Kevin Can Wait- First Impressions, After Trailer Thoughts & Pilot Review

I'm doing something different this year for the Fall TV Pilots 2016. Here I will do an individual series and include my First Impressions along with my After Trailer Thoughts and finally will conclude with the Premiere Review in the fall.

Kevin Can Wait (CBS- Comedy)

First Impressions (based on concept):

I've loved Kevin James ever since his underrated sitcom The King Of Queens and I can't wait to see him back in a starring role on TV. "Kevin James plays a newly retired police officer looking forward to spending more quality time with his wife and their three children". This concept has a ton of promise and if it's funny could be the breakout comedy of the season. I just hope that it stays away from the potty jokes that I loathe. I also love that Gary Valentine (Kevin James's real life brother and Danny from The King of Queens) will also be in the series.
How Excited Am I? 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest): 9

After Trailer Thoughts:
I kinda want to cry right now and it's not tears of joy. This series sounded like it had so much promise but after watching the 5:17 min trailer where I didn't spent 00:1 of it laughing, I feel deflated, like when they forget to put a toy in the Happy Meal. I was expecting something that just didn't deliver. Hopefully it's just the trailer that was bad and not the show.
How Excited Am I? 1 (lowest) - 10 (highest): Drops down to a 5.
How Long Will It Last? Not very long if it's as funny as the trailer indicated.

Episode 1- Pilot Review
While I really wanted to love this show there were several obstacles in my way. Firstly, I'm not a big fan of the wife (Erin Hayes) mainly because they made her such a one-dimensional "wife" type character who doesn't seem to have any personality of her own and just can't really play off Kevin James. Carrie (Leah Remini) in King of Queens was a much more thought out character and a way better match. That leads into the second unfortunate part, Kevin James is pretty much playing the same character, which just makes it hard to like the rest of the show. I'm a big fan of King Of Queens (and recently went back and re-watched the whole series) and it was great. So to see Kevin playing the same character with a supporting cast that just isn't as good, is really hard not to compare and judge. Some of the jokes worked and some of them fell flat just as some of the characters worked and some of them fell flat. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from here but my favorite part of the episode (aside from noticing that their kitchen window and swinging door both mimic the ones on King Of Queens) was Kevin James interacting with real life brother Gary Valentine. It's nice to see these two guys together again and I hope Gary's part increases as the show continues. I also recognized the oldest daughter (Taylor Spreitler) due to her previous role in Melissa & Joey.
Will I Continue With The Series: Yes, for now.
How Excited Am I: 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest): Stays at a 5.

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