''Kevin (Probably) Saves the World'' (stylized as ''Kevin ^^Probably Saves the World'') is an American high-concept angelic-themed

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series that was created and executive produced by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters for

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

. The series was greenlit on May 11, 2017, and aired on ABC as a Tuesday night entry during the 2017–18 television season. The series premiered on October 3, 2017. The show is set in

Taylor, Texas Taylor is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,575 at the 2000 census; it was 15,191 at the 2010 census; it was 16,267 at the 2020 census. History In 1876, the Texas Land Company auctioned lots in anticipati ...

. On May 11, 2018, ABC cancelled the series after one season.

Premise

Kevin, a down-on-his-luck man who survived a suicide attempt, moves in with his twin sister Amy, an engineer and professor at the local college, and Amy's teenage daughter Reese. Shortly after, he encounters a celestial being named Yvette; Yvette claims that God has tasked Kevin with saving the world, and sent Yvette to guide and protect him. At first, Kevin was the only one who could see and hear Yvette, so his conversations appear to be hallucinations to those around him. Kevin must perform good deeds to build up his spiritual powers, forcing him to become a better person. The series also explores a mystery, as there are supposed to be 36 righteous souls in each generation, but for unknown reasons, Kevin is the only one known to be left. The series ended with Kevin having located three other righteous souls, and in a surprise revelation, allowed Yvette to appear in front of Amy, as she was now called upon to help Kevin in their quest.

Cast and characters

Main

* Jason Ritter as Kevin Finn *

JoAnna Garcia JoAnna García Swisher (''née'' García; born August 10, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sam in '' Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1994–96), Vicki Appleby in '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), and Cheyenne Hart-M ...

as Amy Cabrera (née Finn) *

Kimberly Hebert Gregory Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

as Yvette *

India de Beaufort India de Beaufort (born India Beaufort Lloyd; 27 June 1987) is a British actress and singer. Early life de Beaufort is of British and Indian background. Her maternal grandfather was born in Calcutta, where his family lived for around 350 years ...

as Kristin Allen * J. August Richards as Sheriff Deputy Nathan Purcell *

Chloe East Chloe East (born February 16, 2001) is an American actress and dancer. She starred as Willow Pierce in the first season of the Audience Network television series ''Ice'', as Reece in the 2017–2018 ABC television series ''Kevin (Probably) Sav ...

as Reese Cabrera *

Dustin Ybarra Dustin Ybarra (born October 30, 1989) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Tyler Medina in ''Kevin (Probably) Saves the World'', and roles in ''We Bought a Zoo'' and ''Hop (film), Hop''. Ybarra's career began w ...

as Tyler Medina

Recurring/Guest

* Kathleen Wilhoite as Phoebe Powell * Lauren Blumenfeld as Ava * Marc Collins as Rory * Lesley Boone as Lucille *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...

as Dave * Abbey McBride as Becky Simpson *

Barbara Eve Harris Barbara Eve Harris (born Barbara Evadney Reid-Hibbert; March 8, 1959) is a Tobagonian-Canadian actress, known for her supporting performances on television. She is best known for her role as FBI Agent Felicia Lang on '' Prison Break''. Life an ...

as Colonel O'Donnell *

Michael Harney Michael John Harney is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is best known for starring on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' as Corrections Officer Sam Healy. In 2019, he had a recurring role in the Apple TV ...

as Karl Gilmore *

Sam Huntington Sam Huntington (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Josh Levison, a werewolf in the Syfy series '' Being Human'', and for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the superhero film ''Superman Returns''. For it ...

as Jake Gilmore *

Emma Bell Emma Jean Bell (born December 17, 1986) is an American actress, best known for her roles in films '' Frozen'' (2010) and ''Final Destination 5'' (2011), and for playing Amy in the first and third season of '' The Walking Dead'' (2010; 2012), and ...

as Deb *

Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for Nick Lobo on ''Rhoda'' (1974-1977), Stanley Uris in th ...

as Dr. Sloane *

Kate Flannery Kate Destiny Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series ''The Office'', which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Sh ...

as Anne *

Brandon Quinn Brandon Quinn (born Brandon Quinn Swierenga, October 7, 1977) is an American television and film actor. He started his career in 1998 as Charles Murphy in the film '' Express: Aisle to Glory''. He has acted in other TV series and films such as ' ...

as Ignacio "Iggy" DePerro *

Anjali Bhimani Anjali Bhimani (born August 30, 1974 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Symmetra in the video game ''Overwatch'' and Rampart in the video game ''Apex Legends''. Early life Bhimani was born in Cleveland, O ...

as Susan Allen *

David Huynh David Huynh (born February 5, 1983) is a Canadian actor. Early life Huynh was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, briefly studied at the University of Manitoba focusing on a major in theater and a minor in film studies. Huynh continue ...

as Vong, whose newborn daughter is the first righteous soul to be located by Kevin * Troy Evans as Gus *

Sprague Grayden Sprague Grayden (born July 21, 1980) is an American actress. She played schoolteacher Heather Lisinski in the television drama '' Jericho'', Karen Kawalski in ''John Doe'', first daughter Olivia Taylor in the television thriller '' 24'', and K ...

as Shea, the second righteous soul located by Kevin *

Currie Graham Currie Graham (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian stage, film and television actor. While primarily recognized as a TV actor, he has numerous film credits, including the action thrillers ''Rancid'' (2004) and ''Assault on Precinct 13'' (200 ...

as Barry, the third righteous soul located by Kevin * Frank Nichols as Airport attendant

Episodes

Production

The series was originally called ''The Gospel of Kevin'', but the name was changed since the show was not "overtly religious". The series was picked up for a 16-episode full season on November 10, 2017. On May 11, 2018, ABC canceled the show after one season.

Casting

Cristela Alonzo Cristela Alonzo (born ) is an American comedian, actress, writer and producer, who created and starred in the ABC sitcom '' Cristela.'' This made her the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own US primetime comedy. E ...

, who played a lead role as the heaven-sent entity in the original pilot, was replaced by

after the series was picked up.

Filming

The series was filmed in and around

Atlanta Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, as well as in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. The pilot filmed March 23, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas at the

San Antonio International Airport San Antonio International Airport is an international airport in San Antonio, Texas. It is in Uptown Central San Antonio, about north of Downtown. It has three runways and covers . Its elevation is above sea level. SAT averages 260 daily dep ...

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 63% approval rating with an average rating of 6.73/10 based on 24 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Breezily entertaining, ''Kevin (Probably) Saves the World'' relies on its likable lead to carry its still-sketchy premise, hinting at deeper potential that's yet to develop."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kevin Probably Saves the World 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2017 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American fantasy television series Angels in television Television series by ABC Studios English-language television shows Television shows set in Texas American fantasy drama television series