Breaking the mold: Annie Murphy stars as murderous sitcom wife on AMC
While there are still plenty of traditional sitcoms and dramas in prime time, TV is ever evolving. An innovative new series turns convention upside down as it blends elements of comedy and drama in a critique of typical television gender roles.
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s
Creek”) stars as Allison, a TV sitcom wife who — like so many other sitcom wives before her — begrudgingly puts up with the antics of her goofball husband, Kevin (Eric Peterson, “Kirstie”), and his pals in the brashly titled “Kevin Can F**K Himself,” premiering Sunday, June 20, on AMC. However, when Allison suddenly experiences a moment of clarity, she realizes she doesn’t have to play second fiddle to her husband anymore. Things take a dark turn when she decides she wants to kill Kevin to be rid of him once and for all.
The surrealist show was created by Valerie Armstrong (“Lodge 49”), who admitted that she came up with the idea in the wake of controversy surrounding the nowdefunct CBS sitcom “Kevin Can Wait.”
When “Kevin Can Wait’s” leading lady, Erinn Hayes (“Childrens Hospital”), was unceremoniously fired from her role as Donna, the wife of lead character Kevin (Kevin James, “The King of Queens”), the show was highly criticized for how it handled her character’s departure. The incident sparked conversations about how women in sitcoms are often just there to set up the jokes or nag their on-screen husbands.
In February, Armstrong explained to Ew.com that “Kevin
Can F**K Himself” follows such a sitcom wife out of the reality where she is resigned to being the butt of the joke.viewers see Allison through a different lens as the show switches from her sitcom standard to the gritty “reality” in which she is allowed to think and feel for herself.
Armstrong is quick to point out, however, that “Kevin Can F**K Himself” is not a show within a show, and that Allison is not an actor in either scenario.
“It’s a metaphor for the benefit of the doubt we’ve given men like Kevin forever,” Armstrong notes. “Men who get to walk through life with a sitcom audience cheering them on all the time.”