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American television sitcom (1998–2007) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The King of Queens is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show's executive producer, and stars Kevin James and Leah Remini as Doug and Carrie Heffernan, a working-class couple living in Rego Park, Queens. All the episodes were filmed in front of a live studio audience.[1][2]
The King of Queens | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by |
|
Directed by | Rob Schiller |
Starring | |
Opening theme | "Baby All My Life I Will Be Driving Home to You" by Billy Vera and the Beaters (season 2–9) |
Ending theme | "Baby All My Life I Will Be Driving Home to You" (instrumental) (season 2) |
Composers | Andrew Gross (seasons 1–2) Jonathan Wolff (season 2) Rich Ragsdale (season 2) Kurt Farquhar (seasons 3–9) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 9 |
No. of episodes | 207 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Cinematography | Wayne Kennan Lennie T. Evans Jim Roberson |
Editor | John Doutt |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 21–22 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 21, 1998 – May 14, 2007 |
Related | |
Everybody Loves Raymond |
The King of Queens was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions (1998–2007), CBS Paramount Network Television (2007), in association with Columbia TriStar Television (1998–2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002–07). It was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. The ninth and final season concluded with a double-length finale episode in 2007. James and Remini reunited in the 2016 television sitcom Kevin Can Wait,[3] which ended on May 7, 2018.[4]
The show exhibits undertones of the original 1950s TV production The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows. Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini) are a middle-class couple living at "3121 Aberdeen St." in Rego Park, Queens, New York,[5][6] along with Carrie's father, Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller).[7] Doug works for the fictional International Parcel Service (IPS) as a delivery driver, while Carrie works as a legal secretary in Manhattan. Their lives are plagued by the demands of Arthur; so much so that they eventually hire Holly, a professional dog walker, to spend time with him as she walks dogs in the park. Doug Heffernan represents the "everyman" with his love of sports, TV, eating tons of food, and his wife [citation needed]. His constant deceit and schemes through various situations leave him humiliated as his plans backfire.
Also featured on the show are Doug's friends Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams), Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt), and Richie Iannucci (Larry Romano), as well as Doug's cousin Danny Heffernan (played by James' real-life brother Gary Valentine). Deacon's wife Kelly (Merrin Dungey) is Carrie's best friend, having met through the relationship her husband has with Deacon Palmer.
Most scenes take place in the Heffernans' home, but other common locations include Doug and Carrie's workplaces, the restaurant/pub "Coopers", and the residences of friends and family. While locations seen during the opening montage were filmed in areas around New York including the Empire State building, the Statue of Liberty and Sbarro Pizza, the series was filmed in California.[8]
The series begins after Doug and Carrie have been married for 3 years, and how they met is somewhat unclear due to continuity issues. In one flashback episode, "Meet By-Product", Doug meets Carrie while he is a bouncer at a nightclub that Carrie attends. However, in another episode, "Road Rayge", Carrie reflects on a song that she says Doug asked her to dance to when they were in junior high school.[9]
Centered on the lives of blue-collar, couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan, The King of Queens debuted on CBS on September 21, 1998. During its run, it brought in solid ratings (usually ranking in the Top 40, and peaking at #19 in its fourth season) for the most part and was a Monday night staple, competing with shows such as the long-running drama 7th Heaven. In 2003, when moved to Wednesday and scheduled against The West Wing and Nanny 911, it began to drop in the ratings. The final episode aired on May 14, 2007. The series was shot at Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 28 in Culver City, California.[10] The character of Arthur was conceived with Jerry Stiller in mind, but he initially turned down the role. Veteran comedian Jack Carter was then cast and a pilot was shot. Soon afterward, Stiller changed his mind and took the part, which required re-shooting of scenes featuring Carter.[11]
The King of Queens was partly inspired by the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners, the characters of Doug and Carrie being loosely based on the Kramden couple, with some similar mannerisms and deadpan expressions. In the 2001 episode "Inner Tube", the show pays homage to The Honeymooners as a distraught Doug dreams that he is Ralph Kramden, Carrie is Alice Kramden, and Deacon is Ed Norton. The sequence was filmed in black and white, and the audio quality (including audience reactions) matches a 1950s style.[12]
The season one main opening was a simple eight-second sequence which showed the window of a subway train moving past and then quickly stopping at the original show logo, which then peeled off to reveal the names of the show's creators.
Starting with the entire 2nd season, the show added a new theme song called "Baby All My Life I Will Be Driving Home to You", which was written by series writers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, composed by Jonathan Wolff and Scott Clausen, and performed by Billy Vera and the Beaters. An instrumental version was used as the closing theme during season 2, but was replaced in season 3 with a new closing theme composed by Kurt Farquhar.
With the show's transition to widescreen, the opening credits introduced in season 2 featured an opening shot of Doug climbing aboard an IPS truck, which then cuts to a long shot of his truck driving past the 111th Street elevated subway station, where the show's logo is digitally placed on the exterior. It then cuts to scenes of Doug, Carrie, and Arthur spending time around Queens, including local landmarks such as the Unisphere and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. In the season two sequence, Kevin James' starring credit was placed over a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline, but was edited after the September 11 attacks that felled the World Trade Center. Two short versions of the sequence exist: in original airings where the opening was shortened due to time constraints, and in some syndicated airings the opening featured the shot of the IPS truck going under the bridge, then to the final shot of the credits where Doug and Carrie get ices at the Lemon Ice King of Corona on 108th St in Queens. The second version used in U.S. syndicated airings since 2007 simply features the first eight seconds of the full sequence with the opening establishing shots of Queens placed before the truck scene. In syndicated airings of season one episodes that have aired in the U.S. since the fall of 2007, this version replaced the standard season one sequence in all episodes for unknown reasons.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Viewers (in millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 25 | September 21, 1998 | May 17, 1999 | 35 | 12.5 | |
2 | 25 | September 20, 1999 | May 22, 2000 | 34 | 12.7[13] | |
3 | 25 | October 2, 2000 | May 21, 2001 | 27 | 13.4[14] | |
4 | 25 | September 24, 2001 | May 20, 2002 | 19 | 13.9[15] | |
5 | 25 | September 23, 2002 | May 19, 2003 | 25 | 13.0 [16] | |
6 | 24 | October 1, 2003 | May 19, 2004 | 30 | 11.1[17] | |
7 | 22 | October 27, 2004 | May 18, 2005 | 48 | 9.8[18] | |
8 | 23 | September 19, 2005 | May 22, 2006 | 49 | 10.0[19] | |
9 | 13 | December 6, 2006 | May 14, 2007 | 30 | 11.4[20] |
Maryann Johnson of Flick Filospher critiqued, "Obvious and distasteful, The King of Queens relies too heavily on class and gender stereotypes to elicit laughs in the same way that one pulls teeth". Clint Morris of FilmThreat lauded the series, praising star Kevin James as "one of the funniest guys to grace the TV tube since Bill Cosby".[21] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the series has a score of 55 out of 100 based on the reviews of 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22]
In 2006, Kevin James received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Doug Heffernan.
TV Season | Award | Category | Nominee | Episode | Status | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005–2006 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Kevin James | "Pole Lox" | Nominated | Tony Shalhoub won the award for Monk. |
The King of Queens received BMI Awards in the TV Music category in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. These awards were presented to Kurt Farquhar, Josh Goldsmith, Andrew Gross, and Cathy Yuspa.
During its final two seasons, The King of Queens was nominated in the People's Choice Awards' Favorite TV Comedy category for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In 2004, Scott Heineman and Mark Waters were nominated by the Art Directors' Guild for the Excellence in Production Design Award. Victor Williams was nominated in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series by the NAACP Image Awards.
The show has been in syndication on over-the-air stations in the United States since the early 2000s, and is also a mainstay of cable syndication through the channels of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) and A&E Networks, including Nick at Nite,[23] TV Land,[24] CMT, FYI, Lifetime, and A&E. It has also streamed on Peacock since the service's debut in the spring of 2020.[25] Previously, it aired on TBS from September 2006[26] until September 2019. In July 2024, Cozi TV acquired the rights to the show along with Married... with Children and began airing on September 9, 2024.[27]
The show has also been a success internationally, both in its original run and in syndication.
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Dates | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1 (US) | Region 1 (CAN) | Region 2 (UK) | Region 2 (Germany) | Region 4 (Australia) | ||
The Complete First Season | 25 (3 discs) | November 18, 2003 | August 11, 2009 | January 29, 2007 | November 26, 2004 | January 11, 2007 |
The Complete Second Season | 25 (3 discs) | April 20, 2004 | August 11, 2009 | July 9, 2007 | March 31, 2005 | July 12, 2007 |
The Complete Third Season | 25 (3 discs) | February 22, 2005 | August 11, 2009 | September 15, 2008 | September 2, 2005 | July 31, 2008 |
The Complete Fourth Season | 25 (3 discs) | June 14, 2005 | January 5, 2010 | February 9, 2009 | December 2, 2005 | January 15, 2009 |
The Complete Fifth Season | 25 (3 discs) | June 20, 2006 | January 5, 2010 | May 18, 2009 | May 26, 2006 | May 7, 2009 |
The Complete Sixth Season | 24 (3 discs) | September 19, 2006 | January 5, 2010 | July 13, 2009 | November 24, 2006 | August 6, 2009[30] |
The Complete Seventh Season | 22 (3 discs) | January 16, 2007 | November 9, 2010[31] | March 22, 2010 | March 9, 2007 | April 1, 2010 |
The Complete Eighth Season | 23 (3 discs) | May 1, 2007 | November 9, 2010[32] | June 21, 2010 | August 24, 2007 | June 3, 2010 |
The Complete Ninth Season | 13 (2 discs) | September 25, 2007 | November 9, 2010[33] | September 20, 2010 | October 19, 2007 | September 16, 2010 |
The Complete Series Box Set | 207 (27 discs) | November 6, 2007 | TBA | May 7, 2012 | March 7, 2008[34] | November 5, 2014 |
Seasons two[35] and three[36] were released on Blu-ray disc by Koch Media on November 21, 2008. They are presented with 1080i/25fps VC-1 video, 2.0 DTS audio tracks in both English and German with German subtitles optional. They include the same extras as the DVD releases from Koch Media. Even though they are only released in Germany and Austria, they are not region locked.
On March 26, 2015, Koch Media released the whole series on Blu-ray in HD.[37] The complete box set is distributed for Region B/2.[38]
The international rights are distributed by CBS Studios International and Sony Pictures Television.
Country/language | Local title | Channel | Date aired/premiered | End Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Russia | Молодожёны Newlyweds |
СТС | November 21, 2011 | April 19, 2012 |
In the UK, the show aired on Channel 4 and in Australia, the show aired on Channel 10 Southern Cross Broadcasting Network. The show aired in Ireland on RTÉ 2.
In March 2021, a reunion table read was hosted on Facebook in memory of Jerry Stiller. The reunion was held to benefit Henry Street Settlement, a New York City social services, health care, and arts organization where Stiller got his start in theater.
Series stars James, Remini, Williams, Oswalt, Valentine, Sullivan, and guest star Rachel Dratch all reprised their roles in the table read with Weithorn, reciting the 2003 episode "Cowardly Lyin'". The reunion was moderated by Sibley Scoles and also featured a video tribute to Stiller.
In January 2024, James stated to The Kelly Clarkson Show, that there will be no plans for a reboot due to the death of Jerry Stiller.
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