CBS diplomatically admits killing the wife on Kevin Can Wait wasn't a great idea
You know what they say about making a classic sitcom: If the ratings for your genially inoffensive family sitcom aren’t quite as high as you’d like them to be, cold-bloodedly murder the wife in between seasons and then shrug off the explanation in the first episode back with a joke about kung-fu lessons.
Honestly, Kevin Can Wait’s standard retooling in between its first two seasons probably wouldn’t have been a big deal if not for how much delight the internet took in the show’s bumbling response to the casting change, ourselves very much included. But all that drama was for naught, as CBS took an axe to the series last week, canceling it after a dip in ratings for season two. And now, CBS execs have tactfully acknowledged that Kevin being unable to wait to murder his TV wife was perhaps not the best way to engender audience goodwill. In an interview with Deadline, CBS EVP Thom Sherman said, “The show made a choice at the beginning of this year, we agreed to go along with it, and unfortunately the audience did not respond to it,” which, way to blame the audience for Kevin Can Wait’s bloodlust.
CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl elaborated further, saying “It was a strong show for us, it’s had a lot of decline this year, it was heading in the wrong direction.” which is just about her reading the numbers, but is a lot more enjoyable of a quote if you pretend it’s about Kevin Can Wait’s increasingly homicidal impulses. Thank you, CBS, for stopping Kevin Can Wait before it could kill again. You’re a hero to frail, defenseless TV wives everywhere.