‘Kevin Can Wait’ Season 2: Kevin James Finds Comfort With ‘King Of Queens’ Carrie After Death Of TV Wife

Kevin Can Wait will not pull a This Is Us and drag out a main character’s death storyline. When the CBS sitcom picks up for its season, a period of time will have passed since viewers last saw Kevin Gable (Kevin James) and his clan—and not just enough time for Kevin to grow a beard. Producers have already revealed that about a year will have passed since the show’s Season 1 finale, with Kevin now adjusting to being a widower. The news of the Kevin Can Wait creative reset came this summer when it was announced that James’ TV wife, played by Erinn Hayes, would be killed off and James’ longtime King of Queens co-star, Leah Remini, will join the show.

Now, in a new sneak peek from CBS, viewers can see Kevin Gable reuniting with his old police partner, Vanessa Cellucci (Leah Remini) a year after his wife Donna’s death. In the clip, Vanessa sympathetically asks him how he’s doing and Kevin assures her he’s doing fine. The scene appears to show how Kevin Can Wait will first touch on the death of Donna Gable, or at the very least, how the topic will be addressed with his new TV leading lady.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clvDXSAB_4w

While there has been some criticism over the way Kevin Can Wait producers fired Hayes and replaced her with Remini as the new female lead after her successful two-episode guest stint last season, there’s no denying the longtime King of Queens co-stars’ chemistry. Remini, who played Carrie Heffernan for nine seasons on her first CBS comedy with James, mourned the end of the King Of Queens a decade ago, once telling BuzzFeed she couldn’t even watch the syndicated episodes because it was too painful.

“I’m still mourning that loss,” Remini said of the end of King of Queens. “I can’t really watch the reruns because I still feel that show in my bones.”

Ten years after the King of Queens signed off, Remini has traded in her life in California to work with Kevin James again. The actress relocated to Long Island to shoot Kevin Can Wait, leaving her husband and daughter, Sophia, in California during her work week. While Remini seems to have made a big sacrifice to work with James once again on Kevin Can Wait, she told CBS she is thrilled to be back by Kevin’s side after being his on-screen wife for nearly a decade.

“There has been no one that I love working with more than Kevin,” Remini told CBS. “I literally laughed for nine years. I felt that comfort immediately. I’m so blessed and grateful that I’m able to experience it again.”

While Kevin and Leah’s chemistry is undeniable, Kevin Can Wait fans shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for a remake of their King of Queens romance. Executive producer Rob Long told TV Line there is no plan to make Kevin Gable and character Vanessa Cellucci a couple in the show’s second season.

“Honestly, we’re trying not to [put them in a romantic relationship],” Long said. “I know that sounds crazy! These two actors have incredibly fun chemistry together, but they’re also great antagonists. So as much as there’s a lot of snap and crackle on screen, there’s also a lot of fun in watching two people not get along.”

Season 2 of Kevin Can Wait premieres Monday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

[Image by Jeffrey Neira/CBS]