So far this year, we’ve had to endure the boatloads of hype that NBC’s publicists whipped up for the “Friends” & “Frasier” finales. So it only stands to reason that — as “The Drew Carey Show” returns to the ABC lineup tonight to begin its ninth & final season — that the Alphabet Network must be getting ready to pour on the hoopla.
Well, think again, folks. Poor Drew is getting the network television equivalent of the bum’s rush. The final season of “The Drew Carey Show” is being aired during the dog days of summer, with ABC burning off two back-to-back episodes of the show every Wednesday night now through the end of August.
Oh, sure. ABC’s begun airing a commercial that’s supposed to help support the sitcom’s relaunch. You may have already seen this “Drew’s Brand New” ad popping up as part of the network’s campaign to support its “Summer of a Billion Laughs” sweepstakes.
Unfortunately, Drew Carey viewers will never get the chance to try for that billion dollars in prize money. You see, only the folks who watch the shows that ABC chose to renew for the 2004-2005 season (I.E. Snoozy sitcoms like “Faith & Hope,” “8 Simple Rules” & “My Wife & Kids”) get to take part in Pepsi’s “Play for a Billion” contest.
Which — given the backhanded way that Disney & ABC have treated Drew Carey over this past year — it just makes sense that the network would extend its contempt to the viewers of “The Drew Carey Show.”
Well, I — for one — think that Drew deserves better than this. After all, isn’t Carey the comic who would turn up every time Disney opened an envelope? I remember seeing this guy at both the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom as well as Disney’s California Adventure.
And Drew Carey isn’t the sort of celebrity who just races up the red carpet, eager to get away from the great unwashed public. This is a genuinely nice guy, folks. Someone who will happily pose for a photograph, shake a hand, sign an autograph book.
More importantly, Drew’s a loyal company man. Which was why — at the opening of both of these theme parks — I saw Carey with the press. Constantly talking about how nice these two new Disney theme parks were, what an honor it was to be invited down to take part in the opening festivities, how he loves going to the Disney theme parks, etc.
Which is true, by the way. Which is why the Imagineers — knowing what a huge Disney theme park geek Drew was — actually offered Carey his very own attraction. The “Sounds Dangerous” show at Disney-MGM.
Of course, that was back when Drew’s show was up in the Top 20. But then ABC began moving “The Drew Carey Show” around. Pulling the program out of its highly rated Tuesday night slot and throwing it up against NBC’s “Must See TV” line-up. And — when that didn’t work — the Alphabet Network moved Drew’s show to Fridays, then to Mondays.
At some point along the way, the program’s once loyal viewers seems to have gotten confused and just wandered away. Leaving the once-popular “Drew Carey Show” at the bottom of the ratings heap.
Of course, what didn’t help matters is that the show went through a number of significant changes over the past two years. First Christa Miller — the actress who played Drew’s longtime love interest, Kate O’Brien — left the ABC sitcom to go work on “Scrubs” (The NBC show that Christa’s husband, Bill Lawrence, created). Then the show’s creators — in a somewhat misguided attempt to keep “The Drew Carey Show” hip — changed the program’s primary setting from the Winfred-Louder department store to an Internet-based operation, the NeverEndingStore.com.
With these two rather significant changes to the show — plus its ever changing timeslot — is it any wonder that the “Drew Carey Show” ‘s audience eventually wandering off? Which is really a shame, given that Carey and the rest of the show’s talented cast — Ryan Stiles, Diedrich Bader, Kathy Kinney et al — were still working at the top of their game. Still showing up every week, trying to put together as funny a show as possible.
Which — given that “The Drew Carey Show” was a program that paid tribute (in an often admittedly absurd sort of way) to the working stiff — just makes sense, don’t you think? That — even when the show’s audience seems to have wandered away, even when ABC execs were being downright disrespectful toward the program, opting not to schedule any of the latest series of “Drew Carey Show” to run ’til after the 2003-2004 TV season was officially over — that Carey kept plugging away.
For the record, Drew Carey — in spite of the awful way that Disney & ABC have treated this extremely loyal performer over the past year — has nothing bad to say about Mouse House and/or network execs. To date, all that he’s said to the press about the situation is:
“I don’t have anything bad to say about ABC. I never will. I only tried to do a good show. After that, it’s out of my hands.”
Of course, a year or so down the line, Disney & ABC may regret that they treated such a loyal & talented performer so shabbily. For industry insiders believe that “The Drew Carey Show” — after being off the air for almost a year — is probably going to seem pretty fresh to TV viewers now. Which may result in the back-to-back episodes (which air every Wednesday night in the 9-to-9:30 & 9:30-to-10 p.m. slot) racking up some pretty impressive ratings over the next few months.
Which puts Carey in a pretty decent position for the launch of his next show, “The Green Screen.” Which puts sort of a hi-tech spin on Drew’s other ABC success, “Whose Line Is It Anyway.” Only — this time around — the improv performers will perform in front of a green screen. And then — in post production — effects artists will add some fantastic new CG animated props & backgrounds to move the comedy to a whole new level.
Mind you, “Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show” (One of the other proposed titles for this program) was developed for the WB. And — while a pilot for the show was shot earlier this spring — no formal decision about the program’s future has been made yet. Though the folks over at Warners seem to think that it’s a pretty safe bet that “The Green Screen” will turn up as part of the WB’s lineup sometime after January of 2005.
In the meantime, Carey’s keeping busy. Drew’s doing voice work for a computer animated character in “Robots,” 20th Century Fox & Blue Sky Studio’s follow-up to their 2002 smash, “Ice Age.” (Mind you, Carey always hoped to do a voice for a Disney animated film. But the closest he ever got was playing the title character of the ABC made-for-television musical, “Geppetto.”)
Even so, I can’t help but feel kind of sorry for the guy. To do all of this good work for all of these years on “The Drew Carey Show.” And then to have the network virtually throw the ninth & last season of the program away by airing two episodes back-to-back in the dog days of summer.
Well, I — for one — think that Drew Carey (for his many years of loyal service to ABC & the Walt Disney Company) deserves better than this. Which is why I’ll be tuning in tonight to catch the first two episodes: “Drew Hunts Silver Fox” and “Eye of the Leopard.”
NOT because I to see want ABC’s ratings go up. But — rather — because it’s the right thing to do.
I mean … What was that line out of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”? “Attention must be paid”? Well, given the “Drew Carey Show” ‘s blue-collar sensibilities, I bet Willie Loman’s wife wouldn’t mind that I borrowed that line to pay tribute to an under-appreciated comic.
So do Drew Carey a favor, folks. Pay attention to tonight’s “Drew Carey Show.” Let’s show ABC that — even though they seem to have forgotten about this absurd sitcom and/or this extremely loyal employee — we haven’t.
Your thoughts?