Kevin Can F**k Himself’s creator Valerie Armstrong has explained how the show’s distinct type of storytelling works. The eight-episode series had its debut on AMC+ today and will be released on AMC on June 20.
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Armstrong sat down with Variety for an interview where she revealed details about the creation of Kevin Can F**k Himself.
The interesting bit amongst them was when she delved into the series making two separate scenarios work together.
The show follows Allison (Annie Murphy), who desires to escape her mundane life being married to her carefree, working-class husband Kevin (Eric Petersen).
Partly portraying her as a perfect sitcom wife, it simultaneously sees her subvert the traditional good wife trope and enter into a dark comedy side with a new feminist twist.
Thus Allison’s actions help break television conventions and lead to her escaping the confines of her deeply exploitative life.
While some have questioned how the show merges the contrasting narratives and whether there is an element of supernatural or spectacle involved, Armstrong set things straight:
“What happens in the multi-camera world is just as real as what happens in the single-camera world, it’s just the way events are viewed by those in the room.”
Armstrong
The series’ production employs visual styles to keep the sitcom’s repressive storyline separate from Allison’s reality.
Moreover, the sitcom’s storyline involves a setup with multiple cameras, sidekicks for the titular character, a laugh track, and a fantastic visual style reminiscent of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory.
As Allison breaks free from that scenario, she enters a gritty environment with a single camera setup similar to regular AMC programming.
Kevin Can F**k Himself comes after the massive success of Marvel’s WandaVision, another recent production that played around with the sitcom trope.
The Disney+ series aimed to portray a fondness for the classic television shows like I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, the upcoming series is all about subverting those cliches.
The show’s creator has also previously revealed that the inspiration for Kevin Can F**k Himself was taken from the 1998 sitcom The King of Queens, which paired an oafish husband with an attractive wife.
Furthermore, Armstrong wrote the show in response to the 2016 presidential election gender policy, which pitted former candidates Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump, with the latter becoming victorious.
What’s more, the writer notes that the idea for the premise came to her as a woman walking out of a traditional sitcom setup living room, into the kitchen where studio lighting changes to regular bulbs. She drops her forced smile, looks straight at the camera and says,
“I fucking hate my husband.”
By projecting both worlds then, the show aims to help viewers confront the toxic gender roles present in society and the ever long battle of the female sex to escape from their harsh realities.
About Kevin Can F**k Himself
Kevin Can F**k Himself is an American dark comedy television series created by Valerie Armstrong, who also serves as an executive producer.
Cast members include Annie Murphy, Eric Petersen, Mary Hollis Inboden, Raymond Lee, Briand Howe and Alex Bonifer.
The show follows a sitcom wife who escapes her confines and becomes the lead of her own life by deciding to kill her husband.
The series premiered on AMC+ on June 13, 2021, and is currently airing its second season.
Source: Variety
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