Few genres are as popular as thesitcom. Made famous for its countless spins on the multi-camera format, these are the kind of feel-good shows that are rife with canned laughter and nonstop comedy — as well as tons of toxic men. Some of television’s biggest sitcoms reveal a plethora of shockingly abusive protagonists, men whose actions would appear horrific in the real world but thatthese shows gloss over as goofy comedy, a harmful practice that the satire seriesKevin Can F**k Himselftears apart.
Created byValerie Armstrong, this dramedy focuses on the wife of one of these “leading men” and shows just what a miserable life being married to this kind of person would be. Since it began streaming onNetflix, viewers have been engrossed by its brutal portrayal of these shows' dark realities. It’s an intriguing, informative watch, though beyond calling out the entire medium, the whole program spotlights the misdeeds of one series in particular.Through its storylines, characters, and even its own name,Kevin Can Fk Himselfreveals the faults of this long-canceled program, with one Easter egg in its series finale not only acting as a hilarious condemnation of the show but also a cathartic moment for every woman this genre has treated poorly.Kevin Can Fk Himselfis a complex show with tons of subliminal messages and hidden references, but when it comes to the last episode, this series' unending criticism ofKevin Can Waitcouldn’t be more clear.
‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’ Shows Everything Wrong With Sitcoms
WhileKevin Can F**k Himselfis a glaring call-out ofKevin Can Waitespecially, the series focuses on problematic behaviors that have always filled the sitcom genre. Many of these shows focus on a central everyman, someone who audiences are meant to see themselves in and who fills each episode with wacky hijinks and simple jokes.It’s a glossy, colorful portrayal of this kind of character, one that hides the legitimately harmful ways he terrorizes those around him — especially his “bitter wife,” an archetype that these shows always saddle with this kind of man. This televised settinguses laugh tracks and comedic timing to try and color this man’s actions as harmless; engaging in a prank war with some unsuspecting neighbor or ditching your anniversary party to hang out with your friends is a funny plot in these shows, but these kinds of behavior would earn someone the title of cruel narcissist in the real world. Viewing these programs with this wherewithal adds a level of creepiness to each episode, watchers beginning to understand the alarming abuse these men see as “funny” and pondering how this would realistically impact the people (especially the “annoying” and “fun-sucking” women) around them.
Kevin Can F*ck Himselfsubverts its sitcom roots immediatelyby shifting the focus, centering on the “naggy wife” Allison (Annie Murphy) rather than her locally-beloved, hilarious-to-all husband, Kevin (Eric Petersen). The series is a stylistic innovation that bounces between Kevin’s single-camera format to the truth of Allison’s multi-camera life, using the dark lighting and eerie ambiance of her reality to punctuate the uproarious way Kevin views his manipulations of her. It emphasizes how devastating it would feel to be paired with someone like that, Allison having to swallow every rightful complaint as Kevin does nothing but focus on his own wants while a legion of push-over friends applaud his every move (while belittling hers). This harsh, honest display of a common archetype re-orients viewers' perceptions of these “wacky dudes” and their “naggy wives,“spotlighting how so often these series discredit every one of their central woman’s complaintsand excuse the man’s alarming actions. There are so many sitcoms that practice this harmful kind of storytelling, but when deciding which to satirize, this program saw one show that epitomized everything wrong with the medium’s treatment of women:Kevin Can Wait.
‘Kevin Can Wait’ Did What!?
Long beforeKevin Can F**k Himselfrevolutionized the way audiences watched sitcoms, there wasKevin Can Wait, created byKevin James,Rock Reuben, andBruce Helford, a show whose most memorable aspect is the shocking controversy that helped secure its early cancelation. It had your typical setup: Kevin (James) hopes for a fun-filled life after retiring from the police, growing disappointed once he learns that his bothersome wife, Donna (Erinn Hayes) and messy children will distract him from getting drinks with his kooky cast of friends. It elevated Kevin into a relatable protagonist while shaming his wife for actually being reasonable, thougheach episode ended with her loving Kevin despite his eccentricities—which is what made her offscreen death in Season 2 so shocking.Outside some minuscule scenes of mourning, the series acts like Donna never existed, with its creators citing that they were “running out of ideas” and believed killing her off would spice up the story. Donna’s treatment summarized so many of the genre’s faults, with its men both on and offscreen viewing this show’s main woman as so devoid of potential and depth that she’d serve them better dead. It was a startling end for a likable character and robbed her actress of a job — luckily for her, though, another show was ready to hire her for a very special role.
Kevin Can F**k Himselfuses its jokes to spotlight the sitcom genre’s many sins against its women, with its most important one coming in the series finale. This episode sees Allison return to town after faking her death, discovering that Kevin moved on quickly after her disappearance with local bowling alley attendant Molly — who happens to be played by Erinn Hayes (the dead Donna fromKevin Can Wait). This is not onlya hilariously dark Easter eggfor everyone aware of this actress' past, but also a cathartic moment of karma, as Allison explains Kevin’s history of abuse and makes Molly realize that she’sfalling into the exact same trap that our main character did so many years ago. Seeing Molly break up with Kevin, this sitcom hero finally getting the criticism he evaded for so long, is cathartic in itself, but the true impact comes from seeing these women support one another and acknowledge their value in a way that your usual sitcom would never allow for. It’s a heartwarming, if not slightly melancholic, moment of unity, one that communicates this show’s central message of breaking the patterns of abuse that these kinds of programs perpetuate. It was a thematic pièce de résistance, giving sitcom’s most mistreated character the happy endingKevin Can Waitnever gave her.
‘Kevin Can Wait’ — Actually, ‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’
No series has devoted itself to calling out a whole genre — and especially one show — likeKevin Can F**kHimself did, and it’s arguably the show’s best example of this. While Hayes' casting in its finale was exciting for those in the know, many fans hadn’t even heard ofKevin Can Waitbefore starting this satire. They’d most likely find much more resonance in how the program basically copied so many storylines from other series, with every cringey plot of Kevin chowing down on too much food or flippantly calling Allison stupid making the audience cringe as they remember laughing at similar situations in other sitcoms.
Kevin Can F**k Himself’s prowesscan’t be singularly owed to its finale Easter egg, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t impactful because of one simple reason:it avenges an actual victim of the sitcom treatment. While Allison is a stand-in for so many women in this industry, Erinn Hayes was someone who actually had her character disrespected by this medium’s nastier tendencies. This opportunity to come back and receive the respect she never got is heartwarming, and seeing her listen to our main character who has been ignored for so long is the most beautiful finale that this show could have ever created.
Kevin Can F**k Himselfis available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.
Kevin Can F**k Himself
In a subversive take on the classic sitcom format, a housewife’s seemingly cheerful existence is shown alongside her true, frustrated life, where she plots to escape from her overbearing husband. The stark contrast between the artificial sitcom world and her grim reality underscores a narrative of empowerment and the struggle to break free from confining societal roles.
