Kevin Can Wait Shocker: Erinn Hayes’ Donna Will Be Killed Off
Kevin Can Wait is sending Donna six feet under.
At CBS‘ portion of the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour on Tuesday, Thom Sherman, Senior Exec VP of Programming, was asked how the fledgling sitcom will handle the absence of leading lady Erinn Hayes, who over the summer was dismissed and (essentially) replaced with Kevin James’ former TV bride Leah Remini.
“The character will have passed away,” Sherman revealed, before adding that Season 2 will begin with a time jump (but not too much of a time jump; daughter Kendra is still in the wedding planning stages when show returns.)
CBS’ entertainment president Kelly Kahl later added that Donna’s death “will be addressed tastefully” and “with dignity and respect.” He called Hayes “a terrific actress,” but added, “when everybody collectively saw how Leah and Kevin worked together in those last couple of episodes, there was just an undeniable spark there. Kevin, the studio [Sony] and the network wanted to keep that magic and chemistry going forward.”
Regarding speculation that the show is essentially turning into The King of Queens, Sherman said, “No, I don’t think so. I think the show speaks for itself and stands for itself. Obviously, the chemistry [between James and Remini] was amazing in the stunt episodes.”
In the Season 1 finale, retired cop Kevin temporarily returned to the force as part of an ongoing undercover op with former partner Vanessa Cellucci (Remini). After the case was closed, Kevin returned home to learn that Donna had quit her job as a school nurse after being passed up for a promotion, meaning both of them were now unemployed.
“True, I’ve been let go from the show,” Hayes wrote on social media shortly after news of her exit broke. “Very sad, I had a great experience season 1. Thank you for all the support from our wonderful fans.”
Kevin Can Wait returns with its second season on Monday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c.
Ridiculous
+1
Lazy writing. They should have had her leave town with a circus or something funny. Killing off is dumb…….wait…….I forgot….I don’t watch this show and don’t care.
It’s worse than just lazy writing. It’s completely disrespectful to Ms Hayes. CBS should be ashamed of themselves. :(
This.
Hell yeah, this.
Letting Ms. Hayes go was disrespectful: she was often the best thing on the show (which, overall, is terrible). Better for her that she can find work on something decent.
It would have been better…and funnier…to have her run off somehow in some crazy situation and divorce Kevin. Further down the road, have her show up again (Kevin and Vanessa’s wedding?)…even if they had to recast, or who knows…Hayes could have returned for a guest shot… stranger things have happened. The bottom line here was money…they could have trimmed the supporting cast (Kev’s buddies) to afford both Hayes and Remini full-time. It’s a shame the producers didn’t figure out a way to keep her.
It is a shame they couldn’t find a way to keep her but the reason she’s leaving doesn’t have to do with money, it has to do with Kevin not wanting her on the show anymore. Or so I’ve heard.
I totally agree. They are trying to recreate king of Queens. But it will never work. The king of Queens was about a married couple , their jobs, their friends and taking care of her father. The episodes were all about them. So if this show is going to be all about Kevin and his partner then what is going to happen to the rest of the cast? Will they all be demented to background characters? Guest stars, what?
Then why are you on here,
leaving town to join the circus is a good one. I don’t think she would leave the kids though.
This is so insane. If people wanted to still be watching King of Queens, it would still be on the air.
Yes, my thoughts exactly!
Really? Because there are so many live action sitcoms preparing to enter their 19th season on TV these days.
There are plenty of shows that have gone of the air when people still wanted more. This is a broad statement to say.
Also…
“That’s not necessarily true. People definitely wanted and still want more Seinfeld. It still ended in its prime.”
I won’t be watching this show anymore, I had enough of the two on King Of Queens. I liked the mom character better than Kevin! Thats a stinky way of getting rid of her!
Totally agree. I liked her best. Watching now and it’s just stupid. I’m over this show.
I agree…very disrespectful
Same way I feel, Donna made the show. Kevin can wait…..til hell freezes over. They lost a viewer in me.
They can watch the reruns of king of Queens.
100%
Seems really disrespectful to treat her like Charlie Sheen…
I came into the show a huge fan of Kevin James. As the season went on, I found myself more drawn to his on-screen wife than him, when they decided to go in a different direction, I told myself to have hope, perhaps there’s a good reason, plus it’s the nature of the business. After reading this article however, the show has just lost a fan. Again I get it, shows change direction, characters change, Etc., but when this was a character that I enjoy and an actress that I have grown quite fondly of, that’s a deal-breaker to me. Plus they can claim all they want this is not a King of Queens knock-off but to me it most certainly does now, and they me as a fan because of it.
This. I just don’t know how you can kill her character and move on from it. Good luck KCW.
why didn’t they just reboot King of Queens instead? because it almost sounds like this is what it’ll be minus Jerry Stiller
Because then the original creators get a cut. This cuts out the original producers of the show.
You just said it… it’s NOT King Of Queens without Stiller. Hence, this idea
Ben Stiller made King of Queens.
Sorry, it was Jerry Stiller. Still, it was him that made King of Queens.
How. Bad. Was. This. Actress. To. Work. With…Really?
I didn’t think they had the world’s most perfect chemistry but I really didn’t like the episodes with Remini. I thought they were the worst of the season.
That’s really kind of heavy once you get a season renewal to take the Mom character and off her to bring back Remini’s character. I don’t buy that they aren’t trying to remake KOQ. Will have to see to believe and I feel really bad for Erinn. What a slap in the face.
If they wanted leah remini back so badly, why couldn’t they gave her play a love interest of Kevin’s brother or something and hav e Kevin go back to the force and have to deal with her again. It would hav e been funny. The chemistry was great with Donna, IMO, and if they are killing her off, they are doing the same to the show.
that would have been a great idea
Agreed!! It was torcher to watch the two part season finally! I hate it and thought it was so “off”! Worst episodes of the season. I am a huge Kevin James fan but I do have to say this tanted my view a bit Leah does not fit into the show. And killing her off before the daughters wedding makes it even more tragic! If the 2nd season is like the two part season finally I likely will be deleting it from my DVR line up. Very sad! Such a fun LI show, I even went to the tapping once, such a great time!
Completely agree
Nope, I’m done. *sigh* She had such great chemistry with the whole cast. I’ve done King of Queens. I don’t need a repeat, even though I liked it well enough at the time. This will change the whole dynamic. Suddenly the kids have lost their mother? It can’t be that big a time jump or the two younger kids especially will need to be aged up. And what about the wedding? That was a huge premise throughout the entire first season–Kendra’s engagement at such a young age, her fiance who didn’t have a job and was mooching off the family, etc. If they are still at that place in their lives/relationship, that would be stupid, and if they aren’t, if they’re already married, etc, then the audience will feel cheated that they missed out on that story that was such a huge part of season one. Bleh.
Agreed. And it looks like it’s not going to be a huge time jump. So these kids just get over the loss of their mother that quickly eh. Disgusting.
Well that doesn’t sound like a complete trainwreck AT ALL.
Dang, that’s cold. Also entirely predictable. Not sure which is worse.
I like Kevin James but I started watching for Erinn Hayes and she was definitely the most enjoyable thing about this series for me. Have never been a Leah Remini fan so I’m out. Hope the show does well for those that will enjoy this turn of events but the daughter and her fiancé are just not enough to keep me wanting to watch.
I really like Kevin James. Erin Hayes… Not so much. Can’t wait to see Leah back with Kevin. Sorry I missed the episodes with Leah. Hope they re-run those, so I can get a better idea of what transpired. Sad about Erin’s demise, but over joyed to see Leah and Kevin together again!
I agree Kathy….
I agree also…I watched one episode when it started. Wasn’t a huge fan, but came back when Leah guest starred. I love those two together.Even better that they are different characters to KOQ and can go in any direction going forward.
My wish came true.. Yeaa!! As much as I Do feel bad for the other actress, I am SO thrilled that Leah R. is coming back!! (and hey.. Nothing personal, that’s just show biz!).
Wish Remni’s character’s ‘father’ cld be back on too! Cld care less if it turns back into the old KOQ!! Let them all grow old together and Don’t take them Off again! (If it ain’t broke STOP fixing it!!!). Anyway, Yeaa!
I think this the worst way to handle it because from the reports we read it doesn’t seem like there was much hostility over her exit.
Why permanently close the door on her making a guest appearance or something down the road?
possibly because they liked the character and don’t want to make her look like a villain which is the only way to go for a situation like that.
1976 – John Amos’s character on “Good Times” was killed off. According to Amos, he objected to the emphasis on J.J.’s antics, which Amos referred to as “shucking and jiving,” and Amos admitted he “wasn’t the most diplomatic guy.,” Amos went on to say producers got tired of “having their lives threatened over jokes.”
That was an example of bad blood with the producers. A similar situation happened in the late eighties with the show Valerie. Their was a salary dispute between the studio and Valerie Harper, so they killed her character off in a car accident, between seasons. The next year they brought in Sandy Duncan and renamed the show, “Valerie’s Family”. (And then renamed it, yet again, “The Hogan Family”) But this whole situation seems worse, because it didn’t stem from any apparent discord. They just dropped her without warning, witch kind of makes them dicks.
I’ve only watched the show a few times and I liked the character of Donna. Something about Leah Remini is abrasive. There was a show called The Exes and she was brought on but she played the abrasive character from King of Queens on there too. Not sure how this will play out. I think it’s a bad idea.
Loved The Exes! I liked her on that show, even though she was basically a divorced version of Carrie Heffernan. She was added because Kristen Johnston was ill and missed some episodes…but at least Remini didn’t replace her.
After they fired Erin I think that was so very wrong!! I WILL NOT EATCH THE SHOW.Trying to relive King of Queens again is so dumb!!
If they were going to do this, they should go all in. Have Kevin find her corpse in a Doomsday Killers style ritual killing out of Dexter.
It sounds like Kevin CAN’T wait to replace his dead wife.
If you folks believe this, I have some beach front property in Queens I might interest you in :0)
Errr…. there is beach front property in Queens. It’s an island.
Lol
You win the internet.
Massive mistake.
I read a comment, I believe here on TVLine, when they first announced Erin was leaving & Leah was coming back. The person said they would find a complete flip acceptable only if they’d Bob Newhart the whole thing. Doug Heffernan wakes up in Queens & tells Carrie about his crazy dream where he’d been a police officer, his cousin was his brother, had a different wife, kids, etc. That would be far more preferable than this malarkey.
I remember reading that too.
How long before Jerry Stiller gets an alleged new project?
How will they kill Donna off she seem really health in the show unless the way she dies in the show is getting by a moving vehicle or something bad like that
Lot’s of people seem to be healthy, that doesn’t mean they are. If they don’t want to go the accident route she could have died from an aneurysm or a heart attack or she got pneumonia, all of those things do kill young people.
I for one will no longer watch the show. I like the show just the way it was and Donna character made me laugh.
Funny guy with less than stellar looks has hot wife (??) he’d never get in life, unless he’s wealthy, which has been done to death on TV for ages.
The dumbing down continues.
This is very cruel and dark for a situation comedy. Surely there had to be some other creative way to change the show’s direction? I feel bad for Miss Hayes.
Change the show’s title to “Kevin Can’t Wait – For His Wife To Die!”
no kidding its not gonna be tasteful no matter how hard they try. Sitcoms and Funerals don’t mix unless the dark comedy vibe is intended. Just look at Two and a Half Men when they killed off Charlie Sheen.
Or 8 Simple Rules when John Ritter died. I think this explanation is some sort of fakeout. Killing Donna will only force her to become a silent character the writers will have to continually deal with. If they attempt some sort of dream or reboot, you eliminate that. Make Kevin wake up… Donna actually died before the two younger kids were even born, years ago. Focus on Kevin, Vanessa and Chale opening a detective agency with the oldest daughter in the mix. Keep Gary Valentine, maybe add a new character. Donna recently passing away will hang over the show.
To be fair, having John Ritter’s character on 8 Simple Rules die was the only way they could handle the unfortunate reality of his death. Anything else would have been disrespectful.
They did an admirable job with Ritter’s death, given the circumstances. I took the point that whenever any character is killed off, it’s just not funny (with the exception of Chuckles the clown!). It takes the show out if its groove and it takes awhile to regain comedic momentum. For a show with so-so ratings, this is a big risk.
And they handled it really well. It felt honest and raw in the show. It was a great way to honour his memory
That is such a ridiculous and lazy way to write a character out of a show. But then again this is CBS so…