Kevin Can F**k Himself’s creator has explained how the show’s two distinct storytelling styles work. The eight-episode AMC season follows sitcom wife Allison (Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy), who breaks television conventions and escapes the confines of her life. The upcoming show is a dark comedy that subverts the traditional sitcom's tropes for a fresh, feminist spin. The titular Kevin is a happy-go-lucky “dude” played by Eric Petersen, constructed as a working-class everyman. In the sitcom world, Allison is reduced to the nagging harpy in his life. The show creator previously revealed she was inspired by King of Queens-style sitcoms, which paired a “schlubby” husband with a “knockout” wife and wrote the show as a response to the gender politics of the 2016 presidential election.
The production uses visual styles to differentiate between the oppressive sitcom storyline and Allison’s other reality. The sitcom storyline involves a multi-cam set-up, replete with a laugh track, sidekicks for Kevin, and a bright visual style one might see on The Big Bang Theory. When Allison walks “off-set,” she enters a grittier, single-cam world reminiscent of AMC’s traditional programming. In this reality-twisting setup, viewers may have a lot of questions about what’s real and what’s fake.
In an interview with Variety, show creator Valerie Armstrong has explained how the two storylines work together. While some fans have questioned if part of the show takes place in Allison’s head, whether there is a show-within-a-show element afoot, or even if there is a supernatural explanation, Armstrong sets the record straight:
“What happens in the multi-camera world is just as real as what happens in the single-cam world, it’s just how the events are viewed by the people in the room.”
Armstrong elaborates on the “rules” that could or could not happen in either of these “worlds.” When Kevin and his sidekicks are on-screen, they “cause the world to be this little sitcom that could air on CBS.” This sitcom space allows viewers to grapple with the destructive nature of sitcom gender roles. While the show highlights Kevin’s manipulative behavior, Armstrong notes that it never gives him a character beat that one wouldn’t find played out in another sitcom.
Kevin Can F**k Himself has been hotly anticipated ever since it was announced. The show comes on the heels of WandaVision, another production that played with sitcom tropes. However, while the Marvel show admired the romance of classic domestic comedies The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy, Kevin Can F**k Himself works to subvert these cliches. The AMC show also gives Murphy another fascinating role to explore after winning the hearts of viewers as Schitt’s Creek’s Alexis.
Source: Variety