OnScreen Review: “Kevin Can F**K Himself”

Calling all Schitt’s Creek fans! Annie Murphy, who plays the incomparable Alexis Rose, has a new show out on AMC and it shows us a side of Murphy we’ve never seen before. Kevin Can F**k Himself centers around Allison and Kevin McRoberts, a married couple living in Worcester, Massachusetts. They are seemingly the stereotypical sitcom married couple; the husband gets into mischief with his pals while his “perfect” wife deals with it all while trying to maintain a house. However, this show is unlike what you’ve seen before. In-between the classic American sitcom scenes look into the real-life of the long-suffering sitcom wife. Allison (Murphy) has been putting up with her husband for too long and can’t take it anymore, she needs a way out.   

I can promise you, there is nothing like this show out there. It perfectly blends two different types of television together. One minute you’re watching a show reminiscent of Everybody Loves Raymond or The King of Queens, and suddenly it switches to something almost like Mr. Robot. If you’re confused as to how that works, I get it. It doesn’t seem like it should work, but you’ll just have to give it a chance. The best part of this show is the glimpse into a life we normally don’t get to see. Have you ever wondered how the wives of these “zany” sitcom husbands handle it all? Well, here’s your chance. And to be honest, if I had to deal with a husband always blowing our money on schemes and stupid toys, I would probably feel exactly the way Allison McRoberts does. It’s exciting to see a different side to the story we’ve all been watching for years.

While I think the whole cast does a great job of portraying both styles of tv, I am really fascinated with the McRoberts in particular. Annie Murphy’s portrayal of Allison is fantastic. Except for small facial expressions Murphy makes you completely detach her from Alexis Rose persona. She does a great job of creating a character that is both similar and completely new. We’ve seen the sitcom housewife before, and Murphy knows just how to play her as seemingly innocent and like a ball and chain to Kevin while also adding the depth of her unhappiness that we see when the laugh track stops. As the series goes on, we get to see just how far Murphy can take Allison away from the sitcom world and make her manic.

The other McRoberts worth mentioning is of course Kevin, played by Eric Peterson known primarily for his stage work in shows like Shrek: The Musical and School of Rock the Musical, and some minor tv roles, but he is certainly making a name for himself in tv now. He plays the role of the shlubby sitcom husband absolutely perfectly! I can’t think of anyone else who could play this part as well as Peterson does, especially when you consider that Peterson has to completely ignore the half of the story that is outside the sitcom world. He has his realm to play in and has to stay within those parameters. These kinds of tv husbands often don’t pay any attention to their wives so it makes it even more perfect that Peterson has to be completely oblivious to the other half of the story. I’m excited to see what else can happen with this character and how Peterson will portray that.

I will say, some of this show seems extreme. The lengths Allison is going to in order to get away from Kevin seem to go a little far, especially when it seems like Kevin is just a husband who likes having fun and nothing he does is that serious. However, I do think that if we were in Allison’s shoes, and had been married to this man for years, who knows how we’d react. But I am hoping that as the series goes on the sitcom side and the darker side will fully connect and we’ll get to see a new side to Kevin that we’ve only seen mini glimpses of that will make Allison’s tactics seem less outrageous. I feel like there is more to their marriage we haven’t seen yet.   

While there are still parts of this show I’m still kind of figuring out or hoping to see, I’m really enjoying watching each episode and seeing how these characters and story develop. I’ve seen so much tv in my life I can usually predict which way the story is going to go, but with this show I don’t have any strong predictions which make it more entertaining to watch, knowing that anything could happen. If you’re looking to watch a completely unique show, I suggest giving this a shot. All episodes are now streaming on AMC+ or you can watch a new episode every Sunday on AMC. Happy Watching!