More blue-collar comedy is served up during season three of The King of Queens, with very little divergence from the basic premise, in which delivery driver Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) and his law-clerk wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), manage to stay happy and reasonably content, even though Doug is driven crazy by Carrie's loudmouthed father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), who lives with the couple, and Carrie is not overly fond of Doug's capricious buddies Deacon (Victor Williams), Spence (Patton Oswalt), and Richie (Larry Romano). New developments this season include the arrival of Doug's younger sister Stephanie (Ricki Lake), a schoolteacher on the rebound from a punctured romance, who drops into the Heffernans to air her grievances, and the establishment of another recurring character, Carrie's law-firm boss, Mr. Pruzan (Alex Skuby). Halfway through the season, the marriage between Doug's friend Deacon and his wife, Kelly (Merrin Dungey), begins to fall apart (he's been stepping out, but Doug can't bring himself to call it "cheating"). Highlights during season three include Doug's efforts to spice up his love life by adopting the foreign accent and Continental charm of his new co-worker; Carrie's not-so-subtle attempt to get Doug to lose weight, leading to a nit-picky free for all; the Heffernan's efforts to economize when Doug's company goes on a long strike; a Thanksgiving flashback to the first time Doug met Carrie's parents (Florence Henderson of Brady Bunch fame is seen as Carrie's mom); Super Bowl shenanigans involving a high-def TV; and, in the classic episode "Inner Tube," Doug imagines himself and Carrie as the stars of such pop-culture classics as The Honeymooners and Wheel of Fortune. In the season's two-part finale, Carrie finds out that she is pregnant, compelling Doug to take a second job (Nicole Sullivan, cast in this two-parter as a saleswoman in a baby store, would later become a series regular in the same role). Its ratings ever-improving, The King of Queens shot up from 37th to 25th place amongst 157 network shows during the 2000-2001 season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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