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Kevin Can Wait's Kevin James Explains Why He Returned to TV
The sitcom is like a "very comfortable shoe," says the former King of Queens
Kevin James doesn't need to do a sitcom.
He has a very successful career being, you know, a movie star. His nine-season CBS sitcom The King of Queens made him famous, but that show ended in 2007. Since then, it's been Paul Blarts and Grown Upses. Returning to network TV could be seen as a step backward.
But his new series Kevin Can Wait came together in just the right way to happily bring him back to the small screen.
"I always loved doing a sitcom," James says. "It was more about the right idea."
Kevin Can Wait, which stars James as a recently retired NYPD cop whose plans for a fun, tranquil retirement are upended by an unexpected family situation, was the right idea. And then when the cast started coming together with actors like Erinn Hayes, who plays his wife Donna, he started really getting excited to come back.
Kevin Can Wait is not The King of Queens, says Kevin James
And though it's been awhile since he's done a sitcom, he didn't struggle to get back into it.
The family comedy is like a "nice, comfortable shoe," he says.
Kevin Can Wait premieres Monday, Sept. 19 at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.