Actor and comedian Kevin James says he fondly remembers watching television with his parents and siblings in the 1970s. He even remembers one of his favorite shows.
"It was the best – whether we were watching The Carol Burnett Show or a movie or whatever it was back in the day," James told Christian Headlines. "You got together as a family, and everybody kind of just watched the same thing. It's a cool way to bond with your family."
But for many Americans in 21st-century America, such family times around the television are rare.
"Unfortunately," James says, "we're missing that a lot today" with "everybody kind of doing their own thing."
"I sound like an old guy here just kind of saying it," he said, laughing.
"Anytime you do something where the whole family can sit down comfortably and enjoy a movie together is great."
James has based much of his career on family comedy, playing a quirky but lovable mall security guard in the Paul Blartseries and voicing Frankenstein in the Hotel Transylvania animated series. His latest addition is the Netflix movie Home Team (TV-PG), which tells the story of NFL coach Sean Payton coaching his 12-year-old son's team. James plays Payton.
James says he enjoys doing family comedy – for one specific reason.
"It turns out I have a family," James told Christian Headlines. He and his wife have four children. "And I just love doing a lot of family-based stuff. There's a time and a place to not do it and … to have different projects. But [Home Team] was one that was just great."
The movie, James said, has positive messages about reconnecting with those you love. In the film, Payton must work to restore a fractured relationship with his son.
"It's a teaching moment," James said of the theme. "... And it was the greatest season of coaching in [Payton's] life. And that means a lot coming from a guy who won the Super Bowl."
Home Team is rated TV-PG for some language and suggestive dialogue.
Related:
'Cherish Those Times' with Your Children, Kevin James Says of Message in Home Team
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Jamie McCarthy/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
