes remind me of better scenes on KOQ.

[Mountainair]

I don't know. I'm easy to please and sitcoms are my jam. I think this has gotten progressively better each week. 

[msani19]

I think the show is aggressively getting worse for me each week. I want to find something to like in this show, but it's so bland, generic, uninspired, and brutally unfunny. I wonder how long my Kevin James goodwill from the King of Queens will last...

[bilgistic]

The phrase "Chore Weasel" made me laugh to myself, even though the execution wasn't great. Kevin James is a strong comedy actor in my eyes, but I'm biased. (I actually liked Paul Blart. Shut up.) The wife is really, really not great. I'd like to see her be given better material...or something. The older daughter--no one cares about her living at home--goodbye. The boyfriend is atrocious and an unfunny caricature. The younger kids can go away--totally forgettable. Kevin's friends need a redo. His (brother)friend can stay because he's obviously a package deal. The thinner guy who looks and acts angry all the time can go. The other angry guy is better, but he and the remaining friend need to boycott saying dumb "jokes". Their lines are painful.

Edited October 7, 2016 by bilgistic

[Big Mother]

I kept waiting for the CHore Weasel to lean in for a kiss or something. lol.

Also: This is the 2nd show I watched recently where a cop is really out of shape. (Mike & Molly is the other one.) Don't they have to pass fitness requirements?

[bilgistic]

I thought they did, but my father was a cop (not a part of my life since I was young), and I can promise you he wasn't passing any fitness tests. Size does not equal fitness level, but I've seen some portly cops around town here, too.

I, too, thought the Chore Weasel storyline had homoerotic undertones.

Chore Weasel makes me think of Garden Weasel.

[Maharincess]

I love Kevin James so much and I really want to like this show but for me it's a bad sign when I find myself reaching for my book during the episode. This episode bored the hell out of me. I loved King of Queens from the very first episode, still not liking this one too much. 

[random chance]

I would rather watch any rerun of KoQ than a brand new episode of this show. I wish they had gotten the original band back together.

[candall]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 1:03 AM, backformore said:

I liked Kevin James on King of Queens.  The character, Doug, was a messy immature shlub, but there was something endearing about him.  But the same character, I assume married over 20 years,  with three kids, seems like an immature selfish asshole.   Like he's still Doug Heffernan, but having kids didn't change him in any way.  Nor did years of police work. 

Agree. 

While it's never been my dealio, I guess it's okay for one partner to be immature and self-indulgent if the other partner is on board with it--a lid for every pot and all that.  (I found both Carrie and Doug insufferable, and yet, I still enjoyed the show and their pot/lid dynamic.)

Just does not work for people raising three children.  Role.  Model.  Hello?  No one could figure out the main character would need to be radically different if the dependents were kids instead of a cantankerous old coot?

[Zahdii]

I think I'm out.  I made it as far as the supposedly hilarious book club meeting and went channel surfing to find something, anything else to watch.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Zahdii

[NYGirl]

How many times have we seen the book club plot line on previous sitcoms?

that being said why were they mean to Kevin the 2nd time for no reason?

i miss Deacon and Kelly