One of the new TV shows this fall is “Kevin Can Wait,” starring Kevin James as a newly retired police officer who’s trying to find something to do in retirement.
Maybe Kevin should have waited longer to retire because during the pilot episode of the Monday night show, it just didn’t seem to catch fire.
Here’s the premise: Kevin and his wife, Donna, played by Erinn Hayes have three kids, one of them in college. Donna is a school nurse. Three of his buddies come over, and they shoot the breeze. They chat about a cross-country bike trip and other things they could do to have some fun. Then they discover a fascinating fact: Beer is really great.
Kevin has a retirement party, but just as they’re preparing for it, his oldest daughter, Kendra, arrives to announce she has a boyfriend. Not only that, but she’s already engaged to him and dropping out of college to support him. As one would expect, Todd, her unemployed fiancé, and Kevin clash.
By this time, the show is half over. It’s very much like James’s former sitcom, “The“King of Queens,” where he played the dumb husband who goofs up with a smart wife correcting him. Jerry Stiller, who played the grumpy father-in-law, made that show work.
The dumb husband theme has been popular in other sitcoms, including “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Mike and Molly.” Both were funny comedies with superb casts.
“Kevin Can Wait” wasn’t funny and the characters didn’t seem to work well together. James may define himself as a comedian, but he really isn’t very funny in this comedy.