Billy Joel Cameo on 'Kevin Can Wait' Wasn't Exactly a Cameo

Last month, BillyJoel.com shared the news that the Piano Man would be making a cameo appearance as himself on the 11th episode of Massapequa native Kevin James‘ Long Island-produced sitcom Kevin Can Wait on Monday night. That cameo, while fun, really wasn’t much of a cameo.

In the episode, “Kevin’s Bringing Supper Back,” James’s character, Kevin Gables, wants to spend more family time, but his friends’ surprise gift of Billy Joel concert tickets threaten to put a wrench in the very thing he hoped to accomplish. After some failed attempts to bring his brood together, including playing Monopoly and some kind of weird human ball activity, Kevin sets up a Sunday family dinner, and it begins to be a real bonding experience—that’s when his friends call to surprise him with the Billy Joel tickets for a concert going on that night.

The best comedic moment comes during a quick kitchen pow wow with his wife Donna (Erinn Hayes), who learns of the concert and says, “You just accomplished something pretty special in there, so I don’t know, where do you think you should be?” What could be a classic “family first” moment is immediately destroyed with a quick cut to Kevin and his buddies absolutely losing their minds in the front row at Madison Square Garden.

The footage, actually filmed at one of Joel’s regular appearances at the venue, is what CBS deems a cameo for Joel. The musician is in the footage performing onstage, with shots of the guys going crazy during several songs, and at one point he gives Kevin the mic to belt out the last line of “It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me,” but there’s never a backstage moment or surprise appearance somewhere else in the episode.

Still, it is a lot of fun to watch.

You can see the complete episode at cbs.com.