The TV Column

Remini, James reunite as co-workers, not spouses

Leah Remini and Kevin James, who co-starred in The King of Queens, will be reunited when Kevin Can Wait returns to CBS in the fall.
Leah Remini and Kevin James, who co-starred in The King of Queens, will be reunited when Kevin Can Wait returns to CBS in the fall.

This Kevin Can Wait situation has to be the strangest switcheroo since Season 5 of Roseanne, when daughter Becky, played by Lecy Goranson, was replaced by daughter Becky, played by Sarah Chalke.

The dual daughters became a running gag in the series.

Even more bizarre, Goranson and Chalke alternated as Becky in Season 8, but Chalke finished out as the one and only Becky in the ninth and final season.

Wait. There's more! Those of us old enough will recall the great Darrin switch on Bewitched. Dick York played Samantha Stephens' (Elizabeth Montgomery) husband from 1964 to 1969, then Dick Sargent took over the role for the final three seasons. York had a severe back condition that caused him to leave the show.

So, what's going on with Kevin Can Wait, last season's No. 1 new comedy with 9.1 million viewers each week?

In the series, Kevin James plays Kevin Gable, a recently retired cop who is being driven crazy by his family. That includes his wife of 20 years, Donna, played by Erinn Hayes.

For Season 2, Donna will be written out of the show. Hayes has been let go "for creative reasons" and Leah Remini will join the cast as a series regular. Remini played James' wife, Carrie Heffernan, on the hit CBS sitcom The King of Queens for nine seasons, 1998 to 2007.

In the Kevin Can Wait two-part Season 1 finale, Remini guest starred as Detective Vanessa Cellucci, Kevin's former partner and rival on the force, who talks him out of retirement for one more undercover case.

Remini will play the same character in Season 2, not Kevin's new wife. It'll be interesting to see how the show gets rid of Donna.

The series is obviously changing focus from family to work, and most speculate that Kevin will be headed out of retirement.

Now, maybe the series can talk Jerry Stiller in to coming back as Arthur Spooner and have him live in the basement.

Hank's back. Struggling ESPN has announced it's bringing back Hank Williams Jr. and his Monday Night Football opening theme "Are You Ready for Some Football?"

ESPN hastily severed ties with Williams in 2011 after he compared then-President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler on a Fox & Friends segment.

To be specific, when asked about a golf match where Democrat Obama was paired with Republican and then-House Speaker John Boehner, Williams said, "It would be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli prime minister] Benjamin Netanyahu."

The conservative and politically outspoken Williams almost immediately admitted it was "a dumb statement" and added, "I am very sorry if it offended anyone." Which wasn't exactly an apology.

Netflix ax. Netflix has canceled its science fiction series Sense8 after two seasons. The series, which followed eight people from around the world who suddenly were able to mentally communicate with one another, was ambitious, but proved too expensive.

The series was filmed in 16 cities and 13 countries. The budget per episode was estimated at $9 million.

NatGeo ax. The National Geographic network has announced that it will not be making Killing Patton, the next planned movie in the Bill O'Reilly book series on the deaths of historical figures.

NatGeo is remaining mum on whether the decision had anything to do with O'Reilly being fired by Fox News Channel following sexual harassment allegations.

NatGeo had previously adapted successful movies based on O'Reilly's books Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, Killing Jesus and Killing Reagan.

New on Fox News. Speaking of Fox News, the channel has begun a show with Steve Hilton, a former adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The hourlong program, The Next Revolution With Steve Hilton, airs at 8 p.m. Sunday and will focus on the worldwide populist movement.

Face Off, 8 p.m. today, Syfy. This will be Season 12 for the competition series and makes me wonder just how many makeup artists there are out there. Last season was an all-star match, but this time around it will be a whole new group of artists.

To Tell the Truth, 9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. I remember this show as a kid in 1956. In today's re-imagined version, with Anthony Anderson (black-ish) as host, where folks try to fool a (usually C-level) celebrity panel about what they do in life.

Blood Drive, 9 p.m. Wednesday, Syfy. This sanguinary 13-episode drama's focus is a cross country death race where the cars run on human blood. That's right. Human blood. Lots of bloody, gory blood. You have been warned.

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Style on 06/13/2017

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