Actress Aubrey Plaza said the experience of pitching an adult animated series to Amazon Prime Video alongside her ex-boyfriend was "really weird."
The project highlights a rare professional collaboration between former romantic partners, using a shared personal history to fuel a creative venture. This intersection of past relationships and current business interests provides a glimpse into the unconventional origins of the series.
Titled "Kevin," the show centers on a talking cat located in Queens, New York [2, 3]. Plaza said the character is inspired by the cat she once shared with her former partner, Joe Wengert [3]. Wengert co-created the series with Dan Murphy [1].
Plaza said the process of pitching the show was a surreal experience. "Like an acid trip for me," Plaza said [2]. She said the process felt cathartic, comparing the professional interaction to a form of emotional resolution. "It was kind of like couples therapy but 20 years later," Plaza said [3].
The series is slated to premiere in April 2026 [3]. By drawing on shared memories of a pet, the creators have turned a domestic history into a narrative for adult animation. The setting of Queens serves as the backdrop for the talking cat's adventures [2, 3].
Plaza, a Golden Globe nominee, has often leaned into eccentric personas in her work. This project marks a shift toward more personal, semi-autobiographical inspiration—even if the result is a fictional animated cat. The collaboration with Wengert and Murphy suggests a long-term development process that survived the end of a romantic relationship [1, 3].
“"It was kind of like couples therapy but 20 years later."”
The collaboration between Plaza and Wengert illustrates a trend in the entertainment industry where personal history is leveraged as intellectual property. By transforming a shared pet and a past relationship into a commercial product for a major streamer like Amazon, the creators are commodifying personal nostalgia and emotional closure into adult-oriented content.
