The King of Queens

The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007. The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions (1998–2006), CBS Paramount Television (2006–07), in association with Columbia TriStar Television (1998–2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002–07). It was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

After the series finale broadcast on May 14, 2007, The King of Queens became the last American live action sitcom that premiered in the 1990s to end its run

The King of Queens Series background

Based on the lives of blue-collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan, The King of Queens debuted on CBS on September 21, 1998. During its run, it brought in solid ratings (usually ranking in the Top 40) for the most part and was a Monday night staple, competing with shows such as the long-running drama 7th Heaven. In 2003, when scheduled against The West Wing and Nanny 911, it began to drop in the ratings. The final episode aired on May 14, 2007.

According to the DVD commentary of the Pilot episode, the character of Arthur was conceived with Jerry Stiller in mind, but he initially turned down the role. Veteran comedian Jack Carter was then cast and a pilot was shot. Soon afterwards, Stiller changed his mind and took the part, which required reshooting of scenes featuring Carter.

The King of Queens was partly inspired by the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners, as the characters of Doug and Carrie are based on the Kramden couple, with similar mannerisms and deadpan expressions. In a 2001 episode of the show ("Inner Tube"), the show pays homage to The Honeymooners, as a distraught Doug dreams that he is Ralph Kramden, his wife Carrie is Alice Kramden, and his friend Deacon is Ed Norton. The sequence was filmed in black-and-white and the audio quality (including the audience) matches a 1950s style.

The King of Queens was one of the first series to broadcast in 16:9 high-definition video, broadcasting in 1080i. At the time of the show's premiere, CBS had just regained broadcasting rights to the NFL, and was an early adopter of HDTV technology as a result, allowing The King of Queens to broadcast with the technology.

The show is currently in syndication worldwide and airs on TBS and TV Land in the United States and on TVTropolis and OMNI in Canada. In Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, the UK and Poland it runs on the ComedyCentral network. Since 14th of April 2014 the show runs on weekdays on Channel 4 at 7:35am in the UK and Ireland.