If you've ever wondered what would happen if a sitcom wife finally snapped on her obnoxious, bumbling husband, Annie Murphy is happy to show you. In AMC's new metadrama, the Emmy-winning Schitt's Creek actress [1] plays Allison — the exasperated wife of Kevin McRoberts — who is tired of playing the role of the perfectly meek housewife. Playing off the tried-and-true formula used by beloved shows like Kevin Can Wait, the series switches between the old-school multicam format to the more dramatic single-camera lens to show the contrast between Allison's sitcom and real-life views.
But it's not a show within a show — a scene where Allison cuts her hand in the trailer highlights how everything is happening in real time. Viewers are just seeing the Massachusetts housewife through two different lenses. There's the brightly coloured, laugh-tracked view when Kevin is his "loveable" self and subjecting his wife and their life to various humiliations and, there's the dark, gritty view of how his actions are actually affecting those around him. Allison is consumed by rage and hungers to live a life that doesn't involve her obliviously charming husband, whom she often fantasizes about killing. It's as if Kevin Can Wait had a baby with Shameless.
Created by Valerie Armstrong and executive produced by Rashida Jones, the cast includes Eric Petersen as the titular cable guy, Kevin, Mary Hollis Inboden as the couple's neighbour Patty, and Alex Bonifer as Patty's husband and Kevin's best friend. Kevin Can F*ck Himself is slated to premiere on AMC this summer with eight-hour-long episodes. Watch the trailer above.