'Physical' and 'Kevin' show just how far sitcom heroines have come since 'I Love Lucy'

Lucy Ricardo was TV's original desperate housewife, forever acting the fool to get attention. Two new series show how today's sitcom heroines are willing to do a lot more than sneak into their husband's cabaret show, especially when female writers are plotting their liberation.

In "Physical," now streaming on Apple Plus, Sheila Rubin (Rose Byrne) has spent nearly all the family's savings on motel rooms where she gorges on cheeseburgers, then purges them into the toilet.

In an attempt to refill the bank account, she masterminds a scheme to become an aerobics star, a not-so-ridiculous plan since she's living in 1981, a year before Jane Fonda's first workout video would hit the market.

On her climb to the top, she blackmails a sweet couple, steals her only friend's video camera and hogs the spotlight from her business partner. She's Alexis Carrington in scrunchy socks.

Byrne, who first made a splash in the notorious legal series "Damages," is terrific at nailing both the character's insecurities and the fitness routines. She bounces so high off the ground that you'd swear there are springs in her sneakers.

There aren't a lot of laughs, but a certain generation will be amused by creator Annie Weisman's nod to water beds, mall concerts, Betamax and a pop-heavy soundtrack that includes Eddie Rabbit's "Drivin' My Life Away."

Writer Valerie Armstrong has a more ambitious agenda in her series, "Kevin Can [Expletive] Himself," already available on AMC Plus' streaming service and premiering Sunday on AMC.

Viewers initially meet Allison McRoberts (Annie Murphy) as she puts up with her husband Kevin's antics in a living room that has more than a passing resemblance to the one from "Everybody Loves Raymond."

He schemes like Ralph Kramden and rants like Archie Bunker, a combination that doesn't leave Allison with much to do but sigh to the roars of canned laughter.

But when she's alone, the three-camera sitcom format switches to a gray, single-camera format. In this darker setting, Allison contemplates her freedom, going so far as to set into a motion a plan to kill her spouse and make it look like an oxycodone overdose.

While Kevin is challenging his neighbor to a chili cook-off, Allison is snorting cocaine, being mistaken for a prostitute and contemplating an affair with the owner of a local diner. It's about as far from "I Love Lucy" as you can venture.

It may be a little hard to believe that someone as engaging as Murphy, fresh off an Emmy win for her work in "Schitt's Creek," would ever get trapped in such a terrible marriage. But give her — and Armstrong — credit for taking chances.

This isn't the first series to turn the sitcom format inside out. "It's Garry Shandling's Show" is perhaps the most famous example, with its star completely knocking down the fourth wall. But "Kevin" has more in common with HBO's "Lucky Louie," an early effort from Louis C.K. in which the once red-hot comic completely destroyed the genre. It only lasted one season.

"Kevin" has a shot at sticking around a little longer. So does "Physical."

Even if they don't go the distance, they serve as shining examples of just how far female characters have come from the early sitcom days, where they're simply expected to keep dinner warm for Dad.

Anyone who wants the same from Sheila and Allison might want to check the meatloaf for Oxy.

Neal Justin • 612-673-7431 •

Njustin@startribune.com Twitter: @nealjustin