King of Queens is one of those classic sitcoms you could watch on repeat over and over. From Arthur's shenanigans to Doug's ridiculous plans, there is always something funny going on. Even the side characters are so funny, you can't help but love them all, even for their flaws.
But for a show that still produces a ton of laughs, there are some elements that don't quite land anymore. Here are some of the ways the story of a perpetual man child, his attractive but nagging wife, and his eccentric father-in-law have aged poorly, and also some ways that it's managed to remain timeless.
AGED POORLY: THE FAT MAN CHILD JOKES
While he has a funny, loving personality, Doug really plays into the stereotype of an overweight man child. He will do anything for food and will put himself in ridiculous situations instead of taking the adult route and brushing things off. For example, in season six, episode 18, "Trash Talker," Deacon befriends Doug's high school bully, Sean (played by John Favreau). It turns out that, in grade school, Sean saw Doug lick a trash can in the school cafeteria and told everyone about it. Doug insists he never did that, and deems Sean his enemy. He even goes as far as preventing Carrie from taking a good job with Sean's company because she can't work for his enemy.
The idea of a large, immature man with immature tendencies is a typical sitcom trope. It's been done throughout TV history. We've seen this everywhere. There are other ways to make jokes about husbands without making them all the same. And let's just all agree on the fact that fat jokes are not cool.
TIMELESS: DEALING WITH ANNOYING FAMILY MEMBERS
You don't choose your family. That's something Doug learns as he tolerates Carrie's obnoxiously annoying father, Arthur, living in their house. At the end of the day, we all have family members who drive us nuts, but we tolerate them because they are family and we love them. To a certain degree, of course. And in reality, Arthur's not a bad guy and his heart is in the right place. Everyone deals with this and it's always funny to see what kind of shenanigans Arthur gets himself, and Doug's friends, into.
AGED POORLY: THE HOT BOSSY WIFE JOKES
Carrie embodies the typical trope of a hot, bossy wife who is out of her husband's league and constantly nags him. Being mean or nasty is part of her whole character. To her credit, Carrie is also tough and holds her own against everyone else. But sometimes the guys treat her like she's a villain. At one point, Doug and Arther develop a habit of feeding her alcoholic drinks when she gets home from work because they realize that it makes her more pleasant to be around.
In the same way that the fat man child husband is an overdone TV trope, so is the hot, bossy, naggy wife. These are female stereotypes that people are really over at this point. It may have been funny at the time, but with so much potential today, it's not funny anymore.
TIMELESS: THE IDEA OF A CHILDLESS COUPLE
In today's world, more couples are making the choice not to have children. Whether it's for financial reasons or personal ones, it's more acceptable than ever to put career before family, especially for women. The idea that Doug and Carrie are childless is actually pretty refreshing. Many sitcoms revolve around the dynamic of a family with kids, but for Doug and Carrie, the decision isn't that easy. They go through a lot of realistic hurdles trying to figure out if it's the right step for them instead of succumbing to pressure by external parties. Will it affect Carrie's career? Do they have enough money to support a kid? These are questions people face every day.
Of course, by the season finale, Doug and Carrie have decided to follow through with having children, but it's a decision that takes them nine entire seasons to reach. If they had kids earlier on, the show probably wouldn't have been the same at all.
AGED POORLY: HOMOPHOBIC JOKES
Throughout the show, there are plenty of homophobic jokes, which obviously don't land in today's pleasantly accepting culture. There's a particular episode that comes to mind: season five, episode four, "Kirbed Enthusiasm." During this episode, Deacon is worried that his son, Kirby, is gay. So, he asks Doug to teach his football team. There are other episodes where Deacon is also concerned about Kirby being gay, like when he chooses to be a Powerpuff Girl for Halloween.
There are also all of the homophobic jokes in relation to Spence and Danny's friendship. The two are just roommates who bicker like any other set of friends. But there are always underlying jokes about them being a gay couple. Particularly with Spence because he's more in tune with his emotions and doesn't get a lot of girls. There's also the conflict in the series finale when Arthur's fiancee reveals she only marries gay men for companionship and she'd thought Arthur was gay. The way that these ideas are treated on the show wouldn't hold up if it came out today.
TIMELESS: DEALING WITH MARITAL PROBLEMS
One of the more serious issues the show covers pretty well is the problems that many married couples face, and the reality that sometimes marriages don't always work out. Doug and Carrie go through some pretty big hurdles that test their relationship. At one point they almost divorce. Doug and Carrie aren't the only couple to go through problems that many marriages would face. Deacon and Kelly also split for a little while, eventually divorcing and reconciling. It's nice to see that these characters are dealing with real problems that are certainly relevant today, and the chemistry between Doug and Carrie really works to pull them back together despite being two completely different people.
AGED POORLY: A LACK OF DIVERSITY AND THINLY VEILED RACISM
For a show about people living in New York City, which is known for its diversity, there weren't a lot of really diverse characters in the core group of the show. Deacon is the only person of color who stays on the show for the long term, as well as his wife, Kelly. There are also a lot of jokes thrown in based around Deacon's African American heritage. Unfortunately, there is a common trope in TV land that throws in a token colored character as a way to diversify the show in the simplest way possible. Sometimes it seems as though Deacon is just thrown in and they have to constantly refer to his heritage in order to be more diverse. Ultimately, diversity doesn't need to be this forced.
TIMELESS: THE REALLY FUNNY MOMENTS
There are so many moments of genuine comedic brilliance on King of Queens. Those moments are still hilarious to this day. From feuding with their crazy neighbors to being roped into pyramid schemes, the characters always have something funny up their sleeve. Who could forget that time Doug stabled his scrotum after goofing off at work, or when he and Deacon drive Kelly and Carrie nuts when they're on strike and bored? All of the hilarious moments brought the show together.
AGED POORLY: ARTHUR BEING A CRAZY OLD MAN
Older people are often stereotyped on television as being senile, crazy lunatics. There are a lot of laughs on television that are delivered at the expense of seniors. Arthur embodies a lot of these tropes and pushes them to their limits. Of course, this is the whole dynamic of the show. But this stuff gets taken too far. Sometimes it's funny, while other times it's just really mean stereotyping. Doug and Carrie are constantly making threats of stuffing him into an old folks' home, while other times they're brushing off what he does because he's senile. We get it – he's old.
TIMELESS: HAVING KIDS WHEN YOU'RE NOT REALLY READY
The thing is, in real life, sometimes kids happen whether you're prepared or not. Many people aren't ready for kids and are still fully capable of providing them with love and good lives. Doug and Carrie are not ready for kids. They aren't even together when they get the news that there's a baby ready for them. At first, they fight over who gets the baby. But by the time they do get her, they've realized that they can make it work together. Which is good timing, because it turns out Carrie is also pregnant and they end up with two.