Erinn Hayes leaving Kevin Can Wait; will season 2 be completely different?
Per TVLine, Hayes will not be a series regular for the second season after playing the part of Kevin’s wife Donna for the first season of the show. Given that she was a central character for the entire first season, this puts the future of the CBS sitcom in a bit of a strange position. How do you replace someone who was such an obvious and fundamental part of the cast without changing up the entire show? There are a couple of different options.
1. A recasting – Bringing someone else on as Donna would be jarring, but it’s far from the first time that a comedy has done such a move. However, this seems unlikely, given that the TVLine report suggests that the show is heading in a “new creative direction” for the upcoming season.
2. A different focus – Maybe Kevin’s former job is now going to find itself more of a focus, and the scenes will be set more around that and Donna will be mentioned here and there. This would be creatively challenging given that she was such an onscreen presence, but feasible.
3. A split – This seems to be the most likely scenario if you want to keep the rest of the cast around somehow: Something happens to Kevin and Donna, and he moves forward with his life without her around. Maybe he and his former partner Vanessa (Remini) link up romantically, though at a certain point wouldn’t this show just feel like The King of Queens all over again?
With the quick timing of all of these announcements, it is fair to wonder if there potential changes in mind from the moment that Remini’s other pilot What About Barb? failed to get a series order. Change sometimes can be good for a show, but it’s risky — especially in this case given that Kevin Can Wait was one of the top-rated new comedies on the air this past year. It may have something to gain if the move goes well, but also quite a bit to lose in the event that it doesn’t.
What’s your take on Erinn Hayes leaving Kevin Can Wait? Be sure to share now in the attached comments below! (Photo: CBS.)
Sassie
June 6, 2017 @ 5:41 am
I absolutely will NOT be watching the show. It was refreshing to see Kevin James in a family setting and throwing Leah Remini will just change the entire dynamics of the show, Erinn Hayes was a PERFECT fit for the part. I like Leah Remini but she is just not the right person for this show. I’m sorry but I will be watching any other show but I will no longer be watching “Kevin can Wait” I am also extremely angry that they just give Erinn Hayes the boot. How dare of them. Shame on the people at CBS what an idiotic move, bunch or morons. They just lost myself and my entire extended families as viewers AND everyone I know says they are not going to watch it either. CBS sucks!!!