The Watchman: New F**king AMC Show; Disney Plus’s ‘Monsters At Work’

Annie Murphy in AMC's 'Kevin Can F**k Himself'
Annie Murphy in AMC's 'Kevin Can F**k Himself' (Image credit: Jojo Whilden/AMC)

New F**king AMC Show A Nod to Cheesy Sitcoms 

Kevin Can F**k Himself starts on AMC June 20, following its launch on AMC Plus. Annie Murphy, still drawn to projects with curses in the title after Schitt’s Creek, plays Allison. Think of her as the typical Sitcom Wife: pretty and patient, and married to a goofy guy.

Creator Valerie Armstrong got the idea from the family sitcoms she watched growing up. “The husband is funny and lovable and tubby, but he has this super-hot wife,” Armstrong said. “She laughs at his jokes and makes his meals and is one of the gang. I thought, God, I wonder if she’s miserable.”

Allison busts out of her humdrum sitcom-y life and mayhem ensues. Armstrong said the producers looked at “a ton of people” for Allison, and then Murphy came along. “She fell in love with it the same way we all did,” said Armstrong. “She understood it on a cellular level.”

Series Business: Valerie Armstrong on 'Kevin Can F**k Himself', a Dark Comedy From AMC

The title has been part of the project since it began four years ago. “At the time, I needed everything I was working on to have a title that would make me laugh,” Armstrong said. “Otherwise, I would get annoyed with myself, seeing it on my desktop.”

Kevin Can F**k Himself, she added, “always made me laugh.”

Monsters at Work

'Monsters at Work' (Image credit: Disney Plus)

Disney Plus’s ‘Monsters At Work’ Taps a New Power Source

Monsters at Work premieres on Disney Plus July 7. A spinoff of Monsters, Inc., Monsters At Work shows the monster plant no longer committed to scaring the heck out of kids, but to making them laugh, as laughs generate more power than scares. 

Billy Crystal reprises Mike Wazowski and John Goodman is back as Sulley. Ben Feldman voices Tylor Tuskmon, who turns up at Monsters, Inc. psyched to make kids scream, only to learn his job has changed. Feldman was in Superstore and, going back a bit, Mad Men. He brings nuance to his big, scary monster character, said executive producer Bobs Gannaway. 

“Ben’s appealing and somewhat vulnerable voice comes out of this great monster,” he added.  

The producers and writers visited a couple power plants “so we could walk the plants, meet the people who generate the power, and understand how power works,” said Gannaway. 

The series, he added, takes the viewer beneath Monsters, Inc. “It’s like going underneath Disneyland,” Gannaway said. “You see the workings beneath the out-facing areas.”

There is plenty to explore in the 10 episodes. “We want you to fall in love with the new monsters and spend time with old friends,” Gannaway said.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.