My wife—please

‘Kevin Can Wait’ kills character in hopes of becoming hit

IT’S NOT the usual way to generate sitcom success, but actor Kevin James hopes to turn his latest show into a mega-hit by killing off his wife.

But first, he has to convince his audience that the suprise death isn’t just a ploy to make room for actress Leah Remini — who starred as his long-suffering spouse in “The King of Queens” for nine seasons.

Remini was recently added to “Kevin Can Wait” as James’ former police partner — popping up in a full-time role just as his TV wife Donna Gable suffers an untimely death.

“I get that people are like ‘Whoa, why would you do this?’” the 52-year-old star of “Kevin Can Wait” told the Daily News.

“But it really felt like a thing like this was needed for this show to drive forward,” the actor said.

The decision to have Donna, played by Erinn Hayes (inset) on the show, die was a surprise for fans, according to James, who plays a recently retired Nassau County cop named Kevin Gable.

But Kevin Gable’s character was originally supposed to be a single father, James said.

Producers ultimately decided to give him a wife and three kids — but after the first season, things had to change, James said.

“The plot of the show didn’t have enough drive,” he noted. Since the show is a sitcom, there’s no dwelling on the details of Donna’s death, he said.

And already, fans are loving Remini in the second season as Vanessa Cellucci.

Remini made a well-received guest appearance on the two-part finale of season one, which led to the full-time role. “When she came on … it was just the greatest,” James said.

“Fans loved it, everybody on the crew loved it. We just knew right away, so we thought, ‘How can we get her here full-time to be on the show?’”

The first few episodes of the second season focus on the friendship of their characters, who come together to run a small security firm called Monkey Fist, with Cellucci as the boss.

“These were ex-partners," Remini says of Cellucci and Gable. “They worked together, and we haven’t even begun to go into the back story of that in exploring what their relationship was other than a few sentences here and there.”

Remini — who relocated from Los Angeles to the East Coast for the show’s filming on Long Island — said it didn’t take much effort to recapture the rapport she shared with James on “The King of Queens.”

Remini, 47, and James say they both are playing characters with personalities that mirror their own — and fans love it.

“It’s not necessarily they relate to the characters; it’s they relate to the people who we are in a way,” James said. “Which is great to me.”

And there’s always the possibility of a romantic plotline.

“You have to at some point,” Remini said. “It’s not a ‘no,’ it’s just there’s so many episodes to do before that.”

Whatever happens, the two actors said they are thrilled to be sharing a studio again.

“It brings back so many amazing memories,” Remini said. “And now, we’re creating new ones.”

“Kevin Can Wait” airs Mondays on CBS.