I love watching shows and movies where there’s a quick glimpse of Worcester or the surrounding area. I was thrilled to hear that Kevin Can F*** Himself was actually set in Worcester Massachusetts! That is really quite cool!
First, just what is Kevin Can F*** Himself about? You could call this the ultimate Reverse Fan Fiction.
Once upon a time, there was a TV series called The King of Queens, starring Kevin James and Leah Remini. It ran for 9 seasons. It’s a husband-focused sitcom a la All in the Family or The Honeymooners where the guy (in a realistic sense) mistreats those around him but life keeps going on.
When The King of Queens ended, Kevin James moved on to Kevin Can Wait – once again focused on a husband and his antics. His wife here was Erinn Hayes. After season one, Kevin decided to kill off wife Erinn and instead have Leah Remini join him again. The show-runners claimed they would do this “respectfully” but instead they turned it into a crude joke and were going to have Leah plunk right in as the new wife.
Fans were FURIOUS. Actors in the industry were also furious, that this was how characters were treated. The throwaway nature of female companions in shows like these is well documented. It happens in pretty much every type of media – see for example Women in Refrigerators. Anyway, a group of actors and writers decided they’d had enough and had to show something that went opposite to this trend.
They created Kevin Can F*** Himself.
The set closely resembles All in the Family. The setup is the same as all of those All In The Family – The Honeymooners – The King of Queens shows. A middle-aged man who mistreats people around him gets all the laughs while nobody cares about how the wife suffers. But then once the husband leaves the room, we get to see the reality through the wife’s eyes. We see just what this kind of repetitive abuse does to her.
It’s an interesting – depressing! – type of show. It does make you think when you’re then watching other sitcoms. It’s sort of like Black Mirror, where you know it’s not right and you’re hoping the abused person finds a way to escape it all.
So that’s the gist of the show Kevin Can F*** Himself, which ran for two seasons. It stars Annie Murphy. The husband is Eric Petersen.
Here’s all the details about the scenes which represent the city of Worcester, Massachusetts –
Let me know what else you found in this show!
The next episode in this show is:
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