As someone who grew up in a comedy forward household, I’ve built out a decent foundation of the genre. From Lou and Costello to 50 years of Saturday Night Live giants to the comedy queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race, all have been enjoyed and welcomed. But, nothing properly prepared me for this dream collaboration of Aubrey Plaza, Whoopi Goldberg and John Waters on the same cast sheet. Until the show airs, it’ll be at the back of my mind.
It’s unclear whether this newly announced Amazon Prime series, simply titled Kevin, won’t be clawing its way onto the 2025 TV schedule. But the coming comedic cartoon, from Plaza, Joe Wengert and Dan Murphy boasts even more star power in addition to the trio above to keep potential viewers interested. Set in an Astoria, Queens “Furrever Friends” pet rescue, and inspired loosely on a real break-up, viewers will follow Kevin the cat, (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) and his coming of age-esque story after his move.
Kevin’s humans splitting up seem to be the crux of the show, as it inspires the ‘loveable and neurotic’ cat to move into the ragtag shelter. Of course, everyone who he meets there will add to the layered and textured fun of his saga.
Here’s another first look at Kevin, the tuxedo colored cat and one of his owner’s, Dana (voiced by Plaza). The moody feline standing in the foreground while his guardian tries to reason with him signals to me that this new project could easily be on par with some of the great movies with talking animals.
Notably billed stars who will join as Schwartzman character’s new roommates include Waters, Goldberg and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate, The Standups). Nancherla plays Judy, a naively positive Scottish Fold Kitten, Goldberg is a feral free wheeling type cat named Cupcake and Waters will be a Persian cat named Armando who is an independent, no non-sense type. I can already anticipate Armando being a sassy-boom-bassy fan favorite.
If that lineup didn’t excite you enough, Gil Ozeri (#BlackAF, Big Mouth) and Amy Sedaris are also attached. Ozeri will play doormat human Seth, owner of “Furrever Friends” and Sedaris will play Seth’s queen bee Shih Tzu, Brandi. I can only see big success from the trio, and beyond from the ways I’ve already imagined it. Just look at (assumingly) Brandi and Cupcake’s date night and tell me it doesn’t have a chance to rank with the best animated shows.
When I say I’m desperate for this series premiere, I mean it. Just thinking about the iconic LGBTQ+ cinema director’s signature campy style, Plaza’s immaculate deadpan and Goldberg’s expert observational standup coming together makes me outright giddy. Again, that’s not even taking into account Schwartzman, Sedaris or the other stars. Regardless of my excitement, the announcement couldn’t be better from Amazon after the new James Bond image ruckus, at least for comedy fans like me.
Whenever Kevin does move along in production and gains a release date, it’s set to stream exclusively with a Prime subscription worldwide. And if you’re wondering if I will have recovered from a Plaza, Goldberg, Waters project by then, the answer is likely no. But, I’ll certainly be watching it!