History Series / TheDrewCareyShow

->''"I got screwed by the system. I'm ''always'' gettin' screwed by the system. That's my role in life: I'm the system's '''bitch'''!"''

->"I got screwed by the system. I'm ''always'' gettin' screwed by the system. That's my role in life: I'm the system's '''bitch'''!"

* DoppelgangerDating
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season is unrecognizable compared to the rest of the series.

%%* BasementDweller

* ChristmasEpisode: Several.

* {{Disproportionate Retribution}}: Mimi constantly, starting all way back to the pilot episode where she lashes out at Drew for ''assuming'' he wasn't going to hire her based on her looks when all he did was tell her they would get back with her.

* ExcessiveEvilEyeShadow: Mimi.

* ImpossiblyTackyClothes: Mimi

* KavorkaMan: Mimi, a female version.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Kellie replacing Kate

* ThanksgivingEpisode: "Mimi's Day Parade".

* WorkCom

* YourMakeupIsRunning

* ReunionRevenge: When episode where the gang goes to their high school reunion provides two. The biggest was Oswald finding himself stripped and bound to a bed by "Porky" Parker, an overweight girl at the time who he had a fling with but then denied all knowledge of - [[FormerlyFat and who was now slim, attractive]], and out to humiliate him. A low-key example landed on Kate, who made explicit her desire to find someone with money when talking to the other members of Oswald's barbershop quartet. Their response in song:

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** Spot the Mistakes, every season around AprilFoolsDay; usually held as a contest.
** The show also had a number of "theme episodes", or just simple seemingly out-of-place moments (such as a sudden musical number to resolve the serious A-plot), that would have some off-kilter take on things; this was due to Drew Carey having cannily signed a contract to produce the show for a set number of seasons and that protected it from a large amount of ExecutiveMeddling, allowing him to [[ProtectionFromEditors do whatever the hell he wanted]] to a certain extent. It became infamous enough for these episodes that Weird Al even mentioned it in his song about TV:
--->"-and a special all-PigLatin episode of Drew Carey!"
** For a time during the middle seasons this was considered to be the charm of the show, as there literally was nothing else like it on American television.

The series would go on to become DenserAndWackier as it went on (similar to ''Series/NightCourt''. In fact, one episode of ''The Drew Carey Show'' had a cameo by Daffy Duck, similar to how ''Night Court'' had one with Wile E. Coyote), as a result of having more creative freedom due to being uncancellable for a time. Later seasons would have Mimi and Drew engaged in prank wars that escalated to the point where Mimi drugged Drew and dropped him off at the Great Wall of China after Drew drenches Mimi's desk in paint and hits her in the face with a cold cream pie. Several episodes were made littered with intentional mistakes pointed out to the audience, which they could tally for a contest (which were often random, over-the-top sight gags, ranging from hairstyle changes, actor changes, characters being replaced by sock puppets, and an entire scene being done in {{Machinima}} using ''VideoGame/TheSims''). Other notable silliness includes an episode done mostly in improv (to spoof Drew Carey's role as host of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway)'', and an episode where Oswald and Lewis are treated by a dentist who is a very over-the-top Dr. Frankenstein parody.

Carey and Ryan Stiles (Lewis) became fixtures for ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' that also featured several other cast members briefly.

* SpeakingSimlish: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6wQxEWkh6U&feature=related Seen Here]] Upon the show opening the characters speak in "blah, blah" form with a talk bubble showing the meaning. (Drew Carey has a cameo appearance in the original [[VideoGame/TheSims1 Sims]] game)

* RealityEnsues: Drew is stuck with a choice of giving the new head personal shopper job to either his girlfriend Lisa or his best friend Kate. He tests them by having them both try and dress Mimi. Kate does a fine job, putting Mimi in very lovely and professional business attire that actually makes her look normal. Lisa put Mimi in a ridiculous rainbow dress with a rotating solar system hat. Drew ends up declaring Lisa the winner because Mimi loved her outfit and hated Kate's choice, and personal shoppers are supposed to get things customers will want to buy.

* NotSoDifferent: Drew and Mimi slowly discover they have a lot in common over the course of the show, to the point where they become legitimate friends by the end. Among other things, they both love bowling and have a penchant for great pranks. They even share a favorite kind of ice cream.
-->'''Drew:''' I have Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey.
-->'''Mimi:''' Chunky Monkey's my favorite.
-->'''Drew:''' You know there's no actual monkeys in it?
-->'''Mimi:''' Damn animal rights folks!

-->''(telling a bedtime story)'' "Once upon a time... Johnson was fired."

* TruthInTelevision: There really are coffee flavored beers, except they're usually dark stouts and not ales like Buzz Beer is normally presented as.

* LiveEpisode: The cast from Drew Carey-hosted ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''- Colin Mochrie, Creator/WayneBrady, Chip Esten, Creator/GregProops and Brad Sherwood - guest started in three live shows and got help from the "Whose Line?" musicians in each.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Used straight and subverted countless times--Drew's hooked up with Wanda Sykes and an aged Mrs Partridge, but has also slept with characters played by Jenny [=McCarthy=], Christa Miller, and more. Unusual for the trope, it's made clear that Drew dates mostly on the basis of an actual relationship and not simply looks. In a high school reunion episode, the (still attractive) cheerleader who used to mock him was suddenly attracted to him because he was a respectable guy with a steady job. And some would say Sykes and Mrs Partridge are still hot. In the literal sense, he ends the series married to Creator/CynthiaWatros.

* LiveEpisode: The cast from Drew Carey-hosted ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''- Colin Mochrie, Creator/WayneBrady, Chip Esten, Greg Proops and Brad Sherwood - guest started in three live shows and got help from the "Whose Line?" musicians in each.

The series would go on to become DenserAndWackier as it went on (similar to ''Series/NightCourt''), as a result of having more creative freedom due to being uncancellable for a time. Later seasons would have Mimi and Drew engaged in prank wars that escalated to the point where Mimi drugged Drew and dropped him off at the Great Wall of China after Drew drenches Mimi's desk in paint and hits her in the face with a cold cream pie. Several episodes were made littered with intentional mistakes pointed out to the audience, which they could tally for a contest (which were often random, over-the-top sight gags, ranging from hairstyle changes, actor changes, characters being replaced by sock puppets, and an entire scene being done in {{Machinima}} using ''VideoGame/TheSims''). Other notable silliness includes an episode done mostly in improv (to spoof Drew Carey's role as host of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway)'', and an episode where Oswald and Lewis are treated by a dentist who is a very over-the-top Dr. Frankenstein parody.

The series would go on to become DenserAndWackier as it went on, as a result of having more creative freedom due to being uncancellable for a time. Later seasons would have Mimi and Drew engaged in prank wars that escalated to the point where Mimi drugged Drew and dropped him off at the Great Wall of China. Several episodes were made littered with intentional mistakes pointed out to the audience, which they could tally for a contest (which were often random, over-the-top sight gags, ranging from hairstyle changes, actor changes, characters being replaced by sock puppets, and an entire scene being done in {{Machinima}} using ''VideoGame/TheSims''). Other notable silliness includes an episode done mostly in improv (to spoof Drew Carey's role as host of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway)'', and an episode where Oswald and Lewis are treated by a dentist who is a very over-the-top Dr. Frankenstein parody.

* CelebrityParadox: Drew Carey once appeared as a one-shot character on ''Series/HomeImprovement''. Creator/TimAllen later appeared on ''The Drew Carey Show'' as himself, where Drew knew him from watching ''Home Improvement''.

* FeelingTheBabkKick: The StoryArc where Drew spends several months unemployed and/or working crappy jobs begins with Wick admitting that he squandered some of the company's money and telling Drew that the budget can be balanced if he fires one employee. Overjoyed, Drew goes over to [[SitcomArchNemesis Mimi's]] desk, but as he's about to fire her, Mimi says that she felt her baby (his nephew) kick her. Not wanting to be the guy who fired a pregnant woman, much less one carrying his brother's child, he looks for another employee to fire.