Kevin James has a new stand-up special out, which means the comedian and actor is out doing press. Along the way, he’s bound to be asked about the possibility of a return to King of Queens. The series that made James a household name, King of Queens ran for nine seasons between 1998 and 2007. A number of shows made during that era have made some kind of comeback, ranging from from Netflix’s famous Arrested Development revivals to Paramount+’s recent Frasier. James squashes the idea of a King of Queens return, though, saying that without co-star Jerry Stiller, the show wouldn’t work.
Stiller passed away in 2020. According to James, without Stiller, he is not interested in revisiting the world of King of Queens.
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“You cannot do it because of Jerry,” James said during an appearance on NBC’s Today (via TVLine). “How do you do that without Jerry? He was amazing.”
Frasier and Night Court revivals have both happened in spite of the passing of key characters, with Frasier setting the pilot just after Martin Crane’s funeral. John Mahoney, who played Martin, died in 2018.
While a full-on King of Queens revival is out of the question, James has worked with his longtime TV wife again in Kevin Can Wait. While King of Queens was a fairly light-hearted sitcom revolving around a delivery driver and his improbably hot wife, Kevin Can Wait took a dark turn between its first and second season when his wife (Erinn Hayes) was killed offscreen, and Remini was brought in as Kevin’s business partner and co-lead. The series ended after two seasons (and inspired the acclaimed sitcom parody Kevin Can F**k Himself, which ran for two seasons with Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy and Quantum Leap‘s Raymond Lee).
Both King of Queens and Kevin Can Wait are now streaming on Peacock. James’ new special, Kevin James: Irregardless, is now streaming on Prime Video.
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