The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show
Cast
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Drew Carey Bruce Helford
Starring	Drew Carey Ryan Stiles Diedrich Bader Kathy Kinney Christa Miller (1995–2002) Kevin Pollak (1995–1996) Craig Ferguson (1996–2003) John Carroll Lynch (1998–2003) Cynthia Watros (2002–2004)
Opening theme	"Moon Over Parma" (1995–1996, 2002–2004) "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues (1996–1997, 2002–2004) "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 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bruce Helford (entire run) Drew Carey Deborah Oppenheimer (both; seasons 4–9) Clay Graham (seasons 4–5 and 7–9) Richard Day (season 4) Bruce Rasmussen (seasons 6–9) Robert Borden (early season 6) Holly Hester (mid-late season 6) Les Firestein (seasons 6–9) Mike Teverbaugh (seasons 7–8) David A. Caplan Dan O'Keefe (both; seasons 8–9)
Camera setup	Film; Multi-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Mohawk Productions Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV; entire run) 720p (HDTV; seasons 7–9)
Original run	September 13, 1995 (1995-09-13) – September 8, 2004 (2004-09-08)

The Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor.

The show was created by Carey, who had both stand-up comedy and writing experience, and Bruce Helford, who was once a writer for Roseanne. It was the first television show to have an episode simulcast on the Internet.^[1]

The show was produced by Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. The show debuted on the ABC network on September 13, 1995, and was highly-rated for five years before sliding in popularity. Ratings declined during the final two seasons, and the last two episodes aired on September 8, 2004.

Premise

For the majority of its run, Drew's workplace is the office of fictional Cleveland department store Winfred-Lauder. One of his coworkers is Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney), a large woman with a clownish wardrobe, a lot of make-up, and a foul mutual dislike for Drew. In the first season they work for the unseen Mr. Bell, only seen in the season one finale; in later seasons, their boss and sometimes-coworker is Nigel Wick (Craig Ferguson), an eccentric Scotsman. In the final two seasons, they work for Scott (Jonathan Mangum) and Evan (Kyle Howard), tech-smart but naïve twentysomethings who own the Neverending Store, an online retailer with offices in the same location.

Drew's friends include intelligent but unambitious Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and excitable idiot Oswald (Diedrich Bader) and his friend (later girlfriend) Kate (Christa Miller). In the final two seasons, Kate leaves and Drew develops a relationship with Kellie (Cynthia Watros). Drew's crossdressing heterosexual brother Steve is a frequently recurring character. In addition to his day job, Drew, along with Oswald, Kate, and Lewis, runs a small business out of his garage, selling Buzz Beer, a concoction of beer and coffee that becomes extremely popular in the region.

Eras

"Moon Over Parma"/Chemistry Titles Era (1995–1996)

In the first season, Drew and Mimi worked under Mr. Bell, who existed only as a voice on Drew's speakerphone, and was seen only in his final episode when he was fired by the store's 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.

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". The tradition was abandoned by the end of the season.

The first season's opening credits consisted of a caricature of Carey—consisting of his face and a yellow tie—singing the Robert McGuire-penned "Moon Over Parma". The song was trimmed for the opening sequence, and the reference to Eastlake in the line "Guide her to Eastlake underneath your silvery light" was changed to a reference to Cleveland.

Wick Era (1996–2002)

Mr. Bell was replaced by Nigel Wick, who served as a foil for both Drew and Mimi in the workplace. During this period Drew and Mr. Wick periodically took the top management job away from each other. Kate and Drew got romantically involved, and 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. Drew's cross-dressing brother Steve was introduced during this period. He eventually fell in love with Mimi and they had a child, Gus.

"Moon Over Parma" was phased out during the second season, mostly by "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues. This season introduced the concept of the music-video-like opening as the cast danced and sang around the various sets of the show. In the third season, a permanent change was made to "Cleveland Rocks", a cover by The Presidents of the United States of America of an Ian Hunter song.

During this period the show had frequent "event" episodes. Recurring themes were "What's Wrong With This Episode?" in which the show contained numerous deliberate continuity errors and other mistakes, and live episodes, performed three times (Eastern/Central, Mountain, and Pacific Time zones), with loose plots improvised scenes featuring cast members from Carey's improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Brad Sherwood, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, Chip Esten, Kathy Greenwood, Jeff Davis, Laura Hall, and Linda Taylor). The season 5 finale "A Very Special Drew" indulged in intentionally manipulative and syrupy melodrama in a facetious attempt to get an Emmy nomination.

Neverending Store Era (2002–2004)

In the fall of 2002, Winfred-Lauder closed and the set became the office of online retailer Neverending Store, where Drew, Mimi, and Nigel were hired (the latter as a janitor). Nigel was written out of the series, and Steve was phased out as well. Kate left and was quickly replaced with Kellie, an old high school friend of Drew's who had been working as a stripper.

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 alumna Cara Khan, and The Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl. Tony the Bus Driver (Bill Cobbs) became a regular, serving as smart-alecky "bartender" type whom Drew could tell his problems to.

The eighth season was put in a timeslot that frequently clashed with Monday Night Football. It was pulled mid-season and the remaining episodes were shown during the summer 2003. ABC was obligated^{[citation needed]} to produce a ninth season, which was not shown until the summer 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 finally vanished and they became friends.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of The Drew Carey Show characters

Main characters

Actor	Role	Years	Seasons	Episodes
Drew Carey	Drew Allison Carey	1995–2004	1-9	233
Ryan Stiles	Lewis Kiniski			233 (Possible Credit Only In 1 Or 2 Episodes)
Diedrich Bader	Oswald Lee Harvey
Kathy Kinney	Mimi Bobeck(-Carey)
Craig Ferguson	Nigel Algernon Wick	1996–2004	2-8, 9 (2 Episodes)	186 (Numerous Credit Only)
Christa Miller	Kate O'Brien	1995–2002	1-7, 8 (2 Episodes)	183 (Possible Credit Only In 1 Or 2 Episodes)
Cynthia Watros	Kellie Newmark	2002–2004	8-9	52

Recurring characters

• Mrs. Dotty Lauder (Nan Martin)
• Larry Almada (Ian Gomez)
• Chuck (Kelly Perine)
• Mr. Gerald Bell (Kevin Pollak) - Drew's boss in Season 1
• Lisa Robbins (Katy Selverstone)– Drew's girlfriend in Season 1
• Jay Clemens (Robert Torti)– Kate's boyfriend in Season 1
• Sharon Bridges (Jenica Bergere)– Drew's "girlfriend" in Season 4/5
• Nicki Fifer (Kate Walsh)– Drew's girlfriend in Season 3
• Steve Carey (John Carroll Lynch) – Drew's brother
• Scott (Jonathan Mangum) - Drew's new boss in Season 8 and 9 (20 episodes)
• Tim (Tim O'Rourke) - Warsaw Bartender (11 episodes, 1996-2002)

Regular guest stars

• Beulah Carey (Marion Ross) – Drew's mother
• George Carey (Stanley Anderson) – Drew's father
• Kim Harvey (Adrienne Barbeau) – Oswald's mother
• Mother Bobeck (Tammy Faye Bakker) – Mimi's mother
• Gigi Bobeck (Lynn Wanlass) – Mimi's sister
• King Augustus Antonio Carey (Matthew Josten) – Drew's nephew, Steve and Mimi's son
• Misty Kiniski (June Lockhart) - Lewis's mother
• Speedy – Drew's dog

Guest stars

• Nikki Cox – Drew's cousin Kirsten Carey, who briefly dates Mr. Wick in "Drew's Cousin."
• Shirley Jones - Drew's lady friend Celia, (Season 4, 3 episodes))
• Caroline Rhea - Drew's date, Bonnie, (Season 2, 2 episodes)
• Pauley Perrette - Drew's girlfriend, Darcy (Season 4, 4 episodes)
• Kaitlin Olson as Tralor
• Mark Curry as Robert Soulard
• John Ratzenberger as himself in Drew Live III
• Eddie Money as the former husband of Mimi Bobeck.
• Penn & Teller as Fenn and Geller in "Drew Meets Lawyers" (season 1, episode 6) and "See Drew Run" (season 2, episode 17)
• David Cross as Earl in "Drew and the Unstable Element" (season 1, ep.13) and "Two Drews & the Queen of Poland Walk Into a Bar" (season 2, ep. 20).
• Tim Allen as himself in "The Front" (season 1, episode 17)
• Norm Macdonald as Simon Tate in "The Bully You Know" (season 2, episode 4)
• Henry Rollins as E-Bay Ass Kicking Guy and Amy Farrington as Bonnie in "Hickory Dickory... Double Date" (season 8, episode 5)
• Gregory Jbara as Ron in "Drew and the Conspiracy" (season 4, episode 1) and "Golden Boy" (season 4, episode 3).
• Charles Nelson Reilly as Mr. Hathaway, Lewis's boss, in "The Salon" (season 3) and "DrugCo" (season 4)
• Joe Walsh as Ed, a guitarist (in several episodes)
• French Stewart as Buddy in "Drew's Best Friend" (season 9, episode 10)
• Colin Mochrie as Eugene in "She's Gotta Have It", "Drew Live", and "Drew Live II"
• Brad Sherwood as himself/host of "Drew Live" and "Drew Live II"
• Wayne Brady as himself in "Drew Live" and "Drew Live II"
• Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Kathy Greenwood as themselves in "Drew Live II"
• Chris Palmer, head coach for the Cleveland Browns
• Susan Saint James (Christa Miller's real life aunt) as Kate's mother in "Drew and Kate and Kate's mother".
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Sioux in "Playing a Unified Field".
• Steve Buscemi as Mimi's lawyer in "Mr. Lauder's Birthday Party".
• Tom Poston as Oswald's father
• Beata Pozniak as Raisa in "What Women Don't Want".
• Julia Duffy as Lindsey Mercer, Lord Mercer's ex-wife who temporarily takes control of Winfred-Louder in "Rich Woman, Poor Man" (season 7, ep. 23)
• Nicholas Turturro as the New York detective in "New York and Queens" (season 2, episode 24).
• Paul Johansson
• Mike McShane as Ray in "Drew's Inheritance" (Season 6, Episode 3)

Special appearances

• Donald Trump and Carol Channing as themselves in "New York and Queens" (season 2, episode 24).
• "Weird Al" Yankovic as himself in "Drew Between the Rock and a Hard Place" (season 4)
• Daffy Duck as himself (Applies at Drew's work place for a job in scene before opening title) in "My Best Friend's Wedding".
• Rush Limbaugh as himself in "The Salon" (season 3)
• Triple H as The Disciplinarian, Pro Wrestler Sponsor for Buzz Beer
• The Reverend Horton Heat as The Underprivileged in "That Thing You Don't" (season 3, episode 10)
• Slash, Rick Nielsen, Dusty Hill, Matthew Sweet, Joey Ramone, Lisa Loeb, Dave Mustaine, Roy Clark, Johnny Lang, and Michael Stanley as themselves and Joe Walsh as Ed in "In Ramada da Vida" (season 4, episode 2)
• Lemmy Kilmister and his band Motorhead as themselves in "Drew Gets Out of the Nut House" in season 7, playing a loud song with altered lyrics from Mimi to apologize for putting Drew in a mental institution.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Drew Carey Show episodes

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 shows 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.

Season	Years	Rank	Rating
Season 1	1995–1996	#48	10.1
Season 2	1996–1997	#18	11.5
Season 3	1997–1998	#16	11.1
Season 4	1998–1999	#14	9.9
Season 5	1999–2000	#24	9.5
Season 6	2000–2001	#41	8.2
Season 7	2001–2002	#57	5.9
Season 8	2002–2003	#119	3.3
Season 9	2004 (summer only)	n/a	3.1

Syndication

The Drew Carey Show entered off-network syndication in September 1999 and continued until September 2007.

During the early-to-mid 2000s, The Drew Carey Show was also seen on cable's TBS. ION Television aired reruns of the show from 2007 to 2009, premiering on New Year's Eve 2007, with the station promoting it as "The Drew Year." ION Television did not air all of the episodes as it only aired the episodes that aired from seasons 1–5; the channel also removed references to the male genitalia from certain episodes, the season 5 episode "Do Drew and Kate Have Sex?" being one in particular. The CW Television Network also aired episodes during the 2008-2009 television season. Two back-to-back episodes was airing on Sundays at 6:00pm to replace the cancelled Sunday Night Block by Media Rights Capital.

As of 2011, The Drew Carey Show is not being syndicated on any cable channel in the United States. In Australia, the show is currently being shown on 7Mate on a nightly basis.

Merchandise

The show has had many merchandise through its height of popularity, including Barbie-esque Drew + Mimi dolls, and Drew's VW Beetle made by Matchbox.

DVD releases

On April 24, 2007, Warner Home Video released the complete first season of The Drew Carey Show on DVD in Region 1. The WB has released a statement in which it said that the reason as to why the second season has yet to be released as of 2011 is because there are pieces of music that are copyrighted and Warner Home Video is unable to get around the copyrights legally. It is unknown if the remaining eight seasons will ever be released by Warner Home Video.

The first season was released in Australia (Region 4) on September 10, 2008. Small distribution company Madman Entertainment, usually known for releasing anime and manga, has picked up the rights to the series.

DVD Name	Ep#	Region 1	Region 4	Special Features
The Complete First Season	22	April 24, 2007	September 10, 2008	1-900-MIMI (a phone sex spoof featuring Mimi) Life Inside a Cubicle Featurette

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 "DrugCov. However, this DVD has since gone out of print.

References

1. ^ "The Capital Times". Sonic Foundry's finest hour. http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/index.php?ntid=120818&ntpid=0. Retrieved March 1, 2007. 

External links

• The Drew Carey Show at the Internet Movie Database
• The Drew Carey Show at TV.com
• Season 1 DVD information