The Drew Carey Show
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:Infobox television The Drew Carey Show was a popular American sitcom starring Drew Carey, set in Cleveland, Ohio. In the series, Carey played an assistant manager in the personnel offices at Winfred-Louder, a local department store. The sitcom was known for its "everyman" characters and themes.
Among the other actors in The Drew Carey Show were Diedrich Bader (Oswald Lee Harvey), Kathy Kinney (Mimi Bobeck Carey), Craig Ferguson (Nigel Wick), Ryan Stiles (Lewis Kiniski), Christa Miller (Kate O’Brien), Cynthia Watros (Kellie Newmark), and John Carrol Lynch (Steve Carey).
The Drew Carey Show ran for nine seasons (September 13 1995–September 8 2004) on ABC.
Contents |
Cast and characters
Drew Allison Carey (Drew Carey) - The protagonist. Forty-something assistant director of personnel at a department store in Cleveland. He's very much the lovable loser, though it should be noted that he's the most successful of his group of friends. Original founder and owner of Buzz Beer (a special brew the gang makes containing coffee and beer. The brewery is in Drew's garage). A perpetual "nice guy." Has a long-standing feud with Mimi Bobeck, aspects of which include: destroying Mimi's clothes, shredding her vacation requests and masquerading as Antonio Banderas to taunt her.
Lewis Michelangelo Kiniski (Ryan Stiles) - Forms a double-act with Oswald. Lewis is the tall, lanky, blond, insane one. Lewis can be counted on to nonchalantly say bizarre and offensive things. He possesses an IQ of 180. He's a janitor in his forties that works for a company called DrugCo. He notes in one episode that due to accidentally releasing a virus into the population he was busted down to janitor from a position that required he 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 for him, and inadvertently ended up taking a psychiatric exam as well. The results showed him to mentally unstable, possibly criminally insane.
Oswald Lee Harvey (Diedrich Bader) - Lewis's slightly shorter, dark-haired friend, is the dumb one of the double-act. That tends to be his only distinguishing characteristic. Lewis described him once as a "man-child stuck in a state of prolonged adolescence." At one point he was training to be a nurse, but he proved unsuitable. Oswald was a deejay in the first season, but later he became a delivery driver for Global Parcel (a UPS rip-off made for the show). His name is a play on Lee Harvey Oswald.
Kate O'Brien (Christa Miller) - Friends with Drew, Lewis and Oswald since they were kids. Kate's main characteristic is that she's a bit of a tomboy, a tramp, and a hothead. She is also a South Park Republican. 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 found out about Drew's long-standing crush on her at their high school reunion, and 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 incredibly betrayed. It took Drew a long time, but he eventually regained Kate's trust and they went back to being friends. Kate left at the beginning of the eighth season, marrying a Marine and moving out of Cleveland to Guam.
Nigel Algernon Wick (Craig Ferguson) - Drew's boss after the first season, replacing the almost-never-seen Mr. Bell, who was seen only once and was portrayed by Kevin Pollak. 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 homosexual 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 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.
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. However she has very high self-esteem and is Drew's arch-nemesis. Mimi vowed to make Drew's life a living hell after Drew denied her a job based on her makeup. Mimi's pranks included gluing Drew's hand to a pornographic magazine, covering Drew's desk with garbage and eventually sending Drew to China. Her character can be seen as an attack on societal norms of beauty, much as the main character of Rosalie Goes Shopping is. 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 one shoulder. 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 Krakow after her aunt passed away. 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).
Steve Carey (John Carrol Lynch) - Drew's cross-dressing brother. He came to Cleveland and got a job in the cosmetics department at Winfred-Louder. He fell in love with Mimi and after several season 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, during the early eighth season.
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 shows' run. His series-spouses include:
- Diane - 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 the 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 - A real estate agent whom Drew dated and became engaged; 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 - 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, anohter in a 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 - Drew's childhood friend who was introduced in a later season. They were both reluctant to confess their feelings for another, but they became a couple after Drew & Lily's wedding. Kellie became pregnant, but refused to marry Drew for another eight months. On their wedding day, Kellie gave birth to Drew Jr.
Other characters
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 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 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.
Kellie Newmark (Cynthia Watros) - An old friend of Drew's from high school. She was a housewife who was left by her husband. When Drew met up with her again she was working as a stripper. She took Kate's place on the show, but the character was much different. Kellie was probably the only genuinely nice person on the show, and was horrified at many of the goings-on that our characters had come to take for granted. She was also the only liberal character on the show, the others either being libertarian (as is Drew Carey), South Park Republican (Kate), or completely oblivious to the world of politics.
Gerald Bell (Kevin Pollak) - Drew's boss for the show's first season. The interesting thing about Mr. Bell was that he was never seen. We only heard his voice on Drew's speaker phone, 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 was fully revealed for the first time as he was seen leaving his office after getting fired from the store.
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."
"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.
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. Councilman Sean Brennan of Parma has acknowledged Drew Carey for his placing Cleveland and Parma on the world stage.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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 altogether 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.
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.
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.")
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.
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.
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.
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 is supposed to be another victim of the Friday Night Death slot.
Ratings
What's is unusual about The Drew Carey Show is that unlike some long-running series where there is a long period of good ratings and then followed by a steady decline in viewership, the series ratings declined throughout most of the series run starting with the third season with an alarming drop beginning in the seventh season.
The show finished its first season (1995–96) 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 1996–97 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 1997–98 season, however the ratings share was a drop of 3.5% from the second season.
Season four (1998–99) is where the trouble started. 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 wasn't 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 2000–01 season finished 41st with an average rating of 8.23, a decrease of 13.4 percent from the fifth season.
In what would prove to be an unwise decision, before the seventh season began, ABC signed a new contract to keep the show on through a ninth season. The 2001–02 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 2002–03 season 119th with an average rating of 3.29, an incredible drop of 44.23 percent from the 7th season. This caused ABC to put the series on hiatus, burning off 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 9th season, paying three million dollars per episode. Not doing well enough to make a slot in the fall, the ninth season was burned off during the summer of 2004. [1]
Trivia
John Carroll Lynch, who plays Drew's older brother, Steve, is actually five years younger than Drew Carey.
Besides the first and last episodes, which are entitled Pilot and Finale respectively, the episodes started out with science names (The Joining of Two Unlike Elements is a Mixture, for example), but the rest of the episodes were given names relevant to their story (Drew and Mrs. Louder) after episode ten, entitled Science Names Suck.