The Kevin James meme trend, explained

If you’ve been on X (Twitter) recently, you’ve likely been confronted with a rather coy-looking Kevin James, posing with his hands in his pockets.

The image, an old promotional shot for CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998-2007), has spread across social media, providing more promotion for the comedy than it has seen in two decades.

What is the Kevin James meme trend?

The image of James’ character, Doug Hefferman, bizarrely has an almost Mona Lisa-like quality, with the actor’s expression conveying multiple emotions in the eyes of the viewer. At the same time, Doug seems bashful, yet with an air of confidence in himself.

He’s smirking in a cheeky manner, but his hunched-over body language, with his hands hidden under his flannel, stuck into his jean pockets, gives off a sense of insecurity and a desperate need to be liked. The photo is the epitome of “who, me? shucks,” or “oopsie!”

Throughout his career, Kevin James has typically played the loveable oaf character – usually with a beautiful, glamorous female co-star. Doug Hefferman on The King of Queens is perhaps the most exemplary role of an unassuming average Joe, who loves nothing more than TV, junk food, and kicking back with a beer with his buddies, away from the nagging wife.

This type of character trope is seen throughout the history of television, popularized by 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners, and parodied by cartoon characters like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin.

The first use of this image as a meme is said to be on Sept. 21st, 2023, posted by user @ChampagneAnyone. The tweet, captioned “me after 1 double rum and diet,” has over 24,000 likes, as of September 25th.

Quickly, replications of this meme format popped up all over the internet, with most of these jokes conveying the idea of a desire to be as outwardly chilled out and humble as Kevin James’ character.

In many of these memes, the user is expressing a desire to not be caught for something they definitely did, even if they try to come across as innocent.

In addition, many Tweets using the image emphasize how awkward they are. In such examples, the Kevin James character, initially confident in their action, finds their awkward side taking over, quickly beginning to show in their body language on the outside.

Now, the meme seems to be spreading towards posting any image of Kevin James’ character in King of Queens that sums up his personality, because who among us cannot relate to the everyman?