Erinn Hayes has entered the television multiverse.
The Childrens Hospital actress has joined the cast of the second season of AMC’s Kevin Can F**k Himself, the network confirms to E! News. On the surface, Hayes jumping onboard the Annie Murphy-starring comedy doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.
Oh, but this is no ordinary casting news!
Kevin Can F**k Himself is largely speculated to have been inspired by the CBS comedy Kevin Can Wait, which starred Kevin James and ran for two seasons from 2016 to 2018. AMC and the show’s producers have never explicitly connected the dots, but the writing is basically on the wall.
Kevin Can Wait was a traditional sitcom featuring James as a recently-retired police officer on Long Island, whereas Kevin Can F**k Himself is a meta commentary on the traditional sitcom itself, featuring Allison (Murphy) as a woman in an unhappy marriage to her husband named Kevin, all while being reduced to a secondary character in her own story.
Hayes starred on season one of the sitcom before her character Donna was killed off in the season two premiere. Hayes, who played James’ wife on the show, was effectively replaced by James’ King of Queens on-screen wife Leah Remini and the rest was history.
A short history, in fact. Kevin Can Wait was canceled after its second season.