Kevin Can Wait: Will King of Queens Actors Appear on the New CBS Sitcom?

Apparently, Leah Remini and Jerry Stiller can wait, too. During his TCA appearance for the upcoming Kevin Can Wait TV show on CBS, star Kevin James indicated his King of Queens co-stars will not be appearing on his new CBS sitcom anytime too soon. The Kevin Can Wait cast also includes: Erinn Hayes, Taylor Spreitler, Mary-Charles Jones, James DiGiacomo, Ryan Cartwright , Lenny Venito, Gary Valentine, and Leonard Earl Howze.

When asked if fans could expect to see Remini and Stiller on the new show,  TV Guide reports James said, “”If I did it too soon, it would feel like a ploy. I want this show to take on its own life and become its own thing. It can’t help but be compared as it is, but I want to reduce that as much as possible.” Kevin Can Wait premieres Monday, September 19, 2016 at 8:30pm ET/PT. Beginning October 24, it will move to 8:00pm.

Here is more from TV Guide:

When asked about comparisons to The King of Queens, James discussed the difficulty of finding a balance between the old and the new.

“You always want to do something different yet the same,” he said. “It’s a constant battle in my career to say ‘I don’t want to do the same thing again or this or that,’ and so you say you want to do something different but automatically you lose half your audience, the people that enjoyed what you were doing.”

“I think we’ve done it really well,” he continued. “It’s just a matter of finding those elements [and] making it different enough.”

Executive producer Rock Reuben, who also worked with James on The King of Queens, noted the importance of not alienating the potential built-in audience.

“We definitely wanted to have some familiar notes in the show that the King of Queens audience would feel comfortable with and enjoy, but yet also mix in a whole bunch of new things and take them places they haven’t been with Kevin before,” he said.

Here is the Kevin Can Wait synopsis, from CBS.

KEVIN CAN WAIT

KEVIN CAN WAIT stars Kevin James as a newly retired police officer looking forward to spending carefree quality time with his wife and three kids, only to discover he faces tougher challenges at home than he ever did on the streets. Kevin’s retirement plans consist of chilling with his family and having epic adventures with fellow retirees Goody, his former partner and close friend, and Duffy, his oldest pal, as well as his brother, Kyle, a firefighter whose closest encounter with a blaze would be a grease fire in the firehouse kitchen. However, Kevin’s dream is jeopardized when he discovers that Donna, his wonderful wife of 20 years, has shielded him from key family info while he worked overtime protecting the community. Their usually reliable eldest, Kendra, is dropping out of college so she can support her unemployed fiancé, Chale, while he designs the next “big app”; his teenage daughter, Sara, has budding anger-management issues; and their youngest, Jack, is a bit of a hypochondriac. For now, Kevin’s plans for a cushy life will have to wait, because he has work to do, and this time his family is his beat.

Premieres September 19, 2016, on the CBS Television Network

ON AIR: Mondays (8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT)

Moves to 8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT October 24

ORIGINATION: New York

 FORMAT: Comedy (filmed in HD)

STARRING:
Kevin James (Kevin)
  Erinn Hayes (Donna)
  Taylor Spreitler (Kendra)
  Mary-Charles Jones (Sara)
  James DiGiacomo (Jack)
  Ryan Cartwright (Chale)
  Lenny Venito (Duffy)
  Gary Valentine (Kyle)
  Leonard Earl Howze (Goody)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kevin James, Bruce Helford, Rock Reuben, Jeff Sussman and Andy Fickman

PRODUCED BY: CBS Television Studios in association with Sony Pictures Television

What do you think? Were you a fan of the King of Queens TV series? Do you plan to check out James’ new comedy, Kevin Can Wait on CBS?