The Drew Carey Show: Season 08 (2002)

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Although by prior agreement ABC was required to retain The Drew Carey Show on its prime time schedule through 2004 at a cost of $3,000,000 per episode, by the fall of 2002 it was obvious that the series' plummeting ratings no longer justified such a long-term commitment. Thus, only 15 of the 27 episodes filmed for the series' eighth season were broadcast before the network yanked the show from its lineup in January of 2003. At this point, ABC had two options: shelve the remaining episodes (and the subsequent ninth season, then in its early production stages) and take a huge financial bath, or "burn off" the 12 leftover episodes during the Summer of 2003, with two episodes shown back-to-back each week for a six-week period. The latter option was exercised, then repeated for the ninth and final season of The Drew Carey Show in the Summer of 2004. Those few viewers tuning into Season Eight had some treats in store for them, most notably the guest appearances of a different A-list musical group at the beginning and end of each episode. Also, there was an influx of new characters, precipitated by the bankruptcy of Winfred-Louder, the Cleveland department store which employed series protagonist Drew Carey (playing himself) and Drew's mortal enemy (and now sister-in-law!) Mimi Bombeck (Kathy Kinney. The store's new owners are a pair of oafish young techno-nerds named Scott (Jonathan Mangum) and Evan (Kyle Howard), who transform the place into a dot.com called "NeverendingStore." At first intending to fire everybody, Scott and Evan keep Drew on because they're amused by "the old man", and also relent and rehire Mimi (Kathy Kinney)--who immediately develops an intense hatred for newly installed keyboard operator Traylor (Kaitlin Olson), who proves so odious that Mimi ends up trying to murder the girl by stuffing her in a paper shredder! Leaving the series this season is longtime regular Christa Miller), whose character, Kate O'Brien, heads to Guam with her new husband, fighter pilot Kirk (Cameron Mathison). Replacing Kate as one of the "gang"--consisting of Drew, Oswald (Diedrich Bader) and Lewis (Ryan Stiles)--is another of Drew's former school pals, Kellie Newmark, played by Cynthia Watros. Though his marriage to Kate has fallen through, Drew stubbornly books a chapel for his wedding--then spends the rest of the season searching for an appropriate bride, with the help of former coworoker and now professional matchmaker Larry Almada (Ian Gomez). After a tentative romance with Kellie comes acropper, Drew settles upon a ditzy Southern belle named Lily (Tammy Lauren), with whom he ultimately marches down the aisle...and then... Although billed as regulars this season, John Carroll Lynch as Drew's brother and Mimi's husband Steve and Craig Ferguson as Drew's ex-boss Mr. Wick appear only sporadically. The reason for Wick's non-appearances are fairly obvious (why should he hang around a place where he's been canned); as for Steve, he abruptly vanishes from view after Mimi catches him in an extramarital affair, one that forces poor Drew to act as surrogate father for his nephew Gus for the duration of the series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi