The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show

Format: Sitcom

Created by: Drew Carey, Bruce Helford

Starring Drew Carey. Ryan Stiles. Diedrich Bader. Christa Miller (1995–2002). Kevin Pollak (1995–1996). Kathy Kinney.Craig Ferguson (1996–2003). John Carroll Lynch (1998–2003). Cynthia Watros (2002–2004) Opening theme: Moon Over Parma (1995-1996) Five O'Clock World by The Vogues (1996-1997) Cleveland Rocks by The Presidents of the United States of America (1997-2004)

Country of origin: United States

No. of seasons: 9

No. of episodes: 233

The Drew Carey Show Production

Running time: 22 Minutes

Production company(s): Mohawk Productions Warner Bros. Television

The Drew Carey Show Broadcast

Original channel: ABC

Original run: September 13, 1995 – September 8, 2004

The Drew Carey Show is a long-running American sitcom (set in Cleveland, Ohio) that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004 and was known for its "everyman" characters and themes. The show revolved around comedian Drew Carey, an office worker who has had a long-life working experience, and the highs and the lows of both his romances and his relationships to long-time friends, Lewis, Oswald and Kate. It currently airs on the ION Television network in the United States, weeknights at 10 pm Eastern Standard Time Monday through Wednesday.

The show was created by Drew Carey, who had both stand-up comedy and writing experience, and Bruce Helford, who was once a writer for Roseanne.







Click here to see a great The Drew Carey Show video clip.






The Drew Carey Show

Cast and characters

Drew Carey (Drew Carey) - The protagonist, a perpetual "nice guy." For most of the series, he works in the human resources department of Winfred-Lauder, a multinational department store chain. He's portrayed as a lovable loser, though he's the most successful of his group of friends. Drew is the founder and co-owner of Buzz Beer, a special coffee-containing brew. He has a long-standing feud with Mimi Bobeck; his pranks have included destroying her clothes, shredding her vacation requests, and masquerading as Antonio Banderas to taunt her.

The Drew Carey Show

Lewis Kiniski (Ryan Stiles) - Forms a double-act with Oswald. Lewis, who is tall, lanky, and blonde, is in his forties and can be counted on to nonchalantly say bizarre and offensive things. He possesses an IQ of 163, but works as a janitor for a company called DrugCo. Due to accidentally releasing a virus into the population, he was busted down to janitor from a position that required him to wear a lab coat. It's uncertain if he was a scientist or lab assistant, though it's possible he was joking. At one point, he posed as Drew to take his physical exam for him, inadvertently taking a psychiatric exam as well. The results showed him to be mentally unstable and possibly criminally insane, although this was due to giving answers which he thought suited Drew's life and situation.

The Drew Carey Show

Oswald Lee Harvey (Diedrich Bader) - Lewis's slightly shorter, dark-haired friend is the dumb one of the double-act, which tends to be his most distinguishing characteristic. Lewis described him once as a "man-child stuck in a state of prolonged adolescence." At one point Oswald trained to be a nurse, but he proved unsuitable. Oswald was a deejay at the beginning of the first season but later on became a delivery driver for Global Parcel (a fictional package-delivery service). His name is a play on Lee Harvey Oswald. In the episode Bus-ted, it is revealed that Oswald joined the group of friends to replace Adam, a childhood friend who fell through the ice on a lake.

The Drew Carey Show

Kate O'Brien (Christa Miller) - Friends with Drew, Lewis, and Oswald since they were kids. Kate is a bit of a tomboy and a hothead. She and Oswald almost got married at one point, but she called it off just after Oswald threw her a surprise wedding (essentially leaving Oswald at the altar). Kate later found out about Drew's long-standing crush on her at their high school reunion, and she realized that she had feelings for him too. They dated for a season (even becoming engaged) but broke up when they disagreed about having kids. Drew and Kate were married for a short time in a later season, although this was illegal, as Drew had just become married to his old girlfriend, Nicki. Eventually, Drew's sham was discovered and Kate felt betrayed. Drew eventually regained Kate's trust and they became friends again. Kate left at the beginning of the eighth season, marrying a sailor and moving from Cleveland to Guam.









Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com


The Drew Carey Show

Cast and characters continued

Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney) - Mr. Bell's, and then later Mr. Wick's, assistant/secretary. She is an overweight woman who wears a lot of make-up, but has very high self-esteem. (As an in-joke, Mimi's mother was played by Tammy Faye Bakker.) Mimi is Drew's arch-nemesis; she vowed to make Drew's life a living hell after Drew denied her a job based on her makeup. Mimi's pranks have included gluing Drew's hand to a pornographic magazine, covering Drew's desk with garbage, and eventually sending Drew to China while he is unconscious. She is also known for calling him a "pig." Her character can be seen as an attack on societal norms of beauty, much as the main character of Rosalie Goes Shopping. Mimi's past has a lot of connections to the world of music; she often talks about being a roadie for Foghat and was married to Eddie Money for two weeks after appearing at his first concert. Additionally, she admits to sleeping with both Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton. Frampton still carries a torch for Mimi; he has a tattoo of her likeness on his chest. Later on, Mimi becomes more of a friend to Drew (they agree to put their feud on hold while Mimi dates/marries Steve) and a good, if unconventional, mother to Gus. Early in the series, it was revealed that Mimi was of Polish ancestry, and inherited the title of Duchess of Kraków after her aunt died. However, the episode with this content received a great deal of complaint from the Polish community, and all mention of Mimi's heritage has been removed from the show (with alternative footage placed over these bits in syndication).

The Drew Carey Show

Nigel Algernon Wick (Craig Ferguson) - Drew's boss after the first season, replacing Mr. Bell (Kevin Pollak). British, crude, boisterous and offensive, he was also a cocaine addict before he was forced to go into rehab. For some time, he and Drew were in a same-sex marriage (technically a civil union) in order for Mr. Wick to get his Green Card and Drew to get his job back. When he first appeared on stage in guest episodes in the last two seasons he was greeted with thunderous applause. Wick always had unusual methods of firing employees (and nearly always fired someone named Johnson). He is almost always referred to as "Mr. Wick," and his first name is rarely used. In the show's first April Fools episode, Mr. Wick was shot in the crotch with a crossbow and had to have one of his testicles removed (a gag that was referred to for the rest of the series). Wick also lost a toe and a nipple in a fox hunt that went terribly wrong.

The Drew Carey Show

Steve Carey (John Carroll Lynch) - Drew's cross-dressing brother. He came to Cleveland and got a job in the cosmetics department at Winfred-Lauder. He fell in love with Mimi and after several seasons of dating they married. In later seasons the concept of Steve being a cross-dresser is abandoned entirely with little explanation (though it is hinted that he gave it up to make Mimi happy). He left, along with Kate and Wick, early in the eighth season.

The Drew Carey Show

Kellie Newmark (Cynthia Watros) - Drew's childhood friend. She has had a crush on Drew since high school but never told him. She was married but her husband cheated on her with her sister. Her mother is an alcoholic and leaves her father, eventually hooking up with Lewis. After Kate leaves, Drew realizes that he loves Kellie. Drew is afraid to tell Kellie because it may ruin their friendship like it did with Kate. After Lily leaves Drew, they confess their feelings for each other. When Kellie comes out while Drew is talking to his dad and asks Drew what they are going to do about their feelings for each other, Drew's dad falls off the roof and dies. Eventually during the beginning stage of their relationship Kellie finds out she is pregnant with Drew Jr. but won't marry Drew because she doesn't think he is ready for marriage. During the finale she decides Drew is ready. But her water breaks and she and Drew get married right when the baby is born.















The Drew Carey Show

Drew's marriages

Much of the show's humor revolved around Drew's single life. However, Drew was married a number of times during the show's run. His spouses during the series were:

Diane (Nicole Sullivan) - A cocktail waitress Drew met on a business trip to Las Vegas. She tricked Drew into marrying her because she believed having a husband would give her an edge in winning custody of her children. Drew agreed to help her with the social workers, and they divorced a week later.

Mr. Wick - Drew's boss for the majority of the series, desperately wanted a spouse when his visa expired and he was threatened with deportation. He bribed Drew with a promotion and several benefits to get Drew to marry him in Vermont (technically, this is considered a civil union and not a wedding). They stayed married for just over a year to throw off any suspicion from the INS. Drew kicked Mr. Wick out of his house once Wick became too "clingy" with Drew's friends and life.

Nicki Fifer (Kate Walsh) - A real estate agent whom Drew dated and became engaged to; she dumped him after gaining a large amount of weight while they were dating (and, in her own words, "couldn't be with a man who would tempt [her] to eat"). She lost the weight, got married and came back to Drew after her divorce (when Drew had just left a mental institution). Drew asked her to marry him on an impulse, and she agreed. Unfortunately, Drew also got married to Kate soon after (thus becoming a bigamist) and she left him. Nicki returned later, having regained all her previous weight, and attempted to kill Drew because she blamed him for all the recent problems in her life. Drew let Nicki stay at his house until she could get back on her feet, after which she was never seen or heard from again. Kate - The love of Drew's life and his best friend since childhood, Drew and Kate first broke off their engagement after a disagreement about having kids. After Drew's stint in the mental hospital, Kate realized that she still loved Drew and asked him to marry her. Drew agreed (despite having recently married Nicki and still being married to Mr. Wick) and kept both his marriages a secret for a time. Both wives discovered the situation, and Kate, furious, dumped Drew and told the newspapers about the situation; Drew became known as "The Impotent Bisexual Bigamist."

Lily (Tammy Lauren) - A Southern belle who met Drew after Oswald and Lewis started a campaign to find him a wife. Drew brought Lily to Cleveland and attempted to establish a relationship with her, but found it difficult to deal with Lily's night terrors. Drew ended up proposing to Lily on three different occasions: once in his house, another in a movie theater, and finally, back at his home again. After Drew tore up all of his pre-determined wedding plan receipts, Lily agreed to marry him. Lily left Drew after the wedding, driving off without him after giving Drew his ring back. At the reception, Drew and Kellie expressed their hidden love for each other and began their relationship, which would also lead to Drew's final marriage.

Kellie Newmark - Drew's childhood friend who was introduced in the eighth season. Drew went to a strip club and discovered that Kellie was working as a stripper to support herself after her divorce from her husband. Drew takes her into his house and their friendship blossoms. They were both reluctant to confess their feelings for another, but they became a couple after Drew & Lily's wedding. Kellie soon becomes pregnant, but refuses to marry Drew for another eight months. On their wedding day and the series finale, Kellie gave birth to Drew Jr.











The Drew Carey Show

Other characters

Larry Almada (Ian Gomez) - One of Drew's co-workers. After leaving Winfred-Lauder, he set up a reasonably successful dating service which later expanded into a television chat show.

Gerald Hawthorne Bell (Kevin Pollak) - Drew's boss for The Drew Carey Show's first season. The interesting thing about Mr. Bell was that he only appeared in in person for his last appearance. He gets caught having relations with a woman in his office and he and Mrs. Lauder have to talk it out, but when he appears, he is wearing a Santa costume. We only heard his voice on Drew's speakerphone, despite the fact that Drew had his desk very close to Mr. Bell's office. Little was known about him, but he did not come across as a nice person. He seemed sexist and self-centered and had an office romance with a staff member (unlike Drew's romance with Lisa, Bell was only after the sex). In the last episode of the first season, Mr. Bell finally appeared on camera as he was seen leaving his office after getting fired from the store.

Beulah Carey (Marion Ross) - Drew's and Steve's mother married to George Carey (Stanley Anderson).

King Augustus Antonio Carey - "King Gus," Steve and Mimi's son (and Drew's nephew). Before he was born, he saved Mimi from being fired by Drew in the episode "Drew Pops Something On Kate". Just as Drew is about to fire Mimi, Gus kicks while in the womb for the first time, and Drew has compassion for Mimi, preventing her from getting fired. He was born while Drew was in a coma, and his spirit (voiced by Jon Polito) met Drew up in Heaven before being born. After hearing Drew make jokes about how horrible Mimi was, Gus was afraid to be born. Drew convinced him that Mimi would be a good mother by going back down to Earth and spending time in the baby's body. Drew told this story to the others after coming out of his coma, but nobody believed him. Gus was an infant for most of his time on the show, but received an age boost (putting him somewhere between 5 and 6 years old) for the final season. He burns down his house, initially thought to be with a wood-burning kit that Drew gives him as a gift. Since Mimi and Gus had nowhere to live, Drew offers his home to them, and they stay there almost until the end of the show. It was later discovered that Gus was a pyromaniac and intentionally started a fire in the house.

Fran Lauder (Nan Martin) - One of the executives' "cougars" (and partial namesake) of the Winfred-Lauder corporation who inherits the store from her dead husband.

Lisa Robbins (Katy Selverstone) - Drew's girlfriend from season one.

Jay Clemens (Robert Torti) - Kate's boyfriend from season one.

Evan (Kyle Howard) - Co-owner of Never Ending Store with his brother, Scott (of the two bosses, he is regarded as the 'nice' one). He is a Zen-seeking Buddhist who promotes peace and support, although he himself has a life coach, sees a family therapist with his brother, and takes anti-anxiety pills. He has a tenuous relationship with Scott because they spend so much time together.

Scott (Jonathan Mangum) - Co-owner of Never Ending Store with his brother, Evan. He is more business-minded than Evan, and can get very irritated by Evan's peace-seeking way of life. He teaches computer classes during the summer.











The Drew Carey Show

Guest Stars

Penn & Teller as Genn and Feller in "Drew Meets Lawyers" (Season 1, Episode 6) and "See Drew Run" (Season 2, Episode 17)

The Drew Carey Show

David Cross as Earl in "Drew and the Unstable Element" (Season 1, Episode 13) and "Two Drews and the Queen of Poland Walk Into a Bar" (Season 2, Episode 20).

The Drew Carey Show

Joey Ramone, Dave Mustaine, Slash, Lisa Loeb, Dusty Hill, Johnny Lang, Rick Nielsen, Michael Stanley, Matthew Sweet and Roy Clark as themselves in "In Ramada da Vida" (Season 4, Episode 2)

The Drew Carey Show

Triple H as Wrestler Sponsor for Buzz Beer

The Drew Carey Show

Henry Rollins as E-Bay Ass Kicking Guy and Amy Farrington as Bonnie in "Hickory Dickory... Double Date" (Season 8, Episode 5)

The Drew Carey Show

Gregory Jbara as Ron in "Drew and the Conspiracy" (Season 4, Episode 1) and "Golden Boy" (Season 4, Episode 3).

The Drew Carey Show

Charles Nelson Reilly as Mr. Hathaway, Lewis's boss, in "DrugCo" (Season 4)

The Drew Carey Show

Joe Walsh, in numerous episodes.

The Drew Carey Show

"Weird Al" Yankovic as himself in "Drew Between the Rock and a Hard Place" (Season 4)

The Drew Carey Show

Rush Limbaugh as himself in "The Salon" (Season 3)

The Drew Carey Show

French Stewart as Buddy in "Drew's Best Friend" (Season 9, Episode 10)

The Drew Carey Show

Colin Mochrie in "She's Gotta Have It", "Drew Live", and "Drew Live II"











The Drew Carey Show

Eras

The Drew Carey Show ran for nine years. Like many shows with long runs, the show's run can be broken down into several "eras."

The Drew Carey Show "Moon Over Parma"/Chemistry Titles Era (1995–1996)

The first season of The Drew Carey Show was significantly different from the rest of the series. Drew and Mimi worked at Winfred-Lauder under Mr. Bell, who existed only as a voice on Drew's speakerphone. Mr. Bell was never seen until the last episode of the season after he was fired by the new owners. Other characters that appeared exclusively in this era were Drew's hillbilly neighbor, Jules, and his family. Drew's first girlfriend, Lisa, was introduced in this season, and she remained with the cast until the early episodes of the second season.

The Drew Carey Show

Nine of the episode titles were related to chemistry in some way with names such as "The Joining of Two Unlike Elements Is a Mixture" and "Isomers Have Distinct Characteristics". No explanation for this was ever given, and the tradition was abandoned by the end of the season. After episode 19, "Atomic Cat Fight", the remainder were given names relevant to their story line (such as, "Drew and Mrs. Lauder"). Episode 10's title, "Science Names Suck", pokes fun at the scientific type names.

The Drew Carey Show

Season One also had a three episode arc involving a seemingly innocuous comic strip Drew displayed in his cubicle which led to a hostile workplace lawsuit.

Buzz Beer, beer that had caffeine and tasted like coffee, was invented by the main characters in the last episode of the first season. The concept stayed with the series until the very end.











The Drew Carey Show

Eras continued

The Drew Carey Show Wick Era (1996–2002)

The second season was notably different from the first. The opening theme used in season one, "Moon Over Parma," was replaced by "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues (who come from Pittsburgh, home of the Cleveland Browns' biggest rivals, the Steelers) for the second season opener and episodes 10-22 and 24. The theme song for episode 8 was "What is Hip" by Tower of Power. These themes were then replaced in season three by "Cleveland Rocks", a cover by The Presidents of the United States of America of an Ian Hunter song although the theme did not make its first appearance until episode 3 of that season (the original was later used in a bloopers-filled episode).

The Drew Carey Show

Season two also introduced the concept of the music video-like opening as the cast danced and sang around the various sets of the show. In the second episode of the second season Nigel Wick was introduced to replace Mr. Bell.

Lisa and Drew moved in together early in the second season, but it didn't work out. However, this allowed the introduction of Speedy, Drew's dog, whose presence remained until the end of the series. Steve, Drew's cross-dressing brother, was introduced during this period. He eventually fell in love with Mimi and they had one child, Gus.

The Drew Carey Show

Drew was promoted several times, taking away Wick's job. However, Wick always managed to return and take Drew's job back from him. At the end of this era, Wick and Drew were co-managers of the Winfred-Lauder department store. Drew was also fired once, but got his job back by "marrying" Wick in Vermont, allowing him to get his green card. This was also the era in which series regular Kate and Drew got romantically involved. They were on the verge of getting married, but they called it off when they realized they didn't feel the same about the prospect of children.

This era of the show was also known for its special events episodes. Virtually every season had two such episodes: "What's Wrong With This Episode?" and "Drew Live". The first contained a large number of deliberate mistakes; the person who could catch them all and mail in the correct answers would win a prize. The second was a live show that was performed three times (Eastern, Central and Pacific Time zones), heavily featuring cast members from Whose Line is it Anyway?. These episodes had very loose plots, interrupted at regular intervals by improvisational games. There was also the season 5 finale "A Very Special Drew", in which the cast indulged in intentionally manipulative and syrupy melodrama in a facetious attempt to get an Emmy nomination. This episode also breaks the fourth wall when Craig Ferguson touts the Emmy prospects of Nigel Wick, leading Kathy Kinney to snap "You'll never get an Emmy. Your character is too cartoonish." When the Emmy quest fails, Drew borrows about $100 from his friends, takes some money from his own wallet, and heads out to buy some Golden Globe awards.

By far the most extreme was the Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour which was shown a few weeks before the first episode of the 2001 season. The show was a series of sketches which was far closer in content and tone to Saturday Night Live or MADtv than The Drew Carey Show.

This tradition of bizarrely themed episodes was parodied by Carey's friend "Weird Al" Yankovic in his song "Couch Potato" (itself a parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself"), which referred to "a special all-Pig Latin episode of Drew Carey".









The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show Neverending Store Era (2002–2004)

In the fall of 2002 the show returned. The concept of Winfred-Lauder and the characters' jobs there was abandoned completely. Show openings alternated with remixes of the previous theme songs, credits, and logo; however, the opening was still a montage of various moments from past seasons of the show. The new concept involves Drew getting a job at the company that rented the building occupied by Winfred-Lauder, an Internet start-up department store called "Neverending Store". Mimi gets a job as well, and Mr. Wick gets the only job he's qualified for—janitor. However, Wick stopped appearing altogether after a few episodes; Steve was also phased out in the same way. The most notable change, however, was when Kate O'Brien, played by Christa Miller, one of the show's main cast, left, to be at home and have a recurring guest-star role on her husband Bill Lawrence's show Scrubs. She was quickly replaced with Kellie, an old high school friend of Drew's who had been working as a stripper.

The Drew Carey Show

Drew's bosses were a set of twenty-something Internet geeks. The combination of high intelligence, low social skills, and hacker naïveté created a very different sort of humor for the show. However they weren't the main focus. Like in the first season, Drew's life outside the office took center stage once again. Interestingly, the show began featuring cameos from reality-TV participants in the final two seasons, such as former Road Rules star Timmy Beggy, The Real World alum Cara Khan, and The Amazing Race winner Reichen Leikmeuhl.

The Drew Carey Show

Tony The Bus-Driver Bill Cobbs became a main fixture, appearing in virtually every episode of the last two seasons. He typically played a role similar to a smart-alecky bartender that Drew could tell his problems to. (One of the first lines he uttered in the series: "There's only one reason a man doesn't want to go home at the end of the day: ugly children.")

The Drew Carey Show

In the eighth season Drew decided that he would get married a year from the date he set; a day which would coincide with the last episode of the season. Drew wouldn't make the deadline, but he would realize in the process that he was in love with Kellie. The eighth season was put in a dead timeslot on Monday nights, frequently clashing with Monday Night Football. It was yanked mid-season and the remaining episodes were shown during the summer of 2003. ABC was forced to finance a ninth season, even though they had effectively canceled the show. The ninth season did not show during the fall of 2003, but ended up getting shown in the summer of 2004, with some of the episodes out of order.

The last season's tone changed radically from the previous seasons. The directors started experimenting with one-camera set-ups, showing that the sets were completely built, there actually were four walls in most rooms, and the rooms were actually linked together. The writers were equally brazen, as they had Gus burn down Mimi's house, forcing her to move in with Drew after Steve left her. Drew and Mimi's mutual hatred of each other finally vanished and they became true friends.

The season ended with Drew getting Wick's help to open up a department store, using the vacated building that Neverending Store left behind. However, Drew is quickly kicked out of his job as store manager by Wick, who has been given his job by the project's sole investor: his father-in-law. Mimi is also relieved of her vice-presidency and made Mr. Wick's assistant, Drew becomes the assistant director of personnel. Drew goes and sits at his desk, the surroundings are now the same as the Winfield-Lauder set that hadn't been seen for two years, and Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It" starts up.

The actual final episode follows as Drew and Kellie's first child is born, scant moments after the two are married. The final scene is Drew playing pool in his backyard in the rain; the same scene that ended the first episode. He looks up at the camera and thanks the audience, saying it has been fun. The series ends with a montage set to "You Can Still Rock in America".













The Drew Carey Show

Buzz Beer

Buzz Beer is a fictional beer that contains a mixture of beer and coffee. The beer was first introduced in the last episode of the first season, Buzz Beer which originally aired May 8, 1996. Buzz Beer was initially brewed by Drew, Kate, Oswald, and Lewis in Drew's garage. In episode Cap-Beer-Cino, another company made a knockoff version of it called Cap-Beer-Cino, which was one of the rejected names suggested by Kate in the "Buzz Beer" episode. At one point in the show, Mimi replaced Kate when Mimi won a share of the company after beating Kate at poker. Buzz Beer is sold at the Warsaw Tavern, the bar at which Drew, Kate, Oswald, and Lewis hang out. Lewis and Oswald are in charge of coming up with new promotions for the beer which usually are not successful. Drew is constantly shooting down Lewis and Oswald's ideas, especially when the two prevent Buzz Beer from winning the "Beer of the Month Award" at a beer convention. Near the end of the series, the brewery was moved from Drew's garage to Lewis and Oswald's house.

As for its success in the Drew Carey universe, Lewis once stated that "the combination of caffeine and alcohol should be more addictive than heroin, but so far sales haven't borne that out."













The Drew Carey Show

Show background

Based on the real-life experiences of Carey's life, the show debuted on the ABC network on September 13, 1995, and was highly-rated for four years before sliding in popularity. Because the network had few hits on the schedule in 2001, it renewed the show for two additional seasons. However, the show further sank in ratings the following season, not unlike many other live sitcoms. Even its series finale's ratings were lower than otherwise would have been expected. The final two episodes aired on September 8, 2004. The show was produced by Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. The two companies would go on to co-produce other shows such as The Norm Show and The Oblongs.













The Drew Carey Show

Ratings

The show finished its first season (1995–1996) barely in the Top 50, placing 48th in the Nielsen ratings, with an average rating of 10.1. The second season did considerably better, making it into the Top 20 finishing the 1996–1997 season 18th in the Nielsen ratings with an average rating of 11.5. Viewership increased 13.9% from season one.

The show finished its third season at a higher place in the ratings, placing 16th with an average rating of 11.1 during the 1997–1998 season; however, the ratings share was a drop of 3.5% from the second season.

During Season four (1998–1999), the series finished the season in the Nielsen ratings higher in the Top 20 making it to 14th place but with an average rating of 9.9, a decrease of 10.8% from the third season.

The show finished the 1999–2000 season 24th in the Nielsen ratings, the first time since season one that the show was not in the Top 20, with an average rating of 9.5, a decrease of 4% from the fourth season. This was a much smaller drop than many series suffered (given the erosion of network audiences). This was also a smaller drop than it suffered the season before. The show's 2000–2001 season finished 41st with an average rating of 8.23, a decrease of 13.4 percent from the fifth season.

ABC signed a new contract to keep the show on through a ninth season, even though the show had yet to enter its seventh season at that time. The 2001–2002 season saw one of the show's biggest drop in ratings, finishing 57th with an average rating of 5.9, a significant drop of 28.3% from the sixth season. The show finished the 2002–2003 season 119th with an average rating of 3.29, a drop of 44.23 percent from the seventh season. This caused ABC to put the series on hiatus, airing the rest of the season in the summer of 2003. Unable to get out of their contract, ABC was forced to allow the show to film a ninth season, paying three million dollars per episode. Not doing well enough to make a slot in the fall, the ninth season was aired during the summer of 2004.













The Drew Carey Show

DVD Releases

Season Releases

DVD Name Release Date Ep# Special Features

The Complete First Season April 24, 2007 22 1-900-MIMI (a phone sex spoof featuring Mimi)

Life Inside a Cubicle Featurette

Special Releases

On February 28, 2006, a six-episode release of the sitcom was released on DVD entitled "The Drew Carey Show: TV Favorites". Initially, the DVD was exclusively sold at Best Buy, but later sold at other national retailers as well. The DVD features the episodes Pilot, Playing the Unified Field, We'll Remember Always, Evaluation Day, Drew Blows His Promotion, My Best Friend's Wedding, and DrugCo.

No word yet on any other DVD releases for the show.













The Drew Carey Show

Trivia

The bar that Drew and his friends would always go to in the show was called "The Warsaw Tavern." The inspiration for "The Warsaw Tavern" is called "Murphy's Law" and is located on Memphis Ave. in the Old Brooklyn part of Cleveland, Ohio. This was one of Drew's favorite bars he would frequent in real life. The actual exterior structure of Murphy's Law is used on the TV show, although the interior is entirely different. Murphy's Law has autographed pictures of most of the cast members on the walls.

In Carey's bestselling book, Dirty Jokes and Beer, he revealed a list of subject matter that the censors objected to, such as mild language, sexual innuendo, and one episode that made light of a character's mental instability. Carey also mentions that in one second-season episode, he was forced to wear puffy pants because when he sits with tight pants, ABC thought he had an erection, a situation later parodied on the show.

John Carroll Lynch, who plays Drew's older brother, Steve, is actually five years younger than Drew Carey. The character of Kellie, who went to high school with Carey, was played by Cynthia Watros, who is ten years younger than him.

The season 5 episode "Drew Goes to the Browns Game", which coincided with the team returning to the NFL that season, showed the team playing the Minnesota Vikings in their "first game back" when Drew ran onto the field. In reality, the team played their archrivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in their first game back, losing 43-0. Carey had been one of the most vocal Browns fans when the original team moved to Baltimore during the show's first season. Carey even did the coin toss for the game, which was nationally televised on ABC's sister network ESPN.

In the last seasons of the show, Drew Carey was earning $600,000 to $750,000 per episode..

The producers experimented with different filming techniques the last season. For a few episodes, instead of using the traditional four camera format in front of a live audience, a single camera technique using a "fourth wall" was employed. The experiment was short-lived after the cast, crew, and producers felt the energy was better in front of the large studio audience.

When "Weird Al" Yankovic appeared on the show, he had recently undergone Lasik surgery and had shaved, so he no longer had his trademark glasses and mustache. The producers felt that the audience would not recognize him and get the "You didn't say you played the accordion..." joke, so they outfitted him with fake glasses and mustache.

The episode, "My Best Friend's Wedding" had an opening scene that combined live-action with animation where Daffy Duck asks Drew for a job at Winfred-Lauder. Gerry Cohen directed the live-action portion of that sequence and Jeff Siergey directed the animation.

Craig Ferguson initially auditioned at Warner Brothers for a role as a Hispanic photographer on Suddenly Susan, and after he failed his audition, the casting director referred him to The Drew Carey Show which was auditioning across the studio.[2] The Drew Carey Show was the first television show to have an episode simulcast on the Internet.













The Drew Carey Show

Trivia continued

Marion Ross made occasional guest appearances as Drew's mother. Her Happy Days co-star Tom Bosley and Tammy Faye Bakker appeared in one episode as Mimi's parents, and she herself was called "Mrs. Cunningham" in an April Fools episode as an intentional goof, referring to Ross' role on Happy Days. 70's sexpot Adrienne Barbeau appeared a few times as Oswald's mother. Lost in Space star, June Lockhart appeared twice as Lewis' mother. Christa Miller's real life aunt Susan Saint James once appeared as Kate's mother. Shirley Jones of The Partridge Family played a senior citizen whom Drew dated for 3 episodes. Ryan Stiles also joined Drew Carey as a regular on the US version of the improvisation show Whose Line is it Anyway?, which was hosted by Carey.

Joe Walsh made occasional guest appearances as both himself and as a band member.

Drew was the only character to appear in every episode of the series.

Whose Line is it Anyway? was an improvisational show that Carey hosted. Three episodes, entitled "Drew Live", "Drew Live II" and "Drew Live III" had many of the stars of the show on there such as Wayne Brady, Laura Hall, Brad Sherwood, and Greg Proops. Chip Esten and Kathy Greenwood were in Drew Live II, while Jeff B. Davis joined Esten & Proops in "Drew Live III" as the "Stall For Time Players". Ryan Stiles who played Lewis was also on the show. Colin Mochrie was also on the show, had appeared in an episode earlier as Eugene Anderson.

In one episode with sci-fi props there is a model of a spacecraft from the miniseries V can be seen on a kitchen table. Mr. Wick was named by head writer Clay Graham after an old girlfriend who had dumped him in order to "immortalize her treachery."

The character of Maggie Wick, Nigel Wick's mother, was originally written for Australian comic actor Dame Edna. When he was unable at the last moment to appear, actor Richard Chamberlain was approached, and he agreed to play the part in drag. One year later, Chamberlain officially "came out" as gay in his autobiography, "Shattered Love."

Mimi has been heavily referenced on Carey's current show, The Price Is Right. Often, he tells contestants who have not won their way on stage that they will have to face her in the "First Four Breakfast Club". Also, audience members have been known to wear various clothing items with her face on them.

Two of the show's other regulars (Craig Ferguson and Ryan Stiles) have moved on to CBS shows as well. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is aired after The Late Show with David Letterman, and Ryan Stiles currently has a recurring guest role on the sitcom Two and a Half Men.















*************************************************

Car Repair

For the best car repair service go to Don's Auto Clinic at

1950 Ellesmere Rd #21 Scarborough ON, M1H 2V8 Phone: 416-438-9575

Make an appointment and don't worry about what kind of service you'll get because it's the best. I've been going there for at least 3 years. (Zane Ladhani---of Zane's Comedy Warehouse www.zanes-comedy-warehouse.com)

Don't ask for a discount because you won't need one.





Chinese Food



Chinese Food is great and there are a lot of restaurants but if you want to go to one of the best chinese food restaurants in Toronto then go to Kim Kims at

Kim Kim Hakka Chinese Restaurant 1188 Kennedy Road Scarborough, ON M1P 2L1 416-757-8300 (Near Kennedy and Lawrence)

I ususally have the Curry Chicken on Rice but you'll be happy with whatever you order.

If you can't handle spicy food tell them when you order.

Don't ask for a discount because you won't need one.



Real Estate Services



The best real estate agents in Toronto are the Wright Sisters. They

are the right choice whether you're buying or selling property.



Lindsay & Melanie Wright Sales Representatives

RE/MAX Hallmark Realty Ltd., Brokerage 2237 Queen Street East Toronto ON M4E 1G2

Office: (416) 699-9292 Toll Free: 1-866-921-9292 Fax: (416) 699-8576

*************************************************************










Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com