Kevin James Finally Explains Why ‘Kevin Can Wait’ Killed Off Wife
Prior to Kevin Can Wait‘s second season, CBS announced actress Erinn Hayes would not be returning as Donna Gable, wife of Kevin Gable (Kevin James), on the CBS comedy. Instead, Leah Remini, who famously played James’ wife on the much loved The King of Queens, would be cast in a full-time role as the show’s lead.
The reason for Hayes’ sudden departure remained a mystery until now. In an interview with New York Daily News, James revealed, “The plot of the show didn’t have enough drive. If we got through a second season, I wouldn’t see us getting through a third one. We were literally just running out of ideas.”
The 52-year-old actor explained, “I get that people are like ‘Whoa, why would you do this?’ But it really felt like a thing like this was needed for this show to drive forward.”
James also said he’s unsure if his Donna’s death will be explained further since the sitcom is supposed to be a lighthearted comedy.
Meanwhile, Remini’s role will grow larger. She plays Vanessa Cellucci, his former police force partner, and they have the same kind of chemistry that made The King of Queens a success.
“I’ve worked with other leading men after Kevin, but there’s something very special that you just can’t kind of explain when something works with somebody,” Remini said.
Kevin Can Wait, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS
Conversation7 Comments
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Hmmm. Countless other sitcoms featuring a married couple lasted more than two or three seasons... some as many as five or six, or even seven. If THIS show can\'t find enough ideas for two season\'s worth of episodes, then it\'s the fault of poor writing, plain and simple. :-/
Maybe the actress who played his TV wife can hang out with the actress who played Danny\'s wife on Blue Bloods. Both were killed off between seasons and their deaths \'announced\' in the season premiere. (But in the case of Blue Bloods, the actress was the one who wanted out--she wasn\'t \'pushed out.\')
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\" Literally running out of ideas\" Huh!!!. Uh Mr. James there have been plenty of comedies( and dramas) that have had couples with families on television. The fact that YOU were running out of ideas shows that you aren\'t as smart or as funny as you think you are. That and you have bad writers. Kevin James will never actually admit to the real reason his wife was killed off and that is because he didn\'t like her plain and simple. If there was any level of respect for this particular actress her \" death\" on screen would have been handled better And the fact that they hired his former co star is just further proof of that. He and CBS went to was comfortable. At some point CBS and James need to stop talking about this because they aren\'t making this any better. And the ratings aren\'t reflecting this decision was a good one either
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LMAO.....chill, it\'s TV. Nobody was killed. He didn\'t like her? Well, neither did viewers!
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Well you are right it doesnt matter but his excuse of running out of ideas is a farce. A one year old show running out of ideas? On a comedy? On CBS no less? No a bunch of garbage. i will start chilling when CBS treats its ladies better which isnt happening any time soon
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I am glad they made that move. There was absolutely no comedic chemistry between his wife and the rest of the cast. It was actually stressful to try and continue to watch (what could have us more potential) dwindle to and uncomfortable conclusion by the end of the 30 minutes. Bravo, Kevin.
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I hated \"Kind of Queens\" Too much too even \"hate watch\".
But running out of ideas is an inane reason. Pretty obvious that Hayes and James didn\'t like each other. He could have just said there was no chemistry between them. And from little I saw, there wasn\'t.
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I think he\'s addressed this enough. I hope Erinn Hayes feels as if she\'s better off having been part of the first season of the show. She did a good job as Donna and was able to be noticed by a wide audience. Hopefully this will lead to more and better roles for her. Having been let go has to sting, but I think most understand it\'s not because she did a poor job, quite the opposite really, but because the relationship between Kevin and Leah as well as the history there just opened up more avenues and attention for the show.
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