Kevin Can Wait - General Discussion

[msani19]

I was happy that Leah was on the show and the chemistry between them is still great. I was really distracted by Leah's inability to move her face though. Ugh, I guess the injections hadn't settled when they filmed this. I have no issues with cosmetic procedures, it's just when they seem to be overdone or overused. 

It was a decent enough episode and I'll watch again next week. Let's hope by the time they filmed that one, her face is moving again. 

[useryikes]

Quote

Holy hell, did they bring in a statue from the wax museum to stand in for Leah tonight?  What the hell has she done to her face?!  It was so distracting that I didnt even watch the entire episode.  Why the hell do they do that?  Do they not have eyes to see how horrible it looks on other people? Her face was so immobile she could barely speak. 

Yes!  I don't know why women in their 40s do this to themselves.  I'm sure she would look perfectly fine without the work.  She also had way too much eye makeup on.  People who are yammering to bring her back are living in the past, I don't think she would fit in now.  Kevin James' part is annoying, also.  Doug had a certain charm even though he was dumb & sleazy - Kevin has none.  His friends are also annoying - bring on Patton Oswald.

[rcc]

I tuned in last night to see Leah and Kevin back together again. I laughed and enjoyed their banter. The two of them are comedy gold.

Leah overdid the botox though.

[juliet73]

I watched last night for Leah and although she and Kevin work well together, this show just sucks!  Kevin (in the show) is just such a buffoon!! And I don't understand why they have three kids when they rarely, if ever, show the younger two.  

And I agree with everyone else about Leah laying off the botox/fillers.  I watched her Scientology show so I knew she had work done, but it looks like she's had a lot more just in a last few months.  And I don't remember her having a lisp in the KOQ, but I noticed it in the Scientology show and it was even more noticeable last night.  I don't know if it's a side effect from the cosmetic work or what. 

[KLovestoShop]

Why do writers think that a show about a chubby guy who's only concern is food is funny?   It's just another  really bad Jim Gaffigan show with a different guy.  Kevin's insanity over the crook's burger was just plain dumb. 

[Trooper York]

I don't think that was Leah Remni.

That was Daffy Duck playing Leah Remni.

[lor]

the wife quit her job.what is her job? they brought out the other two kids from hiding.

[jewel21]

The wife is a school nurse.

I found this episode amusing. Again, I really enjoyed the interactions between Leah and Kevin. Also, Kevin hanging upside down and trying to do a sit up had me cracking up. I'd get just as far as him if I were in that position, haha.

[useryikes]

After seeing posts desperately wanting Leah Remini back on the show, I have a new appreciation for the woman playing Donna.  I can't get over Leah's upper lip and her speech is very difficult to understand.  Kevin James doesn't look much better.  I wish he would let his hair go grey.  All in all, Kevin Can Wait is not a good sitcom, although preferable to Two Broke Girls.

They can keep the kids in hiding, along with his buddies.

[rcc]

I enjoyed the two episodes with Leah. I laughed many times and I hope to see Leah again.

The next time hopefully the botox will wear off and she doesn't do it ever again.

[Guest]

I had tried the show earlier in the season, but didn't enjoy it that much. I watched the last two episodes because of Leah Remini, but it still didn't do it for me.  

[rcc]

The only interesting and funny scenes were with Kevin and Leah. The ratings were higher for their two episodes too.

Edited May 10, 2017 by rcc

[msrachelj]

i also just watched for leah. i love her but i agree about the make-up and botox. she would look beautiful without the overkill. loved her scientology series..  this show is horrible and it has been renewed. meanwhile one of my favorites, the real o'neals was cancelled. i don't understand how all this crap stays on tv. 

[lallalla]

Chale/Kevin Cartwright's accent is for real on this show? I had to IMBD him to see if he was really British, his accent/voice is grating in this show, I can't believe it's real, I thought it was supposed to be some play on his annoying character as a whole, goodness, someone cut his vocal chords.

I just started watching the series on CBS All Access and love Kevin James for the reasons most of you have stated. The show is mediocre at best, probably only because I already love Kevin. My problems are what all of you have listed, for example, finding it hard to believe that mom/eldest daughter here work, they look too close in age and though Kevin doesn't look old at all (nor do I think he's old), she just doesn't seem believable as his wife of 20 years.

[msani19]

There's no media thread and I didn't take the time to figure out how to start one. For those of us who thought that Leah and Kevin were the best part of this series so far (other than her "new" face), she will be joining the show as a regular for season 2. They are really good together so I hope this is done well. Fingers crossed. 

Leah Remini Joins CBS’ ‘Kevin Can Wait’ As Series Regular For Season 2

[jewel21]

Yay, love this news!

[juliet73]

This show definitely needs Leah!! Now they just need to get rid of the friends, the kids and the wife. Bring in Deacon and Spence. Chale can stay on living in the garage. I think it could be a hit! 

[rcc]

Great news! I don't like the wife though. No chemistry with Kevin at all. But Leah as the antagonist will work for me. Comedy gold with Leah and Kevin.

[Dots And Stripes]

14 hours ago, juliet73 said:

This show definitely needs Leah!! Now they just need to get rid of the friends, the kids and the wife. Bring in Deacon and Spence. Chale can stay on living in the garage. I think it could be a hit! 

You may be getting what you asked for. TVLine says Donna is leaving the show. 

I don't think Donna was as much of a problem was his group of friends, none of whom really stood out. It will be interesting to see how they write her out. Killing her would be dark and divorce would seem out of no where. Going on a long assignment with Remini would also count out the entire family.

I still think the biggest problem this show had was it didn't really play with the set up it created. Having Kevin interact with Chale and his daughter more would have been a start. Using kids instead of a father in law should have given them new ideas and instead they just recycled King of Queens bits. I guess they are just leaning into the fact that this is a copy of KoQ. 

I'm looking forward to seeing Leah again. I do like her. I just hope they come up with some new ideas.

[msani19]

I was surprised to hear that the wife is leaving, how are they've going to make that work? I didn't think she works that well opposite Kevin but this is an interesting development. Especially given the news that Leah is becoming a regular. 

[lor]

i never believed donna has his wife.thr actors never had intimate scenes like he did on king of queens with leah remini. we never saw her interact much with the kids. we never saw much of the two younger kids.

maybe the second season will be like it was all a dream . they did it on newhart and dallas. 

it makes me Wonder why they didn't cast leah for the first season. cosby had another show with phylicia rashad as his wife. 

[Wavy]

The promos always refer to this show being a big hit.  If so, why the changes? 

[jewel21]

I don't understand how they're just going to write Donna out. She's his wife. It's just weird and I'm not thrilled about this development.

[msrachelj]

Well, i'll have to start watching again! Hated the wife, no chemistry at all with Kevin and her acting sucked. I wish they would have just done a King of Queens updated show. Those two are great together. I agree, send the daughter and her husband off to somewhere and is there another kid? Get rid of him. I know I'll be expecting KOQ 2 but I will give it a try since those 2 are a couple of my favorite comedic actors. Great for Leah. I love her so much these days for all the Scientology exposing she is doing. So glad she is out of the cult.

[Dots And Stripes]

There are 3 kids and a Chale. I wonder if they're just going to have Donna have a midlife crisis and take off or more family members will be cut. It puts the daughter's wedding in a weird place. Does she have this big wedding without her mother?

Erinn Hayes confirmed it was not her decision. I feel bad for her. It wasn't her fault she wasn't given better material. I also think it would have made sense to have Leah as Kevin's co-worker and keep the home life in tact but shown less.

[HyeChaps]

Quitting for being passed over for a school nurse promotion was unbelievable anyway.

[Toothbrush]

I never bought Erinn Hayes as Kevin's wife, and Kevin & Leah have a lot more chemistry, but I do not see a comfortable way of writing Donna off of the show. As posted upthread her death would be too dark, a divorce would be out of nowhere, and her taking a nursing assignment out of town or a traveling nursing job is not realistic. There is not a shortage of nursing jobs for either to be necessary, and most mothers would wait until the children are older than the younger Gable kids are to work away from home for extended periods of time. My prediction is that the show will come back for season 2 as a workplace comedy with Kevin back on the force with partner Vanessa, and occasional mentions of wife & kids at home. Wacky undercover cop hijinks ensue, but unfortunately the KOQ magic will not repeat, and season 2 is its last, unless CBS has nothing to replace it with. 

Edited June 4, 2017 by Toothbrush

[lor]

what i dont understand is the premise was hes a retired cop and so are his friends.  so if kevin goes back to work what do they do for a series finale? have him retire again.? 

is the show letting the kids and chale go?  is it coming back with a new cast?

[msani19]

14 hours ago, lor said:

what i dont understand is the premise was hes a retired cop and so are his friends.  so if kevin goes back to work what do they do for a series finale? have him retire again.? 

is the show letting the kids and chale go?  is it coming back with a new cast?

I'm wondering the same thing as well. Will they just pretend that the first season never happened? He never had her as a wife, no kids? Kinda like what they did with Carrie's sister in S1 of KOQ, never to be mentioned again.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Saw this posted on Yahoo:

"Ken 1 day ago

It would be funny if they had Kevin James wake up with Leah Remini and he tells her he dreamed he was married to someone else...like the Bob Newhart show did."

[useryikes]

Donna was starting to grow on me, especially after seeing Leah Remini and her giant lip.  She was really difficult to understand.  I hope she's told to do something about that.  Now if we could get rid of his buddies and bring back Spence and Deacon.  How about getting Mr. Pruzan in there somewhere?  Oh, how about Ricki Lake as his sister?

I'm not too optimistic that changing the wife will be a magic bullet.  There were other problems.  The writing stunk.

On 2017-6-3 at 3:48 PM, Dots And Stripes said:

I don't think Donna was as much of a problem was his group of friends, none of whom really stood out

[rcc]

I also hope Kevin or someone tells Leah to lay off the damn botox.

[GreatKazu]

My dream is coming true! Bye Donna.

I DVRd all the episodes and yet, couldn't watch every single episode because Kevin and Donna just didn't work. She didn't stand out. 

[Kimmmmmm]

3 hours ago, useryikes said:

Donna was starting to grow on me, especially after seeing Leah Remini and her giant lip.  She was really difficult to understand.  I hope she's told to do something about that.  Now if we could get rid of his buddies and bring back Spence and Deacon.  How about getting Mr. Pruzan in there somewhere?  Oh, how about Ricki Lake as his sister?

I'm not too optimistic that changing the wife will be a magic bullet.  There were other problems.  The writing stunk.

Plus, it stars Kevin James, who, at his very best, is about as funny as a crutch.

[bilgistic]

2 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

Plus, it stars Kevin James, who, at his very best, is about as funny as a crutch.

This show SUCKS and I gave it up long ago, but I heartily disagree with you on that point. I've watched Paul Blart (I know) for Kevin James. There are worse movies. He's funny.

[useryikes]

Kevin James WAS funny, but he hasn't aged well.  I don't know if it's the way his character is written, or he's become a grumpy, old man.  Doug Heffernan was a jerk, but he had some charm, Kevin (I've forgotten the name of his character) has no charm, he's just a jerk.  I'm a little afraid of the direction they're going to go with Leah Remini.  I would prefer not sarcastic yelling at each other.

[rcc]

I like their sarcasm. It always makes me laugh. I feel bad for the actress leaving the show but I am happy Leah will be a regular. Whether they eventually make them a couple doesn't matter to me. I enjoyed the co-worker/nemesis thing.

[SPLAIN]

Is it just me or did this show recycle plot lines from KoQ?

Having time to sit and watch all the episodes, that seemed to be the thing stood out to me. I know sitcoms tend to recycle scripts. That's a given. But, this show seemed to borrow from KoQ episodes a lot. 

I await the new season and see what happens. 

[msani19]

‘Kevin Can Wait’: Fate of Erinn Hayes’ Character Revealed

The mystery of the wife swap is revealed. Turns out that they are just going to kill off Donna and jump ahead in time. No mention on the kids. Still not sure how it'll play out. 

[Brattinella]

This device of killing-off-the-wife will not work.  This show, which was hugely funny and popular, will fizzle and die.  Really sorry they had to do this with Leah Remini.  Wrong move, show.  Buh-bye.

[jewel21]

This the stupidest thing ever. No one wants a character killed off on a sitcom. It's depressing. They should have just had Kevin wake up to find Leah in bed with him. He could say something along the lines of, " Honey, you won't believe the weird dream I had. There was this other woman who was my wife, and these kids..."

This reboot sounds ridiculous, and this is coming from someone who liked the finale with Leah and wanted her on the show. Just not this way. They could have had Kevin go back to work and partner with Leah's character and still have the wife and kids on the show. Whatever.

[Brattinella]

Absolutely right, jewel.  That way would have worked perfectly!

[useryikes]

10 hours ago, jewel21 said:

This the stupidest thing ever. No one wants a character killed off on a sitcom. It's depressing. They should have just had Kevin wake up to find Leah in bed with him. He could say something along the lines of, " Honey, you won't believe the weird dream I had. There was this other woman who was my wife, and these kids..."

This reboot sounds ridiculous, and this is coming from someone who liked the finale with Leah and wanted her on the show. Just not this way. They could have had Kevin go back to work and partner with Leah's character and still have the wife and kids on the show. Whatever.

Exactly!  They could just ignore the first season & pretend the first wife never existed.  Remember Carrie's sister on King of Queens?  Never saw her again - never explained.  No problem.  I like Leah Remini - but she's got to do something with her face.  The kids on Kevin Can Wait didn't really add anything, anyway.

[Chas411]

This isn't going to work - it's actually going to bomb. Poor Erin Hayes - i quite liked her as well.

[Brattinella]

I remember, back in the days of yore, when TV networks asked THE VIEWERS for their input!  Amazing, huh?  Like naming the Baby on The Flintstones, that was viewers' votes!  "Pebbles" won.  Wish they would have asked us about Kevin Can Wait.

[msani19]

On 8/2/2017 at 10:00 AM, useryikes said:

I like Leah Remini - but she's got to do something with her face.

I love Leah but I think that's exactly the problem...she's done something to her face and she needs to stop it. 

[rcc]

Leah will be on with Colbert tonight. I think it's a new show, not a rerun, so maybe she will talk about the upcoming season.

[msani19]

As much as I like Leah (since the Saved by the Bell Years!) and to a lesser degree Kevin, rebuilding what worked from the KOQ probably isn't going to work here. Too many elements are different.

It's not like the Will and Grace revival, which is literally bringing back everyone from the original show, both in front of the camera and behind it. Obviously, that hasn't aired yet so who knows if it'll actually be successful but they are trying to use all the elements from the old show. That alone is quite a feat. 

This still feels like it'll be a KOQ-lite and that's not what I want to see.

[Chas411]

I don't get why they couldn't just do a King of Queens reboot in the first place. Every other show Is doing it plus I'd have legit preferred it to this show originally. 

Now it just seems tasteless that Erin Hayes got cut and they're rebooting a show that was working just fine.

[AD35]

On 8/1/2017 at 10:13 PM, Brattinella said:

This device of killing-off-the-wife will not work.  This show, which was hugely funny and popular, will fizzle and die.  Really sorry they had to do this with Leah Remini.  Wrong move, show.  Buh-bye.

The only show I can recall that got away with that was Valerie/Valerie's Family/The Hogan Family back in the 80's with Valerie Harper being replaced by Sandy Duncan.  But that was an otherwise different circumstance behind the scenes.  In this case the two younger kids could go and I wouldn't miss them at all. But I do like Chale and his interactions with Kevin so he (and the oldest daughter) can stay for the 2nd season.

Edited August 8, 2017 by AD35