The Drew Carey Show

The Drew Carey Show was an American sitcom starring Drew Carey, set in Cleveland, Ohio. In the series, Carey played an assistant manager of personnel at Winfred-Louder, a local department store. The sitcom was known for its everyman characters and themes.

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 generally agreed-upon "eras."

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"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 under a Mr. Bell, who existed only as a voice on Drew's speakerphone. Other characters who appeared exclusively in this era were Drew's hillbilly neighbor Jules and his family. Drew's first girlfriend Lisa was introduced in this season, though she stayed with the cast for the early episodes of the next season. Many of the episode titles were related to chemistry in some way. No explanation for this was ever given, and the tradition was abandoned at the end of the season. 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.

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Wick Era (1996-2002)

The second season was notably different from the first. The opening theme, "Moon Over Parma," was replaced by "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues, which itself was later replaced with "Cleveland Rocks" by The Presidents of the United States of America. This 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 first episode, Mr. Bell was fired, and in the second episode he was replaced by Nigel Wick. Nigel Wick was one of the show's most outrageous characters. Like Lewis he had a tendency to slip truly bizarre or patently offensive things into casual conversation. Nigel Wick, however, was nowhere near as staid as Lewis. Nigel Wick was probably the first British character to appear on an American sitcom who wasn't an upper-class, refined stiff. That is, he was crude, boisterous and offensive.

Related Topics:
The Vogues - The Presidents of the United States of America

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Lisa and Drew moved in together early in the second season, but it didn't work out. But this allowed the introduction of Speedy, Drew's dog who stayed throughout the end of the series. Steve, Drew's cross-dressing brother, was introduced during this period. He quickly fell in love with Mimi and they had a child, Gus.

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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 Louder 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.

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This era of the show is generally considered to be the show's best era, and the most recognizable. 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 mistakes, the person who could compile the largest list and phone them in would win a prize. The second was a live show that was recorded four-times over for each time zone, heavily featuring cast members from "Whose Line is it Anyway?" because of their improvisational skill. There was also the season 5 finale "A Very Special Drew" in which the cast indulged in manipulative and syrupy melodrama in an attempt to get an Emmy nomination.

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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.

Related Topics:
Saturday Night Live - MADtv

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Neverending Store Era (2002-2004)

In the fall of 2002 the show returned, but it had become obvious to the producers that the formula was wearing thin. The concept of Winfred Louder 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 Louder, 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 all together after a few episodes; Steve was also phased out in the same way. The most notable change, however, was when Kate O'Brien, one of the show's main cast, left. She was quickly replaced with Kellie, an old high school friend of Drew's who had been working as a stripper.

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Drew's bosses were a set of twenty-something internet geeks. The combination of high intelligence, low social skills, and hacker naivete 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.

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Tony The Bus-Driver 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.")

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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. It was yanked mid-season and the remaining episodes were shown during the summer. In what was almost assuredly a unique event, 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.

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Drew's last season felt very different from the rest of the show. ABC left the cast and crew alone as they made the season, since it seemed they never intended to show it. The directors started experimenting with one-camera set-ups, showing that the sets were completely built, there actually were fourth 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. Drew and Mimi's mutual hatred of each other finally vanished and they became true friends.

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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 Winfred Louder set that hadn't been seen for two years, and Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It" starts up.

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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 on his backyard pool table 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".

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The Drew Carey Shw is supposed to be another victim of the Friday Night Death slot.

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