Line #19 Trivia/TheDrewCareyShow


1	* ActorSharedBackground: Craig Ferguson really is a recovering alcoholic and briefly had a cocaine problem. Fortunately though he had no problem mining this for laughs playing Mr. Wick.
2	* AndStarring: Creator/RyanStiles was the last to be credited among the main cast, but was given a “with” billing (which, if used, is usually given to the actor credited next-to-last in order) instead. The “and” billing was only used once, for Creator/KevinPollak’s sole on-screen appearance as the [[TheVoice previously heard but unseen]] MeanBoss Mr. Bell in the Season 1 finale “Buzz Beer”.[[note]]Even though Pollak provided Bell’s voice throughout the first season, he was never credited prior to that episode, in which Bell is fired due to cutbacks at Winfred-Louder.[[/note]]
3	* TheCastShowoff: ''Everyone'' gets in on the many dance numbers over the year, but Drew in particular gets to show off his considerable singing talents.
4	* EditedForSyndication:
5	** Mimi's entire subplot of "Two Drews & the Queen of Poland Walk Into A Bar" was cut from syndicated airings, apparently because Polish advocacy groups found it offensive (at least in America. Australia has aired the episode uncut). To make up for the lost time, reruns reuse the cold open from the episode "It’s Your Party And I’ll Crash If I Want To."
6	** The original syndicated versions of all three "What’s Wrong with This Episode" episodes feature ''Series/PopUpVideo''-style notations highlighting each of the intentional mistakes included. (Reruns of those episodes aired on networks such as Creator/{{Laff}} and Creator/RewindTV in recent years use the original ABC prints instead, resulting in keen-eyed viewers having to look for some of the less-obvious mistakes.)
7	** The ending of "A Very Special Drew" ends with Drew announcing the winner of the April Fool's contest from earlier in the season, leaving a couple pauses for the winner's name to be dubbed in for the original airing. In reruns, the winner's name was replaced with Drew saying "This is an obsolete message," and "This is where we announced the winner of the April Fool's contest for the year 2000. Goodbye."
8	* ExecutiveMeddling: The only reason why Steve (Creator/JohnCarrollLynch) stopped dressing in drag halfway through the show's run. ABC executives told the producers to make Lynch dress masculine due to "negative audience feedback."
9	* FakeBrit: The very Scottish Craig Ferguson plays the extremely British Nigel Wick and with the most exaggerated posh accent imaginable. Ferguson claims he deliberately made it as ridiculous as possible as revenge for years of bad Scottish accents from English actors.
10	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Only the first season is available on DVD, and it's likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Copyright issues over music have prevented further seasons from being released, as Drew Carey is insistent on the DVD release being identical to the broadcast. Currently, reruns on Rewind TV are the only legal way to watch the show [[note]] Previously, they aired on another multicast channel, Laff, but they pulled the show off their schedule in September 2019[[/note]]. This also applies to streaming services as well, so don't expect the show to be available on Hulu or HBO Max unless all copyrights are cleared.
11	* OutOfOrder: ABC aired most of the episodes in the final season badly out of production order, causing confusion with the story lines (for example, what was supposed to be the season premiere, "Girlfriend, Interrupted", actually aired as the season's ''16th episode''), though TBS and Laff aired the episodes in the correct order.
12	* ProducedByCastmember: Creator/DrewCarey co-created the series and served as a producer throughout its run;[[note]]Carey’s producer credit was relegated to the closing credits for Season 1, listed jointly with Rick Messina and Richard Baker (both notable for being Creator/TimAllen[='=]s longtime talent managers and producing partners), who would also be involved with the show for all nine seasons.[[/note]] Carey, who was elevated to supervising producer for Season 2, became one of the executive producers from the third season onward.
13	* RealSongThemeTune: All three {{Theme Song}}s used: "Moon Over Parma", "Five O'Clock World", and "Cleveland Rocks":
14	** The versions of "Moon Over Parma" and "Cleveland Rocks" originally used on the show were covers. Carey performed the cover of "Moon Over Parma" (which became known locally in the Cleveland area due to songwriter Bob [=McGuire=]’s original performance of the song on the WJW-TV local program ''Big Chuck and Lil' John'') used in Season 1 and early Season 2; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Presidents_of_the_United_States_of_America_(band) The Presidents of the United States of America]]'s cover of "Cleveland Rocks" (originally performed by English singer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hunter_(singer) Ian Hunter]]) was used from Season 3–7.
15	** An edited version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vogues The Vogues]]‘ "Five O'Clock World", however, was used as the theme for Season 2 and the first two episodes of Season 3.
16	** Seasons 8 and 9 featured rotating covers of all three songs, each rearranged in various genres across eight different title sequences:
17	*** Music/BowlingForSoup – "Five O'Clock World" (rock)
18	*** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Pops_Orchestra Cleveland Pops Orchestra]] – "Moon Over Parma" (big band orchestral) and "Cleveland Rocks" (football-inspired orchestral)
19	*** My Little Fast Machine – "Five O'Clock World" (indie rock)
20	*** Music/TheProclaimers - "Five O'Clock World" (folk rock)
21	*** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_(musician) Snow]] - "Moon Over Parma" (reggae)
22	*** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_Nut_Zippers Squirrel Nut Zippers]] - "Moon Over Parma" (swing jazz)
23	*** Music/SteelPanther and the cast of ''Metal Shop'' – "Cleveland Rocks" (heavy metal)
24	*** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick_Pony Trick Pony]] – "Five O'Clock World" (country)
25	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The show was a ratings hit so ABC gave it a three-season renewal after the sixth season. Then ratings started to fall during the eighth but ABC found themselves contractually obligated to produce and pay for two full seasons of a show they didn't want. The network, realizing that the contract didn't obligate them to broadcast the show at a decent time, got back at the show by putting it in strange time slots and burning off the final season during the summer of 2004.
26	* StarMakingRole: For almost the entire main cast...
27	** Diedrich Bader has gone onto a prolific voice-acting career, particularly for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.
28	** Creator/ChristaMiller would join her husband Creator/BillLawrence on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' over at NBC.
29	** Ryan Stiles would join Drew for the American version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' and come back for the revival hosted by Creator/AishaTyler.
30	** And of course, Craig Ferguson would succeed Craig Kilborn as host of ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' before returning to his successful stand-up career.
31	* ThrowItIn:
32	** Mimi was not intended to be a regular member of the cast but her actress was so impressive in the first episode that the producers hired her to be Drew's arch rival.
33	** A bit where Drew complains about his pants bunching up when he sits down (making it look like he had an erection) came from a censorship complaint.
34	* UnderageCasting:
35	** Drew, Lewis, Oswald and Kate are all supposed to be childhood friends of about the same age (they are referenced as being in their early-to-mid-30s in the first few seasons and around 40 during the final seasons). However, Creator/ChristaMiller (born May 28, 1964) is six and five years younger, and Creator/DiedrichBader (born December 24, 1966) is eight and seven years younger, respectively, than Creator/DrewCarey (born May 23, 1958) and Ryan Stiles (born April 22, 1959), with Bader looking noticeably even younger than Miller in the first two seasons (he was 28 when cast as Oswald).
36	** Creator/JohnCarrollLynch (born August 1, 1963) also fits the description as his character, Steve, is supposed to be Drew’s ''older'' brother, though Lynch himself is four years younger than Carey.
37	** Kellie, who replaces Kate in Drew’s friend group for Seasons 8 and 9, is also mentioned as a former classmate of Drew, Lewis and Oswald, however her portrayer, Creator/CynthiaWatros (born September 2, 1968), is ''ten years'' younger than Carey.
38	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: At tapings for ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'', Drew sometimes does Q&As with the audience, and has revealed a few things about his old sitcom:
39	** Creator/StephenFry [[Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie and]] Creator/HughLaurie were both offered the role of Mr. Wick initially.
40	** Before the creation of Kellie in Season 8, Kate Walsh (Nikki) was offered to be a series regular, but she declined (instead she only appeared in the first 3 episodes of Season 8, before being written off).
41	** ABC execs originally didn't want Ryan Stiles appearing on both Drew's show and ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' at the same time and originally told him to choose one or the other. It wasn't until Drew got the job to be the host of ''Whose Line...?'' that they backed off the issue.
42	** They really wanted Christa Miller to come back for the series finale. The proposed idea was that Kate would appear in a dream sequence, and would speak to Drew convincing him that marrying Kellie is the right thing to do and that they really are meant for each other. ABC execs refused to allow a guest appearance because they felt it would be like free advertising for ''Scrubs'', which was airing on NBC, a rival network (which is ironic given that ABC would air ''Scrubs'' years later anyway).
43	* YouLookFamiliar:
44	** Robert Torti had a recurring role in season 1 as Kate's boyfriend Jay, who broke up with her and left the show early in season 2. Torti returned a few seasons later in "What's Wrong With This Episode? IV" as Nick, who also is dating Kate.
45	** Creator/GregProops appeared as himself in all the "Drew Live" episodes (along with several other ''[[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway Whose Line?]]'' cast members). But, then he bizarrely turns up in an episode a few seasons later playing a Winfred-Louder employee.

Context Trivia / TheDrewCareyShow