YMMV / Kevin Can Wait

• Angst? What Angst?: Donna's death happened six months before the Season 2 premiere, was mentioned in passing at the beginning of the episode, and was barely brought up again.
• Harsher in Hindsight: During one of the interviews on the subject, Kevin James defended killing off Donna on the grounds that the show was running out of ideas and explicitly said he'd doubt they'd get through a third season without this shake-up. The show was canceled after Season 2.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Donna being Killed Offscreen served as the trigger for Valerie Armstrong to create the Deconstructive Parody series Kevin Can F**k Himself, which served as a massive middle finger to not just this show, but to sitcoms with the Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife set-up in general. Then it cast Erinn Hayes as that titular Kevin's rebound girlfriend who he starts going out with after his wife's supposed death in the Grand Finale. For added bonus points, both shows only went for two seasons.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: These days, if the show is ever discussed, it's likely because of how the lead character's wife was killed off between seasons and replaced with Vanessa (played by Leah Remini) to ape off of The King of Queens's fanbase. Or for the fact that it inspired the venomous Deconstructive Parody cult series Kevin Can F**k Himself.
• Replacement Scrappy: Vanessa, who replaced Donna as the female lead for Season 2 after Erinn Hayes' firing. This was especially noticeable considering how Donna was unceremoniously killed off the way she was to make room for Vanessa. It's now looked at as one of the major catalysts for why the show was not renewed for a third season.
• Second Season Downfall: The second season, where Donna was killed off, Vanessa was shoehorned in to play up the nostalgia from King of Queens, Kevin Took a Level in Dumbass, and the show relied more on Cringe Comedy.
• Spiritual Successor: To The King of Queens. Kevin Can Wait even had Leah Remini who played his wife and Gary Valentine who played his cousin on TKOQ.

---