The King of Queens was a sitcom that divided audiences. Some tuned in religiously to enjoy the affable misadventures of Kevin James’ delivery driver and occasional slob Doug Heffernan alongside his long-suffering wife, Carrie (Leah Remini). Others– TV critics, namely– hit out at the show for relying too heavily on class and gender stereotypes to elicit cheap laughs.

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All other opinions on The King of Queens aside, most were happy to agree one thing: Jerry Stiller was great as Carrie’s eccentric live-in father, Arthur. Watching the show back now, it’s great to see that many of his best gags are as funny now as they were then, imbued by Stiller’s comic timing and a surrealism sadly lacking elsewhere. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the series doesn't hold up nearly as well.

Doug Worries Carrie Will Put On Weight

King of Queens Carrie

Almost from the start, The King of Queens ventured into what is, by today’s standards, fairly dicey territory. The second episode of the show’s first season, "Fat City," saw Doug discover the women on Carrie’s side of the family tend to put on weight as they get older.

His solution? Applying tight restrictions on the food Carrie eats. It’s difficult to know where to start with such a wrongheaded setup like this. Aside from the alarming issues around control, body shaming, and sexism, there’s also the double-standard of Doug demanding a thin wife when he himself is anything but.

Doug And Carrie Install A Camera In Arthur's Room

King of Queens Arthur

The premise for "Life Sentence" from The King of Queen’s fourth season wouldn’t have looked out of place as the basis for a straight-up horror movie. It all starts when, after one too many misdemeanors around the house, Doug and Carrie decide to install a hidden camera in the basement bedroom Arthur occupies.

Leaving aside the fact Carrie houses her borderline senile father in a dank basement, secretly filming elderly and confused relatives is not cool. Neither is watching the video feed with your buddies and placing bets on what your poor father-in-law will do next. Unfortunately, Doug does both.

Doug And Arthur Share A Bed

King of Queens Doug

Season 5 kicked off with "Arthur Spooner" and a storyline that saw Doug convince Arthur to accompany him to bed every night, because Carrie works late and he can't sleep without someone next to him.

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For starters, the premise is a rip-off of that Friends episode “The One with The Nap Partners”, except rather than Ross and Joey enjoying snuggles it’s Doug and Arthur. Yes, a man-child and his elderly father-in-law. And, like Friends, it dabbles in a bit of gay panic for laughs along with a little sexism for good measure— how dare Carrie have a career and leave her hard-working husband to sleep alone at night?

Doug Flirts With An "Ugly" Bowling Alley Attendant And Carrie Is Groped

Carrie in The King of Queens.

If ever a single episode of The King of Queens were enough to put someone off the show for life, it’s this one from the show’s stinker of a fifth season. For starters, there’s the painfully pun-tastic title, "Mammary Lane"– but it gets worse.

The jaw dropping storyline sees Doug get himself in a spot of bother at his local bowling alley after flirting with an “ugly girl” who works there. Doug’s reason? He wants to “make her feel better”. Only problem is, she’s not all that interested in Doug. Meanwhile, Carrie is forced to look after her boss's young son, who has become a little "grabby" of late.

Doug Takes A Picture Of His Junk At Someone's Wedding

In some states, Doug would be in prison for what he does in "Flash Photography." The title is a dead giveaway as to what the episode is going to be about, given the show’s penchant for totally on-the-nose puns. There’s also the fact that Doug is pretty gross a lot of the time.

Our "hero" decides it would be funny to take a picture of his private parts using a camera being handed out at a wedding. The very predictable twist that occurs is that the picture ends up getting shared around by the angry couple, and no one is impressed.

Doug And Carrie Hire Russian Workers

Another dud from season five, "Steve Moscow" saw Doug and Carrie embroiled in a touch of xenophobia. It all starts when they hire a Russian work crew to fix some dampness in their apartment, and the workers end up being listless and lazy.

Doug and Carrie's solution? To give their Eastern European employees a vat of Vodka to motivate them to get to work. It’s like being way back in the 1950s watching a show go down a checklist of cheap gags based on offensive stereotypes, except this was 2003 and everyone involved should've known better.

Doug Thinks A Little Person Stole His Wallet

Little people often ended up the butt of the joke in sitcoms, even as recently as the 2000s which is completely inexcusable. It was a low point for comedy and something that makes for uneasy re-watching today. The King of Queens is guilty of this, and nowhere is that more apparent that in the Christmas-themed episode "Silent Mite".

The embarrassment centers on an incident during a trip to the local shopping mall. Doug loses his wallet and, after spotting Carrie getting hit on by a little person, determines him to be the guilty party.  Cue a boatload of awful, juvenile jokes about the man's height.

Doug Wants Carrie To Take Up Pole Dancing Lessons

Doug pole dancing in The King of Queens.

Everyone now and then, The King of Queens serves up a little reminder as to how much of jerk Doug truly is. It’s kind of the entire premise of the show in a lot of ways.

"Pole Lox," from season eight, is a case in point. Doug wants Carrie to take up pole dancing lessons. The reason why soon becomes apparent— Doug wants Carrie to perform nightly shows for him. However, when it comes time for the big show, Doug is left unimpressed. Then her dad gets involved, voicing his objections. It’s all kinds of weird and offensive.

Doug Is Smitten With His Attractive Young Hairdresser

Sometimes you wonder how Doug ended up with Carrie. While Carrie is guilty of the occasional flight of fancy, it’s Doug who ends up taking the joke too far, as he did— yet again— in the episode "Shear Torture."

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This time, Doug has become smitten with his attractive new hairdresser, so much so that he starts getting multiple haircuts per week. All so he can spend the whole time staring at the chest of a woman half his age. When Carrie finds out, she promptly orders a stylist switch to an older man.

Carrie Pushes Doug Down A Flight Of Stairs

Carrie and Doug sit on the sofa in King of Queens

Sometimes The King of Queens veered into dark territory. There were points when a line was crossed, like in the season eight clunker "Knee Jerk" which makes light of domestic violence with a storyline that sees Carrie “accidentally” push Doug down the stairs after an argument.

So far, so awful— but things then take another twist when it is revealed that Doug has been exaggerating his injuries in order to get more sympathy from his wife. Carrie eventually picks up on the ruse, leading to another unsavory encounter played for supposedly comedic effect.

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