Kevin Can Wait: Pilot

"Pilot" is the premiere episode of the comedy series Kevin Can Wait. It was directed by Andy Fickman with a script written by series creators Kevin James, Rock Reuben, and Bruce Helford. It first aired on CBS on Monday, September 19th, 2016 at 8:30 pm.

Synopsis
Kevin Gable is a former police officer who has only recently retired from service. Following a planned retirement party, he intends on spending his free time drinking beer, riding go-carts, drinking beer, eating food, drinking beer, shooting paintball, drinking beer, and hanging out with his pals (which will invariably involve drinking beer). Despite his seemingly extravagant agenda, his wife Donna is supportive of her husband's new life.

Their teenage daughter, Kendra however, has a secret. She has been dating a fellow college student named Chale for over a year, and the two are now engaged to be married. Donna knew they were dating, but was unaware of the engagement. She promised to keep this knowledge a secret from Kevin, but it all comes out during the retirement party.

Kevin doesn't care for Chale, preferring instead someone more athletic and butch. His dislike intensifies when he learns that Kendra plans on quitting college so she can work to support Chale while he develops a revolutionary new mobile phone app. Kevin offers to let both Kendra and Chale live in their garage for free if she agrees to stay in school.

Allusions

 * The title of this series is a rewording of Heaven Can Wait, which is a comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch in 1943. The title was also used for a 1978 film starring Warren Beatty, which was directed by Beatty and Buck Henry, which was based on a stage play by Harry Segall.


 * Kevin says that he is applying to become a security guard at an automotive mall. This may be a wink to the 2009 Kevin James comedy film Paul Blart: Mall Cop and its 2015 sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.


 * Towards the end of the episode, Chale makes the assertion that both Kevin and he are alpha males. This may be an in-joke referencing the 2011-2012 Syfy series Alphas, in which actor Ryan Cartwright played a character named Gary Bell, who was in fact, an "Alpha" male.