The new CBS sitcom from Kevin James, Kevin Can Wait, just premiered this Monday, but the show has already nabbed its first appearance from one great guest star who'll look familiar to anyone who's watched TV in the past 20 years. Comedian and actor Ray Romano will guest on the series.
Ray Romano will show up on the freshman season of Kevin Can Wait, and, according to Entertainment Weekly, his appearance will take place sometime this fall. The actor is slated to play the father of a friend of Kevin's son who just happens to be a friendly, but somewhat pushy, car salesman named Vic Margolis. With their sons new friendship, Vic becomes overeager at the chance of selling an overpriced car to this potential customer.
Obviously, Ray Romano is best known for his 1996-2005 sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which also aired on CBS. This will mark his return to the network since his series ended over a decade ago. In the intervening years, he's continued to work as a stand up comedian, but has also appeared on several shows, including Parenthood, Men of a Certain Age, The Office, The Middle, Maron and Vinyl. This won't be the first time he's worked with Kevin James, either. In addition to occasionally co-headlining shows in Las Vegas, James appeared several times on Everybody Loves Raymond as two different characters, while Romano showed up as his Raymond character, Ray Barone, on James' previous sitcom, The King of Queens, a few times. And, here's a fun little side note, Romano also played Ray Barone on the CBS shows The Nanny, Becker and Cosby.
As noted above, Kevin Can Wait also marks a return to the network for series star Kevin James. His 1998-2007 show, The King of Queens, helped launch the comedian's film career, which really took off during his time away from CBS. The star has appeared in several big screen comedies, and is now also known for roles in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop and its sequel, Grown Ups, Zookeeper and Pixels. James also played his King of Queens character, Doug Heffernan, on Cosby, Everybody Loves Raymond and Becker.
Kevin Can Wait focuses on a newly retired cop who's getting used to a fuller family life with his wife and three kids, and finding it more difficult than he imagined. The show has not gotten the best reviews from critics, so here's hoping that the appearance from Ray Romano helps liven things up enough to make his episode worth checking out this fall. You can catch Kevin Can Wait Mondays on CBS, and be sure to check out our TV premiere schedule to see when new and returning shows will debut this season.
