The Drew Carey Show Ratings Did the show have good ratings in the beginning? 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. How many seasons were there? 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 (2001-2002) at that time. Did the ratings fall during the 9th season and that's why the show didn't continue? The season saw one of the show's biggest drops in ratings, finishing 57th with an average rating of 5.9, a significant drop of 28.3% from the sixth season. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? The second season did considerably better, making it into the Top 20 finishing its second season (1996-1997) 18th in the Nielsen ratings
Did Drew Carey help write the show?
Did Drew Carey help write The Drew Carey Show?
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 its second season (1996-1997) 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 (1997-1998) at a higher place in the ratings, placing 16th with an average rating of 11.1 during the season; however, the ratings share was a drop of 3.5% from the second season. During its fourth season (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 its fifth season (1999-2000) 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 smaller drop than many other series experienced, given the erosion of network audiences. This was also a smaller drop than the previous season. The show's sixth season (2000-2001) 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 (2001-2002) at that time. The season saw one of the show's biggest drops in ratings, finishing 57th with an average rating of 5.9, a significant drop of 28.3% from the sixth season. The show finished its eighth season (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 the contract, ABC was forced to allow the show to film a ninth season, paying three million dollars per episode. Not doing well enough to receive a time slot on ABC's fall schedule in 2003, the show had its ninth and final season burned off during the summer of 2004. The series finale was viewed by a little over 5 million viewers. CANNOTANSWER
The show finished its third season (1997-1998) at a higher place in the ratings, placing 16th with an average rating of 11.1 during the season;
The Drew Carey Show is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the comedian.

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.

Produced by Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, it debuted on September 13, 1995, received positive reviews from critics and ranked among the Top 30 programs for four seasons before sliding in popularity. Ratings declined sharply during the final two seasons, and the last two episodes aired on September 8, 2004.

Premise

Drew Carey is a fictionalized version of himself, a self-proclaimed "everyman". Drew Carey (the comedian) has been quoted as saying his character is what the actor would have been if he had not become an actor. He has a "gang" of friends who embark with him on his everyday trials and tribulations. Drew's friends include erudite but unambitious Lewis (Ryan Stiles), excitable dimwitted Oswald (Diedrich Bader) and his friend (later on-off girlfriend) Kate (Christa Miller). In the final two seasons, Kate gets married and moves to Guam, in the same two-part episode that introduces and develops Drew's relationship with Kellie (Cynthia Watros), which carries on over the final two seasons.

For its first seven seasons, Drew's workplace is the office of fictional Cleveland department store Winfred-Louder, where he has worked for years and still works as Assistant Director of Personnel. One of his coworkers is Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney), a large woman with a clownish wardrobe, a lot of make-up (including her trademark bright blue eye shadow), and a foul mutual dislike for Drew. The two eventually become closer (although still maintaining a less heated rivalry), primarily because Mimi fell in love with and married Drew's cross-dressing heterosexual brother Steve (John Carroll Lynch), a frequently recurring character.

In the first season they work for the unseen Mr. Bell (Kevin Pollak), only seen in the season one finale, to which he is greeted with applause; in later seasons, their boss and sometimes-co-worker is Nigel Wick (Craig Ferguson), an eccentric, sadistic and unlucky Englishman. In the final two seasons, they work for peaceful, hippie-like Evan (Kyle Howard) and the much more professional Scott (Jonathan Mangum), tech-smart but naïve twenty-somethings who own the Neverending Store, an online retailer with offices in the same location.

In addition to his day job, Drew, along with Oswald, Lewis, and Kate (replaced from around Season 5 onwards by Mimi), runs a small business out of his garage, selling Buzz Beer, a caffeinated alcoholic drink. It becomes popular in the region and is served at the group's hangout, The Warsaw Tavern.

Synopsis

Season 1 (1995–1996)
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 to stay in theme with the show.

In the first season, Drew and Mimi worked under Mr. Bell, who existed only as a voice on Drew's speakerphone, excluding the season finale (his final episode, played by Kevin Pollak) wherein he is fired by Winfred-Louder's new owners. Other characters that appeared exclusively in this period were Drew's hillbilly neighbor Jules and his family. Drew's first girlfriend Lisa was introduced in this season, as was Jay, Kate's love interest who used to attend the same high school as Drew and his friends. Both characters lasted until Season 2, where they were quickly written out of the show in the early episodes.

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". However, this theme was abandoned by the end of the season.

Seasons 2–7 (1996–2002)
"Moon Over Parma" was phased out during the second season by "Five O'Clock World" sung by The Vogues. This season introduced openings that paid homage to music videos which included the cast dancing and singing around the various sets of the show.

In the third season, the opening theme was changed to "Cleveland Rocks", a cover of an Ian Hunter song performed by The Presidents of the United States of America. The video consisted of shots of Cleveland ending with their ballpark. This change lasted until the second "wave" of the show ended, with the finale of Season 7.

The man who took over Mr. Bell's job after his firing was Nigel Wick, who served as a foil for both Drew and Mimi in the workplace. During this period, Drew and Mr. Wick also periodically took the top management job away from each other. This would usually result in Drew ending up back at his old job as Assistant Director of Personnel and Mr. Wick would miraculously retain his job as manager. By the end of Season 7, they were both Co-Managers before Winfred-Louder was closed down (albeit after undergoing drastic changes to stay in business).

Kate and Oswald became closer and eventually became romantically involved and almost married during the third season, but Kate stood Oswald up at the altar. Kate and Drew also became romantically involved and were on the verge of getting married, but they called it off when they realized they did not 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 together, Gus (whose name was decided by means of a contest).

Drew also got married a number of times during this portion of the show. His first marriage was to Diane, a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas. This was only temporary however, as she needed Drew to retain custody of her children. His second marriage was to Mr. Wick, who forced Drew to marry him in a sham same-sex civil union in Vermont (the only place it was legal at the time) in hopes that the marriage would placate the Immigration and Naturalization Service. At the beginning of Season 7, Drew married both Nikki and Kate (the former had been a recurring character for some time since Season 3, and suffered from weight problems). They found out about this and all three of these marriages ended in divorce, and Drew became known as the "Impotent Bisexual Bigamist". Nikki eventually returned, and the actress, Kate Walsh, donned a fat suit again and moved in with Drew.

During this period the show also 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 invited viewers at home to find the most errors and win a prize, and live episodes, with loose plots and 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) contributed to these episodes, with Brad Sherwood hosting.

Seasons 8–9 (2002–2004)
Beginning in season 8, the show rotated through 9 different opening sequences, each of which contained a new version of one of the show's three theme songs. Each theme ("Moon Over Parma", "Five O'Clock World" and "Cleveland Rocks") was seen in three different segments, in new, wildly different arrangements. The show eventually went back to having just five main characters, akin to the first season, as Kate, Mr. Wick, and Steve were eventually written out of the show. Kate's character was married off, Mr. Wick disappeared after three appearances until the Season 8 finale, wherein it is revealed he became a weatherman (although he continued to appear in the opening credits, unlike Kate, who was eliminated, and never mentioned again.) Steve left at the beginning of the ninth season to "find himself".

With Winfred-Louder closed, the location became the office of online retailer Neverending Store. Drew, Mimi, and Mr. Wick were hired as employees of the new company. Mimi was hired first in a similar role to her old job, and Drew was eventually hired as "Internal Expediting Analyst", and a recurring gag began wherein Drew had no clue as to what his job entailed. Before being written out, Mr. Wick was at first a janitor, and another recurring joke came in the form of Mr. Wick attempting to climb the ladder back to being the boss. Before being written out, he went from janitor to the carrier of the dessert trolley.

Kate left after the first two episodes of season 8, the same two episodes that introduced Kellie, an old high school friend of Drew's who had been working as a stripper. She eventually became a waitress at The Warsaw Tavern, Drew's girlfriend, and the carrier of his child. The plot of the final episode was Drew and Kellie attempting to get married before their child is born. Mr. Wick also returned and stayed on for the series finale.

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 to whom Drew could tell his problems. 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 of 2003. The ninth season did not air until the summer of 2004, with most of the episodes out of order.

The last season's tone changed radically from the previous seasons. The directors began experimenting with one-camera set-ups, showing the sets completely built, with four walls in most rooms, and with rooms actually linked together. The writers also began experimenting, including story lines in which Gus burns down Mimi's house, forcing her to move in with Drew after Steve leaves her.

Post-series
On March 24, 2009, Kathy Kinney appeared in character as Mimi at the beginning of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Kinney appeared twice on The Price Is Right as Mimi Bobeck on April Fools' Day. Drew Carey has been the host of the show since 2007. Carey would later revive the "What's Wrong with This Episode?" format for later April Fool's Day episodes of The Price Is Right.

The ending skit of the final episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2014 was a spoof of the 1990 final episode of Newhart, in which Ferguson and Carey reprised their roles. Mr. Wick wakes up in bed with Carey, discovering that his decade as a talk show host and Carey's career as a game show host had been a dream.

Carey, Kinney, and Ryan Stiles all guest starred in the episode "Bigger Kids, Bigger Problems" (2019) of the ABC sitcom American Housewife, which stars Diedrich Bader.

Cast and characters

Main characters

Notes
 Christa Miller was only credited as Starring for the first 2 episodes she appeared in of Season 8.

 Kathy Kinney is credited as a guest star in the pilot episode, but she is credited as Starring from the second episode on.

 Craig Ferguson was credited as Starring in all episodes of Season 8, but only appeared in 4 episodes.

 John Carroll Lynch appeared in 8 episodes in Season 8, and was only credited as Starring for the episodes he appeared in.

Recurring characters

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 (Dakota and Ryan Williams) – Drew's nephew, Steve and Mimi's son
 Misty Kiniski (June Lockhart) – Lewis's mother

Guest stars
 Nikki Cox as Drew's cousin Kirsten Carey, who briefly dates Mr. Wick in "Drew's Cousin"
 Shirley Jones as Drew's lady friend Celia (Season 4, 3 Episodes)
 Caroline Rhea as Drew's date, Bonnie, (Season 2, 2 Episodes)
 Pauley Perrette as Drew's girlfriend, Darcy (Season 4, 4 Episodes)
 Dan Castellaneta as Sal, the King of Poland in "Two Drews and the Queen of Poland Walk into A Bar" (all of his scenes were cut from reruns after complaints from the Polish community)
 Hal Linden as Mr. Van Zandt in the episode "Brotherhood of Man" (Season 5)
 Mark Curry as Robert Soulard
 John Ratzenberger as himself in Drew Live III
 Eddie Money as himself, 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, Episode 13) and "Two Drews & the Queen of Poland Walk into a Bar" (Season 2, Episode 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)
 Richard Chamberlain as Mr. Wick's mother, Maggie in "Curse of the Mummy" (Season 7, Episode 14) and "Look Mom, One Hand!" (Season 7, Episode 25)
 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)
 Ray Romano as Ed, a guitarist (in several episodes)
 Bob Saget as Randy 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. Louder's Birthday Party"
 Micky Dolenz as Mr. Metcalf in "Drew and the King" (Season 7, Episode 13)
 Tom Poston as Oswald's father (Season 6, Episode 13)
 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, Episode 23)
 Nicholas Turturro as the New York detective in "New York and Queens" (Season 2, Episode 24)
 Mike McShane as Ray in "Drew's Inheritance" (Season 6, Episode 3)
 Phyllis Diller as Mimi's grandmother (Season 7, Episode 25)
 Megyn Price as Waitress at Warsaw Tavern in "Drew and Mr. Bell's Nephew" (Season 1, Episode 14) and "Miss Right" (Season 1, Episode 2)
 Dave Winfield as himself in "Science Names Suck" (Season 1, Episode 10)
 Jenny McCarthy as various roles in "Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour" (Season 7, Episodes 1 and 2) and as a Police officer Drew dates in "A Shot In The Dark" (Season 7, Episode 17)
 Amanda Bynes as various roles in "Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour" (Season 7, Episodes 1 and 2)
Tim Conway as a senior-home resident who temporarily costs Drew his job (Season 3, Episode 11)
Brent Hinkley as Frederick (Season 3, Episode 24)

Special appearances
 Little Richard as himself in "Drewstock" (season 2, Episode 14)
 Donald Trump and Carol Channing as themselves in "New York and Queens" (Season 2, Episode 24)
 Rush Limbaugh as himself in "The Salon" (Season 3)
 Dionne Warwick as herself, shopping at Winfred-Louder (Season 3, Episode 9)
 The Reverend Horton Heat as The Underprivileged in "That Thing You Don't" (Season 3, Episode 10)
 "Weird Al" Yankovic as himself in "Drew Between the Rock and a Hard Place" (Season 4)
 Joe Alaskey as Daffy Duck (Applies at Drew's work place for a job in scene before opening title) in "My Best Friend's Wedding"
 Paul "Triple H" Levesque as The Disciplinarian, Pro Wrestler Sponsor for Buzz Beer
 Slash, Rick Nielsen, Dusty Hill, Matthew Sweet, Joey Ramone, Lisa Loeb, Dave Mustaine, Roy Clark, Jonny Lang, and Michael Stanley as themselves and Joe Walsh as Ed in "In Ramada Da Vida" (Season 4, Episode 2)
 Ben Stein as St. Peter
 The James Gang as themselves at the end of Season 4, Episode 4
 Debbie Lee Carrington as Mini Mimi in Season 5, Episode 1
 The Go-Go's as themselves in "The Pregnancy Scare" (season 6, episode 6) 
 Lemmy Kilmister and his band Motörhead 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
 Kristen Wiig as Sandy, in realtor in "House of the Rising Son-in-Law" (Season 9, Episode 12)

Episodes

Viva Las Vegas

The episode "Drew Gets Married" is part of a crossover with Grace Under Fire, Coach and Ellen set in Las Vegas. It features Brett Butler as Grace Kelly, Jerry Van Dyke as Luther Van Dam, Joely Fisher as Paige Clark and Jeremy Piven as Spence Kovak.

Ratings
The show initially finished outside of the Top 30 in the Nielsen ratings, at #48. In the second season, ratings improved, and the series jumped into the Top 30, remaining there for the next three seasons as well. The sixth season finished just outside of the Top 30, at #37. This is attributable to the erosion of network audiences that began in the late 1990s.

After its sixth season, ABC and Warner Bros. negotiated to keep the series on through the 2003-04 television season, which would place it in its ninth season. However, in its seventh season, The Drew Carey Show experienced a dramatic ratings drop, as did several other ABC series. A schedule move by ABC for the eighth season resulted in even worse ratings, falling out of the Top 100. At midseason, ABC placed the series on hiatus, and attempted to get out of the contract with Warner Bros. When they were unable to, the network finished the eighth season in the summer, and decided to burn off the ninth and final season during the summer of 2004. The series finale was viewed by a little over 5 million viewers.

Average seasonal ratings

Syndication
The Drew Carey Show entered off-network syndication in September 1999 and continued until September 2008, airing on the affiliates of Fox, UPN, and The WB.

The series began airing on TBS in October 2002, with reruns airing on the network until November 2007. ION Television aired reruns of the show from 2007 to 2009, premiering on December 31, 2007 (New Year's Eve), 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 2008–09 television season. Two back-to-back episodes were aired on Sundays at 6:00pm to replace the cancelled Sunday Night Block by Media Rights Capital.

In Canada, the show ran in syndication on TVtropolis until June 2013, when the channel was rebranded as DTour. The series also aired on DejaView.

Laff began carrying the show as part of its inaugural lineup when it launched in April 2015. The series was dropped from Laff's lineup in the fall of 2019.

Rewind TV beginning airing The Drew Carey Show reruns in December 2021.

Merchandise
During the height of the show's popularity, Barbie-esque dolls of Drew and Mimi were released, with accessories and are currently in rare supply and considered collector's items. Matchbox also released Drew's car, a Volkswagen Beetle with flames on the sides which Drew owned from the third season until the eighth. The soundtrack album Cleveland Rocks! Music from The Drew Carey Show was released in May 1998.

Home media

On February 28, 2006, a six-episode release of the sitcom was released on DVD titled 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." However, this DVD has since gone out of print.

On April 24, 2007, Warner Home Video released the complete first season of The Drew Carey Show on DVD in Region 1. Warner Bros. has released a statement in which it said that the reason as to why the second season, and any of the later seasons have yet to be released to this day is because of copyright issues regarding music used on the show. For the same reason, it is unlikely ever to stream on online services.

The first season was released in Australia (Region 4) on September 10, 2008.

Notes

References

External links

 
 The Drew Carey Show ABC homepage
 Season 1 DVD information

1995 American television series debuts
2004 American television series endings
1990s American workplace comedy television series
2000s American workplace comedy television series
1990s American single-camera sitcoms
2000s American single-camera sitcoms
American Broadcasting Company original programming
English-language television shows
Cultural depictions of American men
Cultural depictions of comedians
Television series by Mohawk Productions
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Television series created by Bruce Helford
Television shows set in Ohio
Television shows set in Cleveland
Television series set in shops
"Pilot" is the first episode and the series premiere of the American sitcom The Drew Carey Show. It first aired on September 13, 1995, on the ABC network in the United States. The premise of the show revolves around the life Drew Carey would have lived if he had not become a stand-up comedian. The pilot introduces the main characters of Drew (Carey), Kate (Christa Miller), Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader), as well as Drew's workplace, the fictional Winfred-Lauder department store, and enemy Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney).

The pilot was written by series co-creators Carey and Bruce Helford, while Michael Lessac directed. It was shot in April 1995 at the Warner Bros. Television studios in Burbank, California. The episode ranked joint 29th in television programs with the most viewers for the week of September 11–17, 1995. Critical response was mixed, with many comparing the show to the NBC sitcom Friends. Ray Richmond from the Los Angeles Daily News praised Carey's performance, but thought the episode did not click, while Variety's Tony Scott liked the opening sequence and Lessac's "inventive" direction.

Plot
The episode opens with Drew (Drew Carey) and his friends Lewis Kiniski (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald Lee Harvey (Diedrich Bader) in their local bar, the Warsaw Tavern, discussing Brad Pitt. The following day, Drew's best friend Kate O'Brien (Christa Miller) tells him that she has broken up with her boyfriend, who then fired her from her job as a receptionist at his body shop. Desperate for a job, Kate asks Drew to hire her at the Winfred-Louder department store where he is the assistant director of personnel. Drew insists that he cannot hire his friends. At Winfred-Louder, Drew's boss Mr. Bell (Kevin Pollak) asks him to hire someone for a position at the cosmetics counter. While conducting interviews, Drew meets Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney), a hostile woman who wears too much eye shadow. Drew tries to be polite, but Mimi soon realizes he is not going to give her the job and accuses Drew of being sexist. Mimi complains to Mr. Bell about Drew, getting him into trouble.

Later at the Warsaw Tavern, Drew is hanging out with his friends when Mimi walks in and confronts him. Drew talks to her honestly about why she did not get the job, telling her that her attitude is the problem and she has to deal with the fact that her looks might stop her from getting some jobs. Mimi does not like Drew's advice and leaves the bar. Needing to fill the cosmetics position quickly, Drew believes he has found an ideal candidate in Natalie (Natasha Silver) until Kate turns up to apply for the job. Drew admits that he is worried that Kate will hate him if he has to fire her. However, Mr. Bell insists Drew hire Kate, having seen her in the lobby and Drew agrees. Kate later comes to Drew's house to ask him, Lewis and Oswald, which perfume samples to promote. The episode ends with Drew playing pool in his garden in the rain, while the others watch through the window.

Production

Conception and writing

Drew Carey and Bruce Helford co-created The Drew Carey Show. Having worked together twice before on The Good Life and Someone Like Me, Carey joined up with Helford and told him he wanted to develop his own show. They each came up with various ideas and created The Drew Carey Show. Carey later told a group of television critics at the network launch that the series was originally going to be called The Drew F...ing Carey Show, saying "We were going to call it The Drew F. Carey Show and see if anybody at home could figure it out!"

The show revolved around the life Carey would have lived if he had not become a stand-up comedian. Carey told Helford that he thought he would have been employed in a mid-level management job, which was a relatable job for most Americans at the time. Carey wanted a show that was about regular people. He also wanted to set the show in Cleveland as it was his hometown and it was not getting a lot of attention. Carey and Helford drove to the city together in January 1995 to do some research. They toured the local bars to try to get the right look for the show's bar the Warsaw Tavern. Carey and Helford also heard the song "Moon Over Parma" in one of the bars and it was used during the title sequence.
 
Carey and Helford co-wrote the pilot episode together. Helford had expected The Drew Carey Show to air at 8:30pm. When ABC placed the show in the 7:30 pm slot, Helford agreed to soften the language in the pilot. An executive from Standards and Practices had asked for nine words deemed offensive to be removed from the script, as well as a mention of Jack Daniel's and a line that implied one of the characters was going to buy and use drugs.

Casting

Carey plays a fictionalized version of himself. Drew is an assistant director of personnel at the Winfred-Lauder department store. Carey explained "I wanted a white-collar job with no authority and a bad boss. Someone to do all the work and get no credit. He could've worked in a bank, in insurance." Carey said it was "a no-brainer" on settling on the character, saying "It's just me." While Christa Miller was trying out for the role of Drew's close friend Kate O'Brien, ABC thought she might be too inexperienced for the role and they asked to see her appearance in the Seinfeld episode "The Doodle". The episode had yet to be aired and Miller had to beg the show's co-creator Larry David for a rough cut to show to ABC. Miller went on to secure the role of Kate and Helford considered her to be the only person right for the role.

Ryan Stiles won the role of "hapless janitor" Lewis Kiniski. Despite being well known for his role on the British improve show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Stiles still had to go through the audition process along with everybody else. He said, "I don't even think Drew was really even aware of Whose Line at that time because it hadn't been on the air (in the U.S.) that many years. I think it was only on Comedy Central at that time." Stiles admitted that he liked to have fun with his character and not psychoanalyze him. Following his appearance in The Beverly Hillbillies, Diedrich Bader realised he needed a regular income and decided to return to television. He tested out for The Drew Carey Show, but did not initially want to be cast in it. He told Kevin Smith that he wanted to drive up his price for the pilot of Partners. Bader lost out on the role of Bob to Jon Cryer and then learned The Drew Carey Show wanted to hire him to play Oswald Lee Harvey.

The role of Mimi Bobeck went to Kathy Kinney. The actress was originally intended to be a one-episode guest star, but became a series regular when Helford noticed during editing of the pilot that the funniest scenes were those featuring Mimi. Kinney was hired for a further seven episodes, but eventually appeared in every episode. Robin Rauzi, writing for The Sun-Herald, branded Mimi "a moving visual assault with a personality to match" because of her painted-on eyebrows, bright eyeshadow and gaudy clothes. After relocating from Chicago, Ian Gomez spent a year auditioning for various shows, before being cast in the recurring role of Larry Almada in 1995. Other actors who appear in the pilot are Alaina Reed Hall, David St. James, Lauren Katz, Vic Helford and Natasha Silver.

Filming
The pilot was shot in April 1995 and directed by Michael Lessac. Although set in Cleveland, the show was actually filmed at the Warner Bros. Television studios in Burbank, California. Helford had noticed that the cast did not look at each other while saying their lines and he tried to encourage them to look at one another, so they would laugh. Helford told Lessac to bring the cast in on a weekend, where there was no pressure, so they could "goof around" and relax. Drew's job required him to work from a cubicle and Helford stated that no one had really done a show dealing with that situation, as producers and networks felt it was too confined. Helford disagreed and had a set where an accessible cubicle was the centerpiece designed and built. The Memphis Plaza Lounge in Old Brooklyn was the inspiration for the show's bar The Warsaw Tavern. The owner of the Lounge refused to sell the naming rights to Warner Bros, but he did agree that they could film the front of the building. The crew shot the building in 1995 and temporarily replaced The Memphis Plaza Lounge sign with their own Warsaw Tavern one. The sign was hung in the front window for two years before Warner Bros. took it down.

Reception
The episode finished joint 29th among 108 prime-time shows in the Nielsen ratings for the week of September 11–17, 1995. It came second both in households and among adults 18–49 with a 10.8/18 and 7.2 rating/share, respectively.

"Pilot" received mixed reviews from television critics. Ray Richmond from the Los Angeles Daily News branded the show a "Friends clone", but praised Carey, calling him "the season's quirkiest, most uproarious talent". He also thought that he was "immensely lovable". Richmond added "The pilot never quite clicks, but you can feel the potential. And spread inside an Ellen/Grace Under Fire sandwich, it'll be difficult for it to miss." Lon Grahnke from the Chicago Sun-Times thought the show would be a "probable hit" based on the "Pilot". He also observed that the show is "a Cleveland variation of Friends, and thought the early time slot was a turn off, as it required the language to be toned-down. David Zurawik from The Baltimore Sun awarded the episode a C+ and branded it "a blue-collar Friends.

The Boston Globe's Frederic M. Biddle gave the episode one and a half stars and commented "Carey always keeps you watching, although he's always threatening to be funnier than he is. But more than any other Friends ripoff, this show's supporting actors slow down the central character – they're set decoration. Comic scenes involving the full cast build, then trip over themselves." Alan Pergament, writing for The Buffalo News, included The Drew Carey Show in his Top 10 new shows, noting "Carey is a lovable goof and his male buddy show has the chance of becoming the male version of Designing Women." Pergament cited the lack of prominent female characters and "a reliance on too many risque-language jokes" as the weaknesses of the show. The Washington Post's Tom Shales found the episode funny, adding "The Drew Carey Show bucks all the prevailing sitcom trends and does it endearingly."

Tony Scott, a critic for Variety, thought the characters were "amiable enough", but they needed "sharper dialogue and fresher observations." Scott did not think the carpool segment worked, but he liked the opening sequence in the bar. He also praised Lessac's direction, calling it "inventive". Peter Weiniger from The Age was prepared to give the series a chance based on the episode, saying "Like most American sitcoms, The Drew Carey Show has its share of snappy one-liners but it gives the impression of trying a little too hard. To be fair, this is the first of a series, and we have yet to see the characters develop. Even Seinfeld took a little time to become essential viewing."

References

External links

The Drew Carey Show episodes
1995 American television episodes
Drew Carey Show, The Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and as host of the U.S. version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both of which aired on ABC. He then appeared in several films, television series, music videos, a made-for-television film, and a computer game. He has hosted the game show The Price Is Right since October 15, 2007 on CBS.

Carey is interested in a variety of sports and has worked as a photographer at U.S. National Team soccer games. He is a minority owner of the Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders FC, which won the MLS Cup, first in 2016 and again in 2019. He briefly participated in professional wrestling, most notably entering the 2001 Royal Rumble, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.

Carey's autobiography, Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined, details his early life and television career.

Early life and education

Carey was born on May 23, 1958.  He is the youngest of Lewis and Beulah Carey's three sons (Neil, 1946-2010 and Roger, born 1952) and was raised in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. When Drew was eight years old, his father died from a heart attack. Drew played the cornet and trumpet in the marching band of James Ford Rhodes High School, from which he graduated in 1975.

He continued on to college at Kent State University (KSU) and was a part of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He was expelled twice for poor academic performance. He left KSU after three years. Upon leaving the university, Carey enlisted into the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1980 and served for six years as a field radio operator in the 25th Marine Regiment in Ohio. He moved to Las Vegas for a few months in 1983, and for a short time worked as a bank teller and a waiter at Denny's.

Career

Stand-up career
In 1985, he began his comedy career by following up on a suggestion by David Lawrence (a disc jockey friend who had been paying Drew to write jokes for David's radio show in Cleveland) to go to the library and borrow books on how to write jokes. The following year, after winning an open mic contest, he became Master of Ceremonies at the Cleveland Comedy Club. He performed at comedy clubs over the next few years in Cleveland and Los Angeles. He first came to the national eye as a comedian when he competed in the 1988 Star Search. Carey was working as a stand-up comedian when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in November 1991. His performance that night impressed Carson, who invited Carey to the couch next to his desk; this was considered a rare honor for any comedian. In that same year, Carey joined the 14th Annual Young Comedians Special on HBO and made his first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In 1994, Carey wrote his own stand-up comedy special, Drew Carey: Human Cartoon, which aired on Showtime and won a CableACE Award for Best Writing.

Acting career

Early roles
His early stand-up career led to supporting roles on television shows, during which he developed the character of a hapless middle-class bachelor. In 1993, Carey had a small role in the film Coneheads as a taxi passenger. In 1994, Carey co-starred with John Caponera in The Good Life, a short-lived sitcom on NBC. After the show was cancelled, Bruce Helford, a writer on the show, hired Carey as a consultant for the television show Someone Like Me.

The Drew Carey Show
After their stint on Someone Like Me, Carey and Helford developed and produced the storyline for The Drew Carey Show. The sitcom revolved around a fictionalized version of Carey, as he took on the stresses of life and work with his group of childhood friends. The show premiered on September 13, 1995, on ABC. In his autobiography, Carey revealed his frustration with having to deal with censors and being unable to employ the off-color humor common in his stand-up routines. Carey initially earned $60,000 per episode in the first seasons, then renegotiated for $300,000. By the final season, he was earning $750,000 per episode. The show had high ratings for its first few seasons, but declining ratings and increasing production costs (around $3 million per episode) precipitated its cancellation. The program had a total of 233 episodes over its nine-year run, and Carey was one of four actors to appear in every episode.

Improv television
While still starring in The Drew Carey Show, Carey began hosting the American version of the improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 1998. He would announce the improv cast, direct the games, and then would usually involve himself in the final game of the episode. The show ran for a total of 220 episodes until cancellation in 2006 (it returned with a different host in 2013). In 1998, the New York Friars' Club made Carey the newest inductee of the group's Comedy Central Roast. His friend Ryan Stiles (who costarred in The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway?) served as the roastmaster. Carey's income from Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Drew Carey Show led to his inclusion on the Forbes list of highest-paid entertainers of 1998, at 24th with $45.5 million.

For the WB's 2004–2005 prime time schedule, Carey co-produced and starred in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, a spin-off of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. It was canceled by the WB, but picked up shortly afterward by Comedy Central. The show's premise relied on the use of a green screen for some of the actors' improv interaction with each other. Animation on the screen was visible to the live audience and it was also inserted during post-production for the television audience.

In April 2011, Carey began hosting a primetime improv show, called Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza. It was filmed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, and first aired on April 11. The show took on the premise of Whose Line? and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show in that it features many of the same performers from both shows and did improv based on audience-provided suggestions.

Improv All-Stars
Carey was one of the founders of the Improv All-Stars, a group of eleven actors who perform in unscripted skits. The group joined Carey in all three of his improv shows, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, and Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, and some members had major roles or guest-starred on The Drew Carey Show. The Improv All-Stars travel on comedy tours, performing at comedy clubs throughout the United States.

Game show host

Power of 10
Beginning in 2007, Carey began hosting game shows, beginning with his April selection as host of the CBS game show pilot Power of 10. The show ran from August 7, 2007, to January 23, 2008, and aired twice weekly during the late summer and early fall. Each game featured contestants predicting how a cross-section of Americans responded to questions covering a wide variety of topics in polls conducted by CBS.

The Price Is Right

After taping the pilot episode for Power of 10, Carey was contacted by CBS about replacing Bob Barker—who had earlier announced his own retirement—as host of The Price Is Right. After initially turning down the offer, Carey announced on Late Show with David Letterman that he would succeed Barker as host of the program beginning in the fall of 2007. His first episode of The Price Is Right was taped on August 15, 2007, and his shows began airing on October 15, 2007. In response to replacing Barker as host of the game show, Carey stated "You can't replace Bob Barker. I don't compare myself to anybody... It's only about what you're doing and supposed to do, and I feel like I'm supposed to be doing this." When Carey began hosting, the set, theme music, and show logo were updated. Carey has retained the application of Barker's closing comment about spaying and neutering pets. In 2017, Carey celebrated his tenth anniversary as host of the show.

Other roles and appearances

Carey began appearing in commercials for restaurants in the late 1990s in Canada with The Great Root Bear, but his two-year contract with A&W Food Services of Canada was cut short in November 1998 after an episode of The Drew Carey Show featured McDonald's. As a result of his dismissal, Carey sued A&W for compensation.

Disney's Hollywood Studios (then "Disney-MGM Studios"), part of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, debuted a 12-minute attraction in 1999 titled Sounds Dangerous!. In the show, a camera follows Carey through a day as an undercover detective. When his video camera fails, the audience is left in complete darkness, wearing earphones, following his adventure through sound cues. The attraction is now closed.

In 2000, Carey was given a cameo appearance in the House Party expansion pack of the computer game The Sims. To make him appear, the characters in the game must throw a successful party, which causes Carey to arrive in a limo and join the festivities. Carey is a fan of The Sims series, and during one April Fool's episode of The Drew Carey Show, a scene takes place completely within The Sims. Carey made several other cameo appearances in music videos, including "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1999 video for "It's All About the Pentiums" and Fountains of Wayne's 2004 video for "Mexican Wine", giving an introduction to the video as if it were on a stage.

On January 21, 2001, Drew entered as Vince McMahon's guest entrant in the Royal Rumble match.

Although primarily known for his television work, Carey has done limited film work, with his first appearance in 1993's Coneheads. His next film was the 2000 television film Geppetto, which debuted on The Wonderful World of Disney. The film, an adaptation of Pinocchio, included actor Wayne Brady, who had joined Carey on his improv shows. Carey took singing lessons to prepare for the role. In 2005, Carey appeared in three films: the animated film Robots, where he provided a voice-over for the character Crank; The Aristocrats, where he retold a dirty joke along with other celebrities; and the documentary Fuck, where he was interviewed.

Carey provided the entertainment for the 2002 Annual White House correspondents' dinner. Once Carey completed his stand-up routine for the 1,800 guests, President George W. Bush, noting Carey's improv work, made a joke of his own: "Drew? Got any interest in the Middle East?" In 2003, he joined Jamie Kennedy to host the WB's live special Play for a Billion. In September 2003, Carey led a group of comedians, including Blake Clark and The Drew Carey Show's Kathy Kinney, on a comedy tour of Iraq.

On June 8, 2006, Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures debuted on the Travel Channel. In this series, Carey traveled throughout Germany to photograph multiple FIFA World Cup soccer games while he immerses himself in the culture of the towns and states he visits. In early 2008, Carey appeared in Matt Groening's The Simpsons as part of the episode "All About Lisa" as a guest on the Krusty the Clown Show. He also surfaced in the second season of Community, playing a well-liked former boss to Jeff Winger.

On March 4, 2014, it was announced on Good Morning America that Carey would compete on the season 18 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Cheryl Burke. The couple was eliminated on the sixth week of competition, finishing in 8th place.

Carey has also been a longtime host on SiriusXM channel, Little Steven's Underground Garage (Ch. 21) where for 10 years, he hosted a three-hour radio show called "Drew Carey's Friday Night Dance Party" which aired the last Friday of every month. In August 2018, Carey turned his monthly show into a weekly show called, "The Friday Night Freak Out" which airs every Friday from 8:00pm to 11:00pm ET on SiriusXM.

In 2018, Carey appeared in an episode of NCIS as a retired Marine. His character was a sergeant, the last rank he held in real life. Real pictures of him in dress blues and everyday garb were on the plasma screen in the squadroom.

In 2020, Carey appeared as a contestant on the third season of The Masked Singer as "Llama". He was the second to be eliminated.

In 2021, Carey participated in Celebrity Wheel of Fortune alongside Teri Hatcher and Chrissy Metz. He beat his fellow competitors in the first bonus round, but failed to solve the final puzzle.

Writing
Carey has routinely written throughout his career, including developing his stand-up comedy routines in his early stand-up career, and then moving on to assist in writing sitcoms. In 1997, Carey published his autobiography, Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined, wherein he shared memories of his early childhood and of his father's death when he was eight. He also revealed that he was once molested, had suffered bouts of depression, and had made two suicide attempts by swallowing a large amount of sleeping pills. The book discusses his college fraternity years while attending Kent State University and his professional career up to that time. The book featured large amounts of profanity and, as the title suggests, includes multiple dirty jokes (there is one at the start of each chapter) and references to beer. The book was featured on The New York Times bestseller list for three months.

Photography

Carey can sometimes be seen on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as a press photographer. His images are sold via wire services under the pseudonym Brooks Parkenridge. He was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2006, for his television show Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures.

Personal life
Carey adopted his crew cut hairstyle while serving in the United States Marine Corps. Carey underwent refractive surgery to correct his vision and, for a time, did not require glasses but continued to wear them in public for purposes of recognition and celebrity identity. However, while this was true for several years, on the May 17, 2006, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! he revealed that when he turned 40, he actually developed a need for bifocals. As of 2007, Carey resides in Los Angeles and New York City.

Carey proposed to Nicole Jaracz in 2007 and is a father figure to Connor, her son from a previous relationship. The couple did not wed and called off their engagement in 2012.  

In January 2018, Carey announced his engagement to sex therapist Amie Harwick. The pair ended their engagement later that year in November but remained close. On February 15, 2020, Harwick was found dead in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood and an ex-boyfriend of hers was later arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Carey is a Buddhist.

Health
After suffering chest pains while filming The Drew Carey Show in August 2001, Carey went to the hospital, where he underwent a coronary angioplasty.

Although his weight was a comedic topic throughout his sitcom and improv shows, in 2010, he began a diet and exercise plan, resulting in an extensive weight loss. He also claimed that he had cured his Type 2 diabetes as a direct result. In 2020, he had cataract surgery.

Political views
Carey is an outspoken Libertarian. He has expressed his political philosophy in the following terms: 

Carey expressed his distaste for the Bush administration's management of the Iraq War, specifically on the September 14, 2007, episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. He made donations to Ron Paul's presidential campaign for the 2008 election. On the September 26, 2008, episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Carey defined "libertarian" to host Craig Ferguson as "a conservative who still gets high." In 2016, he supported Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson in his run for office, and was made an Honorary Chair of the campaign for California.

Carey has spoken about his various political beliefs in several interviews, and in 1998, he led a "smoke-in" in defiance of California's newly passed no-smoking ordinance inside bars and restaurants. Carey has hosted a series of mini-documentaries called The Drew Carey Project on Reason.tv, an online project of Reason Foundation, a libertarian-oriented nonprofit think tank (for which Carey sits as a member of the board of trustees). The first episode, "Gridlock", addresses private highway ownership and was released on October 15, 2007. Other episodes discuss topics such as eminent domain, urban traffic congestion, and medical marijuana.

Carey endorsed and donated money to Joe Biden in the 2020 United States Presidential Election. Earlier in the cycle, he had also donated to Tulsi Gabbard and Bill Weld.

Sports involvement
Carey is a devoted fan of the U.S. National Soccer Team, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Guardians, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 1999, Carey was part of the pregame ceremonies at the first game of the return of the Browns, televised on ESPN. Carey attended the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Carey is a minority owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, who began play in Major League Soccer on March 19, 2009, and won two MLS Cups (2016, 2019). Carey is a fan of FC Barcelona and of the Scottish team Rangers. In 2006, he was a season ticketholder for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Carey has shown his support for the Cleveland  baseball team by throwing the first pitch at an August 12, 2006, game against the Kansas City Royals. He was rewarded by them for being "the greatest Indians fan alive" with a personal bobblehead doll made in his likeness that was given to fans. Carey responded to his bobblehead likeness by saying "Bobblehead Day, for me, is as big as getting a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame."

In 2001, Carey was the first television actor to enter World Wrestling Federation's 30-man "Royal Rumble" match, which he did to promote an improv comedy pay-per-view at the time. He appeared in a few backstage segments before his brief participation in the match. Upon entering the ring, Carey stood unopposed for more than half a minute, but after the next entrant, Kane, refused a monetary bribe, Carey eliminated himself from the match by jumping over the top rope and retreating from ringside. On April 2, 2011, Carey was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Kane.

Carey competed against five other celebrities in the first celebrity edition of the 2003 World Poker Tour. He placed fifth, beating out the only other actor Jack Black. Carey won $2,000 for his charity.

On May 15, 2011, Carey completed the "Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon" in 1:57:02; then, on September 4, 2011, he improved to complete the Disneyland Half Marathon in 1:50:46. And on October 30, 2011, he finished the Marine Corps Marathon with a chip time of 4:37:11, placing 10,149th out of 20,940.

Philanthropy
Carey is a supporter of libraries, crediting them for beginning his successful comedy career. On May 2, 2000, in a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he selected the Ohio Library Foundation to receive his $500,000 winnings. He later went on to win an additional $32,000 on the second celebrity Millionaire, making him one of the biggest winning contestants on Millionaire who did not win the top prize. Carey also has played on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Cleveland Public Library charity. In June 2007, Carey offered to donate up to $100,000 (in $10,000 increments) to the Mooch Myernick Memorial Fund if anybody could beat him at the video game FIFA Soccer 07 for the Xbox 360. He dared five players from both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams to compete against him. Carey ended up donating $100,000, plus $60,000 for losing two games out of the six games he played.

In October 2009, Carey made a bid of $25,000 in a charity auction for the @drew Twitter account. He later increased his offer to $100,000 if the number of followers of his account @DrewFromTV reached 100,000 by the end of the auction. In an interview with CBS News, he said he would instead donate $1 million to the charity Livestrong Foundation if his follower count reached one million by December 31, 2009.

Another of Carey's offers to contribute in helping others came in September 2014 when he promised $10,000 to help find the perpetrators of a faked "ice bucket challenge" involving an autistic 14-year-old Ohio boy who, instead of being doused in ice cubes and water, received a shower of feces, urine, tobacco spit, and cigarette butts. Shortly thereafter, celebrities Donnie Wahlberg, Jenny McCarthy and Montel Williams matched Carey's offer.

Filmography
Carey has starred in only a few television shows and films, but has made numerous guest-star appearances in a variety of sitcoms and comedy shows.

Film

Television

Awards and honors

 1994: Cable Ace Award for Best Writing: Drew Carey: Human Cartoon
 1995: TV Guide "10 Hottest New Faces of 1995"
 1998: Satellite Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy Series
 2000: Honorary DHL from Cleveland State University
 2000: People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Performer
 2003: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
 2004:  Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time (#84)
 2011: Southern California Journalism "Best Advocacy Journalism" Award winner
 2011: WWE Hall of Fame

 Two-time MLS Cup champion (as co-owner of the Seattle Sounders - 2016, 2019)
 2021: United States Navy Memorial Foundation Lone Sailor Award (presented on the July 2, 2021 episode of The Price is Right)

References

External links

 
 Drew Carey's blog
 
 
 Drew Carey's WWE Hall of Fame Profile
 

1958 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century Buddhists
American Buddhists
American game show hosts
American libertarians
American male film actors
American male singers
American male television actors
American photographers
American soccer chairmen and investors
American stand-up comedians
Comedians from Ohio
Kent State University alumni
Major League Soccer executives
Male actors from Cleveland
The Price Is Right
United States Marine Corps reservists
United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers
WWE Hall of Fame inductees