{"id":279163,"date":"2021-06-20T03:19:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T00:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/kevin-can-f-himself-shatters-the-sitcom-screen-and-then-some\/"},"modified":"2021-06-20T03:19:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T00:19:56","slug":"kevin-can-f-himself-shatters-the-sitcom-screen-and-then-some","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/kevin-can-f-himself-shatters-the-sitcom-screen-and-then-some\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Kevin Can F*** Himself&#8217; Shatters The Sitcom Screen And Then Some"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#&#8217;Kevin Can F*** Himself&#8217; Shatters The Sitcom Screen And Then Some<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9--><em>Welcome to\u00a0<strong>Up Next<\/strong>, a column that gives you the rundown on the latest TV. This week,\u00a0Valerie Ettenhofer reviews Kevin Can F*** Himself, a structure-busting sitcom-drama hybrid airing on AMC+.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>As we wade further into the 21st century, traditional sitcoms seem more and more obsolete. So why won\u2019t they just die? Sure, in our stream-h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>y world, it\u2019s easier to ignore them than ever, but a sea of man-child protagonists still thrive in syndication and on major networks, with canned laughter following their every move.<\/p>\n<p>The ambitious new AMC <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> <em>Kevin Can F*** Himself<\/em> doesn\u2019t just want to see the traditional sitcom format die; it wants to be the one to bash its brains in. The series by Valerie Armstrong follows Allison McRoberts (<em>Schitt\u2019s Creek<\/em>\u2019s excellent Annie Murphy), a put-upon housewife whose life is split between the endless sitcom antics of her husband, Kevin (Eric Petersen), and by the brewing crisis-turned-awakening that begins when she learns he\u2019s kept a major secret from her.<\/p>\n<p>This is where <em>Kevin Can F*** Himself<\/em>\u2019s most divisive element comes in; the series is quite literally half a sitcom. Anytime Kevin is on screen, it\u2019s a multi-cam situational comedy, complete with studio-bright lighting, goofy sidekicks, and an overwhelming laugh track. When Allison isn\u2019t with Kevin, her world is darker and more dynamic, filmed like, well, an AMC drama. It\u2019s a daring, disorienting structure, one that asks viewers to come along for a ride unlike anything they\u2019ve seen before. It\u2019s certainly a ride worth punching a ticket for, as the four episodes available for review are caustic and thrilling, laced with enough mystery and plot momentum to keep viewers on the edge of their seats\u2013and on edge in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Kevin Can F*** Himself<\/em> can be read as a meta hate letter to the gender dynamics of American sitcoms (its title seems to allude to the Kevin James-led series <em>Kevin Can Wait<\/em>, which <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180126215901\/http:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/2017\/09\/25\/how-kevin-can-wait-addressed-donna-death\/\">infamously killed off<\/a> the protagonist\u2019s wife after one season). Still, its rhetorical ambitions reach far beyond that. Allison is trapped in a dead-end, small-town world, one ravaged by opioids, alcoholism, xenophobia, and run-of-the-mill misogyny. One might guess that Allison imagines her husband as a sitcom hero because he and those around him engage unthinkingly in the kind of blind, one-dimensional optimism that ignores anything beyond the scope of their living room. The sitcom-ification of real life, a case of life imitating bad art, is a common phenomenon; if you\u2019ve ever heard a family member put more effort into \u201cthe old ball and chain\u201d jokes than they have into working on their actual marriage, you\u2019ve witnessed it, too.<em> Kevin Can F*** Himself<\/em> doesn\u2019t just seek to uncover the rot within one of America\u2019s fundamental TV genres but also within the hearts of the people who watch, internalize, and even inspire them.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the show doesn\u2019t mold Allison into an entirely sympathetic protagonist either. She\u2019s relentlessly driven, often by fantasies, and while many of those around her try to find the best version of themselves within the given circumstances, she feels trapped to the point of extreme action. Her eventual partner in crime is Patty (Mary Hollis Inboden), a neighbor who played the role of the sarcastic stock character for a decade before finally coming into sharper focus. Inboden is the series\u2019 secret weapon, channeling a young Rosie O\u2019Donnell while scowling through a curtain of black hair, a cigarette perpetually in hand. Patty is the ideal link between the show\u2019s sitcom world and its drama world, as her dark humor and unflappable persona seem uniquely at home in both.<\/p>\n<p>The series\u2019 split structure may grow wearisome to some, but both halves are pointed and intriguing, full of clues to the series\u2019 ultimate ideology. We see Allison constantly undermined during the sitcom plots, cast simultaneously as a stick in the mud and the only real, capable adult in the room. The series\u2019 stark contrasts provide insight, and soon sitcom tropes start to seem like red flags\u2013as when Kevin says he never let Allison get a pet because he doesn\u2019t want anything competing with his cuteness. Meanwhile, characters in the dark drama half of the series aren\u2019t immune to the American sitcom state of mind. Allison\u2019s coworker at the local liquor store constantly impresses upon her that her husband\u2019s needs are the most important thing, only this time around, there\u2019s no punchline.<\/p>\n<p><em>Kevin Can F*** Himself<\/em> is working on a higher level than most of its contemporaries from the start, playing around with layered ideologies, unusual narrative structure, and constantly shifting formal elements with all the ease and enjoyment of a kid in a sandbox. It\u2019s the type of high-concept drama that more often than not results in a misunderstood, short-lived cult classic. Still, with compelling performances and an uncompromising point-of-view, it deserves to break through with audiences in a big way. Call it payback for twelve seasons of<em> Two and A Half Men.<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/kevin-can-f-himself-review\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=kevin-can-f-himself-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#&#8217;Kevin Can F*** Himself&#8217; Shatters The Sitcom Screen And Then Some&#8221; Welcome to\u00a0Up Next, a column that gives you the rundown on the latest TV. This week,\u00a0Valerie Ettenhofer reviews Kevin Can F*** Himself, a structure-busting sitcom-drama hybrid airing on AMC+. As we wade further into the 21st century, traditional sitcoms seem more and more obsolete&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":279164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Kevin_Can_F_Himself.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[89407,7153],"class_list":["post-279163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-kevin-can-f-himself","tag-up-next"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}