Erinn Hayes made big headlines back in mid-2017 when news broke that she was being written out of her role as female lead of the Kevin James-led CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait to be replaced by James' former King of Queens costar Leah Remini. Viewers didn't respond well to the ousting of Hayes, especially when the show killed her character off. Now, with a show in the works at AMC called Kevin Can F--- Himself, Hayes would kill to be part of it.
The actress, who had a fun reaction when she saw that a show called Kevin Can F--- Himself as a pretty clear nod to the sitcom firing her and replacing her with Leah Remini was happening, actually revealed that she reached out about joining the show and got a look at the script. The comedy series from Rashida Jones and Will McCormack is slated to be angled from the point-of-view of the typical sitcom wife when she takes the lead.
Speaking with Vulture, Erinn Hayes clarified that the angle of the series "has nothing to do" with her or Kevin James, and she stated that the woman who wrote the script for Kevin Can F--- Himself "is so smart." She certainly has experience playing the lovely, softer sitcom wife with the goofier doofus of a husband. She shared her thoughts about the series and the sitcom wife trope in detail:
It’s so much older. It’s The Honeymooners. It’s bananas how old this trope is. And she does it so well. It’s so good, and I’d kill to be in it. It’s fantastic. That being said, maybe I’m the only one in town that won’t get a chance to read for it. Who knows? That would be a story in itself, and I don’t know if they’d want to make the casting a story.
Coming from somebody with sitcom experience -- good and bad -- like Erinn Hayes, the praise of Kevin Can F--- Himself is a sign that something truly unique is in the works at AMC. It would be interesting to see her tackle a role the may start in a similar place to her role on Kevin Can Wait and then goes in a more progressive direction, which definitely did not happen in the example Hayes cited. Maybe there's a reason that Honeymooners reboot never happened!
That said, Erinn Hayes raised a very good point about the Kevin Can F--- Himself team potentially not wanting her specifically to be involved in the series. She's already making headlines about the series, and it hasn't even gone into production yet. The fact that Kevin Can Wait only lasted a single season after she was written out only makes the original story juicier, and potentially more distracting from a new project with a title poking fun at her previous show.
Erinn Hayes elaborated on why she might not be seen as the ideal fit to lead Kevin Can F--- Himself after the controversy around her Kevin Can Wait departure, saying this:
Because then it’s like, 'Oh, it’s Erinn Hayes, who was killed off Kevin Can Wait.' It makes that part of the story. But if there’s any way I could do that part, I’d love to. The part they’ve written is so full and so interesting. They just did a great job, and I’m excited to see how the show turns out whether or not I ever get a chance to read for it or be a part of it in any way.
Erinn Hayes seems to have a positive attitude about the show in general. While she would love to tackle the lead role in Kevin Can F--- Himself, and fans would undoubtedly love it, she won't be devastated if the part goes to somebody else. Only time will tell. For now, you can catch Hayes in the first season of Netflix's Medical Police, which launched on January 10 as one of 2020's big premieres on the streaming giant.
For some broadcast and cable options as well as streaming, be sure to swing by our 2020 winter and spring TV premiere schedule.
