For years, one of the best sitcoms ever made was impossible to stream, leaving fans to scour thrift shops and online stores in hopes of scoring an old DVD set. Fortunately, after bitter behind-the-scenes conflicts regarding the streaming rights to its iconic soundtrack, The Drew Carey Show (199) is now available at the click of a button.
You don’t even have to pay money to see just how hard “Cleveland Rocks!” because The Drew Carey Show is available to stream for free on Tubi.
Living In Sin With a Safety Pin
The premise of The Drew Carey Show is that our title character is a director of personnel at a department store, where he works with an overbearing boss and a colorful (quite literally) rival coworker. When he’s not at work, this beleaguered office drone hangs out with a trio of ne’er-do-well friends and tries to sell his unique brand of caffeinated alcohol, Buzz Beer. Whether at work, at home, or out in the wilds of Cleveland and beyond, our protagonist gets in the wackiest and downright weirdest misadventures in sitcom history.
As with most sitcoms, the best thing about The Drew Carey Show is its cast: Diedrich Bader (best known for Office Space) is great as the title character’s dim-witted friend, someone as charmingly dumb as he is relentlessly loyal. His smarter friend, more laconic friend is played by Ryan Stiles (best known outside this show for the Hot Shots movies and Whose Line Is It Anyway?), while his tomboyish bestie and occasionally love interest is played by Christa Miller (best known for Scrubs). Meanwhile, Kathy Kinney (best known outside this show for Arachnophobia) plays his make-up-covered, mean-spirited workplace rival, while Craig Ferguson (best known for The Late Late Show) plays his mirthfully malicious boss.
The Ultimate Everyman
Of course, the best performer in The Drew Carey Show is Drew Carey himself: from the very beginning, he gives his character a down-to-earth charm that makes him a very believable everyman who just happens to inhabit an unbelievably silly world. This show could have been an empty vanity project, but Carey never wastes an opportunity to poke fun at himself, essentially winning the audience over with an endless stream of hilariously self-deprecating humor. From the first episode to the last, Carey plays a fun, flawed character with a heart of gold, and you can’t help but root for him even in the midst of his most harebrained schemes.
The Drew Carey Show was a cultural phenomenon when it was on the air, and it wasted little time winning over the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an 86 percent rating, with critics praising the transgressive (especially by ‘90s standards) humor of a show that never tried to be as smart as rival sitcoms like Seinfeld. Critics also commended the show for its fun supporting cast and how well it uses its Cleveland location (a refreshing change from the endlessly overused sitcom setting of New York) to establish a cozy atmosphere that makes you just want to vibe out with these characters.
Overlooked and Underappreciated
The titular character is something of an underdog, and so is the series: while The Drew Carey Show won some solid accolades (including a Satellite Award, five BMI Film & TV Awards, and even an American Choreography Award), it was snubbed for more major awards. For example, it was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Costume Design for a Series, but won none of them. Like many fans of the series, I think this show should have brought home those more prestigious trophies because of its outstanding writing and insanely memorable performances.
As for myself, I grew up watching The Drew Carey Show, and these colorful characters and their wacky world played a huge role in shaping my sense of humor. Even though it was on the air for nearly a decade, this series has largely fallen off the pop culture radar, largely because it has been so difficult to stream. Now that it’s available to watch (for free, no less), I can only hope this underrated classic from yesteryear finally gets discovered by new audiences hungry for a show whose vibes are just as perfect as its writing.
Will you agree that The Drew Carey Show is the most underrated sitcom of the ‘90s, or will this show leave you running for the nearest caffeinated beer? You won’t know until you stream this cozy Cleveland classic for free on Tubi. If you feel the need to engage in your own highly choreographed dance routines afterward (possibly while singing one of this show’s two iconic theme songs), don’t worry: no fan of this madcap masterpiece show will hold it against you!
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