AMC Show Canceled Ahead of New Season
Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy will be soon be looking for a new gig, being as AMC has canceled her new series, Kevin Can F**k Himself. While the show was renewed for a second, eight-episode season, that installment will serve as its final outing. Created by Valerie Armstrong, the show was a parody of stereotypical sitcom plots — namely the Kevin James sitcom Kevin Can Wait — and co-starred comedian Eric Petersen as the titular Kevin. An AMC rep confirmed this cancellation to TVLine on Nov. 30.
Kevin Can F**k Himself stars Murphy as Allison Devine-McRoberts, who wants to take control of her own life and is stuck in an unhappy marriage with Kevin McRoberts (Petersen). Whenever Allison is alone, the show follows a traditional single-camera setup, but when she is Kevin, the show shifts tone to become a traditional multi-camera sitcom, complete with canned laughter. Kevin is written as a parody of ignorant sitcom husbands, particularly ones played by Kevin James. Harry Hollis Inboden, Alex Bonifer, Brian Howe, and Raymond Lee also starred in the show.
The show's first season wrapped up on Aug. 1, with Allison's neighbor Patty (Inboden) stopping Kevin's friend Neil (Bonifer) from killing Allison after he discovered Allison wanted to murder her husband. A few weeks after the finale aired, AMC renewed the show for Season 2. The new episodes will also be available on the AMC+ streaming platform.
"We're so grateful to AMC for giving a home to our weird little show," Armstrong said in a statement when the show was renewed. "Creating the first season of Kevin Can F**k Himself and getting to tell this story has been the joy of my life. We couldn't be more thrilled to be stuck in Worcester with Allison for another year."
"It's Kevin's world, Allison's just living in it. Or is she? This series was built on a novel and unique concept, and the creative team on both sides of the camera, led by Valerie and Annie, delivered a highly entertaining first season that really got people talking and rooting for the sitcom wife as never before," Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, added. "We are excited to see this talented team move from the finale's cliffhanger and continue Allison's journey, pushing the bounds of conventional storytelling every step of the way."
Murphy scored a breakout role as Alexis Rose on Schitt's Creek, which ran six seasons and was created by Dan Levy and Eugene Levy. Last year, she won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the show's final season. She also picked up a Screen Actors Guild Award as a member of the cast earlier this year. She has a role in the upcoming second season of Natasha Lyonne's acclaimed Netflix series Russian Doll.