Actor Kevin James has maintained a feature film career that keeps him working with some of his best friends in the comedy world, with projects such as Pixels, Sandy Wexler and the Grown Ups films. And though it looked like his return to TV for CBS' Kevin Can Wait might have him working with mostly new actors, the show could very well turn into The King of Queens 2.0 by the time it's done. KoQ's Leah Remini and Gary Valentine are already series regulars, and it sounds like Patton Oswalt is also interested in reconnecting with his former co-stars.
As one of the most outspoken comedians out there, Patton Oswalt is a constantly busy guy, and he was seen and heard on more than 15 different TV shows in 2017, not to mention movies and video games. But he would apparently be totally down to reconnect with Kevin James & Co. for Kevin Can Wait. Here's what he told TVGuide at this year's TCA winter press tour when asked if the show had reached out to him about appearing.
No! And if they did, I would do it in a second. King of Queens was one of the most fun times I've ever had. Getting to work with Kevin and Jerry Stiller and Leah, that was the best show. I loved it.
I'm admittedly shocked that no one from Kevin Can Wait has actively tried to get Patton Oswalt involved yet, considering he was a huge part of the King of Queens cast. And even though the current CBS sitcom also hasn't tried to tap Jerry Stiller or Victor Williams, it's not like Stiller is still active on the acting front. And this is a show that, let's not forget, added Leah Remini as a guest star at the end of Season 1 and then completely revamped the show to turn her into a lead character, even when it came at the expense of actress Erinn Hayes, who was fired ahead of Season 2, with her character Donna facing an unceremonious and fan-enraging offscreen death. So if anyone had any ideas about bringing Oswalt in, there likely wouldn't be any issues with the subject matter.
As far as who Patton Oswalt could play on Kevin Can Wait, he could easily just pop in for an episode or two as one of Kevin's old high school friends or something. He could basically just play an updated and self-aware version of the comic-loving Spence, since that's the vibe that King of Queens fans would likely want to see anyway. Hopefully it'll happen at some point, and hopefully it'll soon be followed by Jerry Stiller and Victor Williams showing up for their own roles.
Without Patton Oswalt in tow, Kevin Can Wait Season 2 will return to CBS with its midseason premiere on Monday, January 15, at 8:00 p.m. ET. While waiting to see if anything comes of this, check out all the other new and returning shows hitting the small screen soon with our midseason premiere schedule.
