I am a sitcom snob. Not because I think I’m better than anyone else-I just got tired of the familiar rhythms and similar set-ups. It felt like a DVD song on infinite repeat. Also, I mean, I grew up with All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Hope…the list goes on. I was too young to be a snob.
But I was an avid watcher of The King of Queens for all of its run, ending in 2007. I loved the Heffernans played by Kevin James and Leah Remini (she was great back then-perfect timing). They were a late 90s/early 2000s version of The Honeymooners– even lived in the same New York borough.
So it was great to see that James has a brand new, one hour stand-up show that just premiered on Amazon Prime. He’s older now, has 4 kids and, seemingly, the most saintly wife on the planet. His whole final quarter or so is devoted to taking her down, but I’m sure she had final approval at home.
In fact, that is my only complaint – to each his own, James decided to do fewer bits but stretch each one out a bit. Others do tons of bits that last mere seconds. It’s whatever.
The hour goes by pretty quickly and Kevin James, basically working clean, crushes the latest streaming stand-up specials by miles. I was getting really tired of preaching instead of joke-telling.
Kevin James: Irregardless is now streaming on Amazon.