Kevin James Reveals the Heartbreaking Reason ‘The King of Queens’ Reboot Won’t Happen [Exclusive]

While reboots and revivals continue to dominate Hollywood — with everything from Frasier to Happy Gilmore 2 getting the legacy treatment — don’t expect The King of Queens to join the trend anytime soon. Kevin James, who played the iconic delivery driver Doug Heffernan for nine seasons on CBS, has shared his honest thoughts with Collider’s Steve Weintraub on returning to the beloved sitcom. And while he doesn’t rule it out completely, there’s one very personal reason it feels unlikely: the absence of the late Jerry Stiller. James was promoting his latest project, Guns Up, alongside Christina Ricci.

The show featured Doug alongside his sharp-tongued wife Carrie (Leah Remini) and her eccentric, overbearing father Arthur Spooner (Stiller), who lives in their basement. The show humorously explores the ups and downs of blue-collar married life, blending relatable domestic squabbles with outrageous misunderstandings and Arthur’s constant chaos. But the absence of Stiller means the show would be missing a key facet, as James explained.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s perfect. It was a moment in time, I think. The King of Queens is weird because we weren’t as popular. When we came out, we did okay. We did good. But it was [Everybody Loves] Raymond and Friends and all these other office comedies and funnier shows, and they did much better than us. What blows me away is how well we’ve done when we’ve come out later in syndication. I don’t know whether it’s because they just pummeled people with it, and it got into their brains that way, but people now enjoy it, I feel like, more than ever.”

Kevin James Doesn’t Feel ‘The King of Queens’ Could Come Back

James went on to explain that despite the renewed love for the show in syndication, rebooting it without Stiller, whose Arthur Spooner was the vehicle for much of the show’s eccentric hijinks, just doesn’t feel right.

“To go back and to redo it, I just don’t think, because we don’t have Jerry. Again, A.I., if they do everybody, and there’s something where they can do you at any age…”

Even with current tech and nostalgia-driven storytelling trends, James admits that imagining a version of the show without Stiller at the center feels incomplete.

“Yeah. I would never say no, but it feels hard because for me, he was such a part of it, man. He was the glue in that thing. I don’t know. I just can’t even picture it. I don’t know. It’s just a weird way to do it. Why? Why would you do that if you don’t have him?”

While James leaves the door cracked open, fans hoping for a return to Queens will have to settle for rewatching the original. And honestly? That may be exactly how it should stay. The original can be streamed now on Paramount+. Stay tuned for more from our interview with James and Ricci.