The last episode of the cult sitcom “King Of Queens” appeared in 2007, but even 16 years later the series is still an absolute favorite: every day courier Doug (Kevin James), his wife Carrie (Leah Remini) and their husband live permanently in the basement. Father Arthur (Jerry Stiller) is on Nitro on free TV. Fans can also watch all nine seasons on three streaming providers (Prime Video, WOW, RTL+). – if they don’t have the DVD boxes on the shelf and can listen to all the episodes.
In addition to the three main characters, whose temperaments repeatedly clash in a New York single-family home, there are a whole host of other characters who make the series what it is. But fans actually had to say goodbye to a popular character in the first season – at least if you strictly follow the logic of the action. This is exactly where the creators made a serious mistake in episode 4.
It’s this figure
Doug’s high school friend Spence (Patton Oswalt) struggles to get his life on track and is therefore constantly ridiculed by his friends. Moreover, he also suffers from asthma and numerous allergies. For example, Spence cannot tolerate peanuts, which is his downfall in episode 12 (“Love is…”) of the first season.
At a barbecue, Spence is so unsettled by Carrie’s matchmaking efforts that he absentmindedly eats rows and rows of peanuts – and then suffers a severe allergic shock, which he only survives thanks to the courageous intervention of the other guests.
Is Spence really allergic?
Eight episodes earlier, in Episode 4 (“Men’s Conversations”), there is still no sign of Spence’s life-threatening allergy. Here Spence finds a pack of M&Ms under the car seat (at minute 8:10) and asks Doug what kind it is. He answers “peanut” – and Spence immediately puts his hand in the pack. Theoretically, his body should have responded at this point. The consequences could perhaps have been even more devastating: after all, in the scene in question, Spence is alone with Doug in the garage – and whether he would be a lifesaver is doubtful…
While the form and severity of an allergy can change over the course of a lifetime, it’s unlikely that Spence will be on the brink of choking the next time he eats peanuts, just a few days after happily enjoying M&Ms. It is much clearer that the makers simply made a serious mistake.
The German synchro saves Spence’s life
After publishing this article, our reader Stefan pointed this out to us that Spence is not eating M&Ms in the scene, but rather a bounty. After a brief shock that this whole article was nonsense (even though we looked at the scene several times in our research), it quickly became clear what the problem was: in the original English version it’s M&Ms, in the German dubbed version it’s it’s a Bounty – and Doug doesn’t ask for “peanuts”, but for “dark or whole milk”…
We do not know whether the authors of the German version already knew about the entire season and therefore exchanged the chocolate bar. Of course, it could simply be because Bounty was the better known brand in Germany at the time – or because Bounty in German simply had a better length to stay lip-synced as much as possible. But whatever the reason: The German dubbing authors (accidentally) saved Spence’s life!
Incidentally: The M&M’s peanuts are far from the only misfortune to befall the sitcom’s creators over the years. Here’s another mistake that even die-hard fans haven’t noticed in years – but once you catch it, you can never unsee it!