Annie Murphy is fed up in the official trailer for AMC's Kevin Can F**k Himself
TV Features Annie Murphy
“It’s about a woman who keeps playing perfect housewife. Then one day, she realizes what she wants: to kill her husband.”
Television has long progressed beyond the need for the Doting Housewife-Selfish Buffoon Husband trope that has permeated the airspace since family sitcoms were a thing. At first glance, AMC’s revenge drama, Kevin Can F**k Himself, looks like more of the same as Alison (Emmy winner and Schitt’s Creek alum Annie Murphy) prepares a loving breakfast for her husband, Kevin (Eric Petersen). But when Kevin fails to show even a modicum of appreciation for his wife’s hard work, the laugh track stops and the mood visibly shifts into something deadly. Created by Valerie Armstrong and produced by Rashida Jones, Kevin Can F**k Himself (a nice little not to Kevin Can Wait, starring Kevin James—a mainstay in this insufferable genre), the show follows a woman who has reached the end of her rope and is ready to violently reclaim her life.
AMC revealed the trailer during Thursday’s virtual TCA presentation. The clip has already garnered early comparison’s to Marvel and Disney Plus’ WandaVision, which similarly flashes back and forth between trope-riddled sitcom aesthetics and a darker reality. This eight-episode stretch, however, strays further from the relatively safe confines of family-friendly TV and leans more heavily into “I may very well stab you in the damn neck with broken glass” territory. Which we love!
Kevin Can F**k Himself, which also stars Mary Hollis Inboden, will premiere on AMC and its streaming service AMC Plus sometime this summer. In the meantime, you can check out the clip (and urge Kevin to fuck right off) below.
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I was wondering where this was in development; I’m so psyched to see this
Wow, Annie Murphy has really cornered the market on “TV shows with an altered profanity in the title.”
And to think they probably could’ve gotten away with Kevin Can Phuck Himself.
It’s also outdated, since “Kevin Can Wait” only lasted two seasons and is basically forgotten now.
Eh, it’s not like that was the only show with the loser slob husband and the pretty, patient wife. I love this for Annie Murphy. I feel like of all the actors on Schitt’s Creek she had the most potential to be seen as just doing a Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian imitation and she did so much more than that.
Very much so. To be honest, I don’t think Annie Murphy has always gotten nearly as much credit as she deserves for how good she was in Schitt’s Creek — that’s starting to change now that she won the Emmy, but prior to Emmy night I think she was seen as the cast member who had the least chance of actually winning her category. (Plus I’m Canadian, and our TV awards up here always put her in the lead actress category instead of supporting — which means she’s never won, because she was always up against Catherine.) She’s genuinely a great comedic actress, though, and you’re right: she really did bring so, so much more to Alexis than a lesser actress would have.
As it should be! Sadly, that trope is ubiquitous enough to fit any number of sitcoms that made it longer than “Kevin Can Wait” though I guess that gives the new show more material to skewer. Making lemonade out of decades of sitcom lemons.
Kevin Can’t Wait: A Story of Spastic Differently Motivated Colon
Reminds me of when, improbably, ABC greenlit two different shows with the word “Bitch” in the title and then decided that actually they weren’t that kind of network, leaving us with just the “B”. (I assume many remember “Don’t Trust the B,” which was good; the other was “GCB” which started life as “Good Christian Bitches,” which I didn’t watch.)
Never even heard of the Christian one.
Don’t Trust the B was brilliant.Also, the bowdlerized title rhymes!
I had a friend who was convinced that the original title must have been “Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 26″ because the rhyme was so crucial.
Wow, I love that.
Don’t Trust The Bitch SMILF Who Fucked Herself…in a Car
Annie Murphy is fed up in the official trailer for AMC’s Kevin Can F**k HimselfIf you think she’s mad now, imagine how pissed she’s going to be when they replace her with Leah Remini for season 2.
Replacing the Kevin at random every few episodes would be amusingly meta.
Or if she kills him at the end of each episode and he comes back as a different guy who annoys her in a different way, but they never address the change in acting or personality and they’re all named Kevin. Like, one episode he is a condescending wannabe intellectual who mansplains concepts to her in front of their friends whenever they’re at a social gathering so he can look smart. Next episode he’s skipping out on chores to drink with his friends, forgetting her birthday. They could have a lot more than eight episodes with that format!
Even better if it happens every time she has a fakeout-into-cut “fantasy” of murdering Kevin….is there an official name for that, by the way? When a scene seamlessly flows into a fantasy (like murdering somebody) and then only a jump-cut back to the “real” timeline (with an auspiciously un-murdered murder victim, and a fantasy-murderer snapping to attention from some reverie) firmly establishes that part of the prior scene was fantasy?It feels like there should be one. It’s been done often enough.
“is there an official name for that”Mescaline?
It would be metal? Oh wait…
I almost genuinely hope they do this, or at least bring her in as a season 2 villain, trying to knock off the main character & take her place. That would be amazing.
AMC Exec standing in front of people seated at board room table turns off TV showing Wandavision: “You know what people like? Sitcoms within their TV Shows that hide dark secrets! Get to work on something like this!”
Shocked that Kevin James is not in this. His agent must have slept in that day.
I’m not sure Kevin James is open to deconstructing how shitty the premise his fortune is based on.
I’m not sure Kevin James could pull off anything requiring deconstruction.
Then you’ve clearly never seen what happens when he’s presented with a Bloomin’ Onion.
Hanz Ulrich Blartt: Mall Deconstructionist
According to EW, James would love to guest star.https://ew.com/tv/kevin-can-f-himself-kevin-james-guest-star/
I think Kevin James is probably open to anything with the right paycheck.
Someone directly asked him about this show, and he said “Hey, good for them. I’m happy for anyone who succeeds in this business.” Say what you will about his actual work at least he’s not an ass.
Yeah he seems like a genuinely decent dude. He just happens to play to the lowest common denominator with lazy sitcom tropes.
You definitely get what they’re going for.
They cast a perfect substitute for him, though! I want to punch the husband just from the trailer.
Or Kevin Hart…
Maybe his agent was fucking himself.
.
It’s true that sitcom deconstructions can feel as played out as the sitcoms they’re parodying (especially as the multi-camera model has increasingly become a thing of the past) but this still looks super fucking good.
People seem to like this Annie Murphy broad.
If Annie Murphy’s in it, I’m watching it.
Yes, as I sit here watching Schitt’s Creek for like the fifth time.
You know, Kevin, you’re what the French call les incompetents. Kevin, I’m going to feed you to my tarantula.
Kevin, you’re such a DISEASE
I HATE BRENDA!
Oops, sorry, wrong thread…
Wow, that ship sailed three/four (?) years ago. That’s 20 years in TV viewer years.
Jesus…
I’m trying to remember the name of a T.V. show (or maybe it was just a comedy sketch) where the interior is a family comedy, but every time the main character goes outside, it turns into a gritty crime drama. Does this ring a bell for anyone?
The Cosby Show?
It was a pilot starring Chris Elliott called Action Family. Sadly never made it to series.
Thank you! Oh man, that was really bugging me. This trailer really gave me those vibes.
Same! Although Action Family’s cop show scenes were still hilarious. I think the whole pilot episode is on Youtube.
Here it is:
It’s amazing to think that this came out in 1986! I thought that that was just an artistic choice.
Definitely falls into the “ahead of its time” category. I watched the first fifteen or so minutes; it definitely could have used some tightening up and iteration, and I don’t know if it would be sustainable, since its approach to the tropes it’s parodying are so broad. But I’m always a sucker for deconstructing tropes.
Samesies. Now I’m getting Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace feelings.
The pilot’s on YouTube… It’s definitely similar, but the tone looks different from what KCGFH is trying to do… the absurdity of Elliott’s sitcom plays over into the “drama” part, and I don’t think that’s going to happen from the look of this show. Also, the KCGFH sitcom seems to be playing it like it’s a terrible Kevin James laugh-track sitcom (seriously, I could see this going to series on CBS), and Elliott’s is trying to exaggerate his to the limit. I will say it’s fascinating to see a very young Seth Green.
All that being said, I’m certain this general concept isn’t a new idea.
That was well done! Can you do one for me?
It’s a show from like late 80’s, early 90’s I think it was like single dads and their wacky kids (not Full House, but Full House-ish) and all I remember is one episode they want to rearrange the furniture and there’s always something wrong with every arrangement. When they finally get the furniture the way they like it, the teenaged son comes in and realizes the television and the piano are right opposite each other. So he sits on the piano (the lid is closed) and says “This is great; now we can all sit on the piano and watch TV!”
I think it might’ve been shot on video. This is not much to go on but I swear it was real.
Oh man. Sorry, it’s not ringing any bells. Although maybe I can point you towards a subreddit called Tip of my Tongue. I have yet to ask a question, no matter how vague, that someone hasn’t been able to answer. Hope this helps!
Ew, Kevin!
Is this s sequel?
Do We Need To Talk About Kevin…Again?
No, Kevin Can Go Fuck Himself.
I’ll give it a shot but the premise seems like it’ll run pretty thin after a while. “What if 90s sitcom… but bad?” isn’t multi-season stuff.
Genuinely frightening. My first impulse was to foolishly make an attempt at levity by quipping something about hiding in the garage until this blows over but I guess that’s not so much missing the point as landing squarely on it. Perhaps I wasn’t the intended audience when they dreamed this waking night terror up though. And I’m fine with that. Now who wants lemon tarts? Please don’t stab me.
Wandavision multiverse.
The timeline suggested in the trailer is interesting, as is the different takes on not just the Kevin Can Wait trope but others alluded in there (the shot of the ‘50s style breakfast, sitting at a dockside cafe ala Big Little Lies). This looks like it will be an interesting show, for sure, if it can deliver on what is lying underneath the gimmick.
That said, I love that any show that wants to proclaim a Boston setting MUST have a Dunkin establishing shot and some weathered t-shirt related to Worcester. Like it’s a Union requirement or something.
There are a ridiculous amount of Dunkins in Massachusetts. My town of 20,000 had like eight. There were four on the 3 mile drive to my high school. It’s just part of the landscape now.
I think it’s the emblem of the Massachusetts state flag, no?
I’ve really been looking forward to this since it was announced, since Annie Murphy is a goddamn delight and a vastly underrated actress (yes, even with an Emmy to her name), but this looks even better than I thought it would be. I’ve really been in the mood for something darkly funny, and this looks like it!
Oh this looks delightful. I’ll definitely be tuning in.
Annie Murphy is wonderful. All the way back to the Marathon Monday episode of Blue Mountain State.
Reminds me a bit of this episode of “Scrubs” where they played on the idea that they were labeled a “dramedy” and shot the majority of it as a sitcom with bright lighting and different jokes and sound effects etc. but at the end was all, “life isn’t like a sitcom” and had a really depressing ending. Though as far as I can recall that episode was self contained. Will be interesting to see how much continuity there is from episode to episode and also between the sitcom bits and drama in KCFH and what ends up being just a fantasy.
That’s what she gets for dating a Kevin.
Kevin, Karen. Karen, Kevin.
It’s cool that Anne Murphy is into doing edgy comedies now that she’s not selling records in Canada.