CBS cancels Kevin Can Wait after ratings decline following TV wife's death

Deadline

Canceled after two seasons, Kevin Can Wait "is one of the biggest casualties at CBS this season," says Deadline's Nellie Andreeva, pointing to its "blazing" Season 1 start. Ratings, though, declined over the course of Season 1, prompting Kevin Can Wait to kill off Kevin James' wife character Donna, played by Erinn Hayes. But that controversial decision, which included bringing in James' King of Queens co-star Leah Remini, backfired. "The move had been acknowledged as a mistake," says Andreeva. "Viewers did not take it well, and ratings for Kevin Can Wait posted steep declines in Season 2, sending the series from the top of the heap to the bubble list." Kevin Can Wait also parted ways with co-creator and showrunner Bruce Helford during its first season, and he now is in charge of the hit Roseanne revival. Last week, Verne Gay explained Kevin Can Wait's struggles in the wake of Donna's death: "A weird black hole has existed at the center of Kevin this season because it's finally occurred to fans, viewers, really anyone, that Kevin hasn't a clue what happened to Donna and couldn't care less, either. Successful sitcoms float on a cloud of fake goodwill and bonhomie, even the most seditious of them (Seinfeld). By bumping off Donna, Kevin couldn't even fake that." ALSO: CBS has also canceled Mark Feuerstein's 9JKL.