Leah Remini back on set with Kevin James
Leah Remini is feeling good about her TV reunion with Kevin James. She’s posted the first photo of herself on the set of “Kevin Can Wait” with her old/new co-star.
“It’s been an amazing first week on @kevincanwaitcbs, so blessed that I had my family with me,” said Remini’s comment on Instagram with her photo. “Thank you to all who came out tonight, cast, crew, writers, thank you for the love!”
James and Remini previously starred together for nine seasons on the popular CBS comedy series “The King of Queens,” which aired in the same time slot where Kevin Can Wait sat for most of last season, Monday 8 PM.
Remini played James’s beleaguered wife, Carrie, on “The King of Queens,” which was set in Rego Park, Queens, New York. Her new “Kevin Can Wait” character, Vanessa Cellucci, is a tough, wise-cracking undercover police woman turned security agency head.
The backstory has James’s character Kevin working for her, reuniting them after time spent together on the police force, where they were once rivals but bonded over a major case.
Her reappearance on the new show hasn’t been without controversy. Remini replaces Erinn Hayes, who played James’s wife in the first “Kevin Can Wait” season. Hayes’s character, Donna, will be killed in a between-seasons incident.
“Kevin Can Wait” ranked as this past season’s No. 1 new comedy in total viewers (9.19 million) and adults 18-49 (2.1 rating). Its second season is scheduled to debut on September 25 and picks up ten months after the events of the first-season finale.
Remini recently starred in the NBC comedy pilot “What About Barb?” and has been making headlines with her documentary series “Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E.