A television program (television programme in the United Kingdom, Ireland and many Commonwealth countries), also called television show (in the United States), is a segment of content, which is intended to be broadcast on television. It is the product of a television production—or the filmmaking process. It may be a one-time broadcast or part of a periodically recurring series.

A television series that is predetermined to be broadcast as a set number of programs is usually called a miniseries or serial (although the latter term also has other meanings). A short-run of a series lasting less than a year is known as a ''season''—though in the United Kingdom and (some of) the rest of the PAL countries, the term ''series'' is used. This season, or series, usually consists of 12 to 26 installments in the United States, but in the UK there is no defined length. The US-industry practice tends to favor longer seasons than those of some other countries.

A single program of a series is called an episode. A one-time broadcast may be called a "special", or particularly in the UK a "special episode". A television movie ("made-for-TV movie"), or in the UK a television film, is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in cinemas or direct-to-video, although many successful TV movies are later released on DVD.

A program can be either recorded—as on video tape or other various electronic media forms—or considered live television.

Program content

The content of television programs may be factual—as in documentary, news, and reality television, or fictional—as in comedies and dramas. It may be topical—as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television movies, or historical—as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series. They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows.

A drama program usually features a set of actors in a somewhat familiar setting. The program follows their lives and their adventures. With the exception of soap operas, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, the main characters and the premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. (Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order.) Since the 1980s, there are many series that feature progressive change to the plot, the characters, or both.

Common television program periods include regular broadcasts (like news), series (usually seasonal and ongoing with a duration of only a few episodes to many seasons), or miniseries, which is an extended film, usually with a small predetermined number of episodes and a set plot and timeline. Miniseries usually range from about 3 to 10 hours in length. In the UK, the term "miniseries" is only usually used in reference to imported programmes, and such short-run series are usually called "serials".

Older American television shows began with a title sequence showing opening credits at the bottom lower third of the screen during the beginning, and included closing credits at the end of the show. However, beginning in the 1990s some shows began with a "cold open", followed by a title sequence and a commercial break. Many serial-type shows begin with a "Previously on..." (such as the series ''24'') introduction before the new episode. And, to save time, some shows omit the title sequence altogether, folding the names normally featured there into the opening credits. The title sequence has not been completely eliminated, however, as many major television series still use them.

While television series appearing on TV networks are usually commissioned by the networks themselves, their producers earn greater revenue when the program is sold into syndication. With the rise of the DVD home video format, box sets containing entire seasons or the complete run of a program have become a significant revenue source as well. Many of the prime-time comedy shows and Saturday morning cartoons were digitally remastered for United States television around mid-May 2008, as there will be more original and reissued DVD sets of television programs containing either entire seasons or complete series to come.

Television has changed throughout the years, from wholesome family sitcoms and dramas of years ago, to the reality shows of today. When watching television became popular in the mid-20th century, the whole family watched one set together. Also, many channels have deviated from their original programming focus throughout the years because of channel drift.

Most television networks throughout the world are 'commercial', dependent on selling advertising time or acquiring sponsors, broadcasting executives' main concern over their programming is on audience size or ''eyeballs''. Once the number of 'free to air' stations was restricted by the availability of channel frequencies, but cable TV (outside the USA, satellite television) technology has allowed an expansion in the number of channels available to viewers (sometimes at premium rates) in a much more competitive environment.

Genres

Scripted entertainment

Animated

Award shows (partially scripted)

Drama—which includes:

* Action-adventure or Thriller

* Comedy-drama

* Family drama

* Legal drama

* Medical drama

* Police procedural

* Political drama

* Science-fiction / Fantasy / Horror / Supernatural drama

* Serial drama

* Soap opera

* Teen drama

Miniseries and Television movies

Comedy

* Mockumentary

* Satire

* Situation comedy

* Sketch comedy

Unscripted entertainment

Game shows

Reality

Talk shows

Informational

Infomercials—paid advertising which are up to an hour long

News programs

documentaries

news magazine shows—dealing with current affairs

Development

United States

A person decides to create a new television ''series''. The show's creator develops the show's elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew, and various actors (in some cases, "big-name" actors). They will then offer ("pitch") it to the various networks in an attempt to find one that is interested in the series and order a prototype first episode of the series, known as a ''pilot''.

To create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series needs to be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they will "pick up" the show for their next ''season'' (UK: ''series''). Sometimes they will save it for "midseason" or request rewrites and further review (known in the industry as "Development hell"). And other times they will ''pass'' entirely, leaving the show's creator forced to "shop it around" to other networks. Many shows never make it past the pilot stage.

If the show is picked up, a "run" of episodes is ordered. Usually only 13 episodes are ordered at first, although a series will typically last for at least 22 episodes (the last nine episodes sometimes being known as the "back nine", borrowing the colloquial golf term).

The show hires a "stable" of writers, who usually work in parallel: the first writer works on the first episode, the second on the second episode, and so forth. When all of the writers have been used, the assignment of episodes continues starting with the first writer again. On other shows, however, the writers work as a team. Sometimes they will develop story ideas individually, and pitch them to the show's creator, who then folds them together into a script and rewrites them.

United Kingdom

In contrast to the US model illustrated above, the UK procedure is operated on a sometimes similar, but much smaller scale.

The method of "team writing" is employed on some longer dramatic series (usually running up to a maximum of around 13 episodes). The idea for such a programme may be generated "in-house" by one of the networks; it could originate from an independent production company; it will sometimes be a product of both. For example, the BBC's long-running soap opera ''EastEnders'' is wholly a BBC production, whereas its popular drama ''Life on Mars'' was developed by Kudos in association with the broadcaster.

However, there are still a significant number of programmes (usually sitcoms) that are built around just one or two writers and a small, close-knit production team. These are "pitched" in the traditional way, but since the creator(s) will handle all the writing requirements, there will be a run of six or seven episodes per series once approval has been given. Many of the most popular British comedies have been made this way, including ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (albeit with an exclusive team of six writer-performers), ''Fawlty Towers'', ''Blackadder'' and ''The Office''.

Production

The executive producer, often the show's creator, is in charge of running the show. They pick the crew and help cast the actors, approve and sometimes write series plots (some even write or direct major episodes). Various other producers help to ensure that the show runs smoothly.

As with filmmaking or other electronic media production, production of an individual episode can be divided into three parts. These are:

Pre-production

Pre-production begins when a script is approved. A director is chosen to plan the episode's final look.

Pre-production tasks include storyboarding, construction of sets, props, and costumes, casting guest stars, budgeting, acquiring resources like lighting, special effects, stunts, etc. Once the show is planned, it must then be scheduled; scenes are often filmed out of sequence, guest actors or even regulars may only be available at certain times. Sometimes the principal photography of different episodes must be done at the same time, complicating the schedule (a guest star might shoot scenes from two episodes on the same afternoon). Complex scenes are translated from storyboard to animatics to further clarify the action. Scripts are adjusted to meet altering requirements.

Some shows have a small stable of directors, but also usually rely on outside directors. Given the time constraints of broadcasting, a single show might have two or three episodes in pre-production, one or two episodes in principal photography, and a few more in various stages of post-production. The task of directing is complex enough that a single director can usually not work on more than one episode or show at a time, hence the need for multiple directors.

Principal photography

Principal photography is the actual filming of the episode. Director, actors and crew will gather at a television studio or on location for filming or videoing a scene. A scene is further divided into shots, which should be planned during pre-production. Depending on scheduling, a scene may be shot in non-sequential order of the story. Conversations may be filmed twice from different camera angles, often using stand-ins, so one actor might perform all their lines in one set of shots, and then the other side of the conversation will be filmed from the opposite perspective. To complete a production on time, a second unit may be filming a different scene on another set or location at the same time, using a different set of actors, an assistant director, and a second unit crew. A director of photography supervises the lighting of each shot to ensure consistency.

Post production

Once principal photography is complete, producers coordinate tasks to begin the video editing. Visual and digital video effects are added to the film; this is often outsourced to companies specializing in these areas. Often music is performed with the conductor using the film as a time reference (other musical elements may be previously recorded). An editor cuts the various pieces of film together, adds the musical score and effects, determines scene transitions, and assembles the completed show.

Distribution

After production, the show is turned over to the television network, which sends it out to its affiliate stations, which broadcast it in the specified broadcast programming time slot. If the Nielsen ratings are good, the show is kept alive as long as possible. If not, the show is usually canceled. The show's creators are then left to shop around remaining episodes, and the possibility of future episodes, to other networks. On especially successful series, the producers sometimes call a halt to a series on their own like ''Seinfeld'', ''The Cosby Show'', ''Corner Gas'', and ''M*A*S*H'' and end it with a concluding episode, which sometimes is a big series finale.

On rare occasions, a series that has not attracted particularly high ratings and has been canceled can be given a reprieve if DVD sales have been particularly strong. This has happened in the cases of ''Family Guy'' in the US and ''Peep Show'' in the UK.

If the show is popular or lucrative, and a number of episodes (usually 100 episodes or more) are made, it goes into broadcast syndication (in the USA) where broadcast to the program rights are then resold.

== == The terminology used to define a set of episodes produced by a television series varies from country to country.

North American usage

The term "series", in North American usage, refers to a connected set of television program episodes that run under the same title, possibly spanning many seasons. A new series is often ordered (funded) for just the first 10 to 13 episodes, to gauge the audience interest. If it is "picked up", the season is completed to the regular 20 to 26 episodes. The term "midseason replacement" usually refers to an inexpensive short-run (10–13 episode) show designed to take the place of an original series which failed to garner an audience and has not been picked up. The term "series finale" can lead to confusion outside of North America. A series finale means that the show will no longer be produced, and thus will be the final episode for that series (in the UK, it would mean the end of a season).

In North America the term "television season" is used inconsistently. A "full season" typically runs from September through May, with a hiatus between December and February. This broadcast programming schedule typically includes 20 to 26 episodes. A full season is sometimes split into two separate units (confusingly also termed seasons) with one before and one after the hiatus. These smaller "seasons" usually contain half the number of episodes (10–13).

More recently these shorter seasons have been referred to as ".5" or half seasons, where the run of shows between September and December is labeled "Season N", and the second run between February and May labeled "Season N.5". This is typically done to increase DVD sales of the show. The distributor will release the first half of the season in stores just before the second half first airs, in order to increase interest in the season's second half. Examples of this would be the science fiction remake ''Battlestar Galactica'', its prequel ''Caprica'', ABC's ''FlashForward'', and NBC's ''Heroes''.

UK and Australia usage

In the United Kingdom, on the ABC in Australia and in other countries, these sets of episodes are referred to as a series.

Australian television does not follow ''seasons'' in the way that US television does. So there is no "Fall Season" or "Fall schedule", for example. In Australia, a batch of episodes will still sometimes be called a "season" as per American terminology, although the UK term "series" is also used. For many years popular night time dramas in Australia would run much of the year, and would only go into recess over the summer period (December–February) where ratings are not taken. Therefore popular dramas would usually run February–November each year. This schedule was used in the 1970s for popular dramas including ''Number 96''. ''Neighbours'' and other dramas continue this routine as at 2010. Australian situation comedy series usually have seasons of about 13 episodes, and might premiere at any month between February and November.

British shows have tended toward shorter series in recent years. For example, the first series of long-running science fiction show ''Doctor Who'' in 1963 featured forty-two 25-minute episodes, which had been reduced gradually to fourteen 25-minute episodes in 1989. The revival of ''Doctor Who'' has comprised thirteen 45-minute installments. However, there are some series in the UK that have a larger number of episodes, for example ''Waterloo Road'' started with 8–12 episodes but from series three onward, it increased to 20 episodes, and season seven will contain 30 episodes. Recently, American non-cable networks have also begun to experiment with shorter seasons for some programs, particularly reality shows such as ''Survivor''. However, they often air two seasons per year, resulting in roughly the same number of episodes per year as a drama.

This is a reduction from the 1950s, in which many American shows (e.g., ''The Twilight Zone'') had between 29 and 39 episodes per season. Actual storytelling time within a commercial television hour has also gradually reduced over the years, from 50 minutes out of every 60 to the current 44 (and even less on some networks), beginning in the early 21st century.

Japanese usage

The Japanese have sometimes subdivided television series and dramas into , from the French term "cours" for "course", which is a three-month period usually of 13 episodes. Each ''kūru'' generally has its own opening and ending image sequence and song, recordings of which are often sold. The number of episodes permitted per season ranges from three to 65. (See also Japanese television programs.)

In the United States, in general, dramas usually last 44 minutes (an hour with advertisements), while sitcoms last 22 (30 with advertisements). However, with the rise of cable networks, especially pay ones, series and episode lengths have been changing, with 55–60 minutes per episode, and shorter seasons overall.

See also

:Category:Television schedules (by country and year)

List of animated television series

List of television programs by name in alphabetical order

Lists of television programs

Network programming (television)

Radio programming

Television advertisement

External links

FCC

Category:History of television

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Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Name	Drew Carey
Birth name	Drew Allison Carey
Birth date	May 23, 1958
Birth place	Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Genre	Improvisational comedy
Notable work	''The Drew Carey Show''''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show''Host of:''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''''The Price Is Right''''Power of 10''''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza''
Active	1985–present
Website	http://www.drewfromtv.blogspot.com }}

Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, ''The Drew Carey Show'', and serving as host on the U.S. version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', both of which aired on ABC.

Carey has appeared in several films, television series, music videos, a made-for-television film, and a computer game. He currently hosts the game show ''The Price Is Right'' and the improv comedy show ''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza''. He is interested in a variety of sports, has worked as a photographer at U.S. National Team soccer games, is a minority owner of the Major League Soccer team Seattle Sounders FC and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Carey is engaged and has written an autobiography detailing his early life and television career.

Early life

Carey was the youngest of Lewis and Beulah Carey's three sons and raised in Parma, Ohio. When he was eight years old his father died from a brain tumor. According to his autobiography, he was born with six toes on his right foot and he played the cornet and trumpet in the marching band of James Ford Rhodes High School, from which he graduated in 1975.

He continued on to college at Kent State University (KSU) and was expelled twice for poor academic performance. He left KSU after three years, but not before becoming a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. After leaving the university, Carey enlisted into the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1980 and served for six years. He relocated to Las Vegas for a few months in 1982, and for a short time worked as a bank teller and a waiter at Denny's.

Stand-up career

In 1985, he began his comedy career by following up on a suggestion by David Lawrence (a disc jockey friend who had been paying Drew to write jokes for David's radio show in Cleveland) to go to the library and borrow books on how to write jokes. The following year, after winning an open-mic contest, he became MC at the Cleveland Comedy Club. He performed at multiple comedy clubs over the next few years in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. He was first brought to the national eye as a comedian when he competed in the 1988 ''Star Search''. Carey was working as a stand-up comedian in 1991 when he appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. His performance that night impressed Carson, who invited Carey to the couch next to his desk; this was considered a rare honor for any comedian. In that same year, Carey joined the ''14th Annual Young Comedians Special'' on HBO and made his first appearance on ''Late Night with David Letterman''. In 1994, Carey wrote his own stand-up comedy special which aired on Showtime, entitled ''Drew Carey: Human Cartoon'', for which he won a CableACE Award for Best Writing.

Acting career

Early roles

Following on the success of his early stand-up career, he subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles on television shows, during which he developed the character of a hapless middle-class bachelor. In 1993, Carey had a small role in the film ''Coneheads'' as a taxi passenger. Turning his attention to television, in 1994, Carey co-starred with John Caponera in ''The Good Life'', a short-lived sitcom that aired on NBC. After the show's cancellation, Carey joined up with writer Bruce Helford (who was also a writer for ''The Good Life''), who gave Carey a job as a consultant for the television show ''Someone Like Me''.

''The Drew Carey Show''

After their stint on ''Someone Like Me'', Carey and Helford developed and produced the storyline for ''The Drew Carey Show''. The sitcom revolved around a fictionalized version of Carey, as he took on the stresses of life and work with his group of childhood friends. The show premiered on September 13, 1995 on ABC. In his autobiography, Carey revealed his frustration with having to deal with censors and being unable to employ the off-color humor common in his stand-up routines. Carey initially earned $60,000 per episode in the first seasons, then renegotiated for $300,000. By the final season, he was earning $750,000 per episode. The show had high ratings for its first few seasons, but declining ratings and increasing production costs (around $3 million per episode) precipitated its cancellation. The program had a total of 233 episodes over its nine-year run and Carey was one of four actors to appear in every episode. The show starred (in order of episode appearances) Drew Carey, Diedrich Bader, Kathy Kinney, Ryan Stiles (all in every episode); Craig Ferguson (starring role in seasons 2-8 and guest appearances in 9); Christa Miller (seasons 1-7); and John Carroll Lynch (semi-regular from seasons 3/4-9).

Improv television

While still starring in ''The Drew Carey Show'', in 1998 Carey began hosting the American version of the improvisational comedy show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He would announce the improv guests, direct the games, and then would usually involve himself in the final game of the episode. The show ran for a total of 220 episodes until the show's cancellation in 2006. In 1998, the New York Friars' Club made Carey the newest inductee of the group's Comedy Central Roast. His friend Ryan Stiles (who costarred in ''The Drew Carey Show'' and ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'') served as the roastmaster. Carey's income from ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and ''The Drew Carey Show'' led to his inclusion on the ''Forbes'' list of highest-paid entertainers of 1998, at 24th with $45.5 million.

For the WB's 2004-2005 prime time schedule, Carey co-produced and starred in ''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'', a spin-off of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. It was canceled by the WB, but picked up shortly afterward by Comedy Central. The show's premise relied on the use of a green screen for all of the actors' improv interactions. Animation on the screen was inserted during post-production.

On November 18, 2010, the Game Show Network announced that Drew Carey would host a new improv show in primetime, called ''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza''. The show is filmed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and first aired on April 11, 2011. The show takes on the premise of ''Whose Line?'' and ''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'' in that it features many of the same performers from both shows and they do improv based on audience-provided suggestions.

Improv All-Stars

Carey was one of the founders of the Improv All-Stars, a group of eleven actors who perform in unscripted skits. The group joined Carey in all three of his improv shows, ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', ''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'', and ''Drew Carey's Improv-a-ganza'' and some members had major roles or guest starred on ''The Drew Carey Show''. The Improv All-Stars travel on comedy tours, performing at comedy clubs throughout the United States.

Game show host

''Power of 10''

Beginning in 2007, Carey began hosting game shows, beginning with his April selection as host of the CBS game show pilot ''Power of 10''. The show ran from August 7, 2007 to April 7, 2008 and aired twice weekly during the late summer and early fall. Each game featured contestants predicting how a cross-section of Americans responded to questions covering a wide variety of topics in polls conducted by CBS.

''The Price Is Right''

After taping the pilot episode for ''Power of 10'', Carey was contacted by CBS about replacing the retiring Bob Barker at ''The Price Is Right''. After initially turning down the offer, Carey announced on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' that he would succeed Barker as host of the program beginning in the fall of 2007. His first episode of ''The Price Is Right'' was taped on August 15, and his shows began airing on October 15. In response to replacing Barker as host of the game show, Carey stated "You can't replace Bob Barker. I don't compare myself to anybody... It's only about what you're doing and supposed to do, and I feel like I'm supposed to be doing this." When Carey began hosting, the set, theme music, and show logo were updated. However, Carey kept the old closing line about spaying and neutering that originated with Barker, although his version uses slightly different wording. During Carey's second year as host, he began to write some of the sketches used during the Showcase, which features guest appearances by stars of other CBS programs.

Other roles and appearances

Carey began appearing in commercials for restaurants in the late 1990s in Canada with The Great Root Bear, but his two-year contract with A&W; Food Services of Canada was cut short in November 1998 after an episode of ''The Drew Carey Show'' featured McDonald's. As a result of his dismissal, Carey sued A&W; for compensation.

Disney's Hollywood Studios (then "Disney-MGM Studios"), part of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, debuted a 12-minute attraction in 1999 titled ''Sounds Dangerous!''. In the show, a camera follows Carey through a day as an undercover detective. When his video camera fails, the audience is left in complete darkness wearing earphones, following his adventure through sound cues. The attraction is presently running on a limited "seasonal" schedule.

In 2000, Carey was given a cameo appearance in the ''House Party'' expansion pack of the computer game ''The Sims''. To make him appear, the characters in the game must throw a successful party, which causes Carey to arrive in a limo and join the festivities. Carey is a fan of ''The Sims'' series and during one April Fool's episode of ''The Drew Carey Show'', a scene takes place completely within ''The Sims''. Carey made several other cameo appearances in music videos, including "Weird Al" Yankovic's "It's All About the Pentiums" and Fountains of Wayne's 2004 video for "Mexican Wine", giving an introduction to the video as if it were on a stage.

Although primarily known for his television work, Carey has done limited film work, with his first appearance in 1993's ''Coneheads''. His next film was the 2000 television film, ''Geppetto'' that debuted on ''The Wonderful World of Disney''. The film, an adaptation of ''Pinocchio'', included actor Wayne Brady who had joined Carey on his improv shows. Carey took singing lessons to prepare for the role. In 2005, Carey appeared in three films: the animated film ''Robots'', where he provided a voice-over for the character Crank; ''The Aristocrats'' where he retold a dirty joke along with other celebrities; and the documentary, ''Fuck'', where he was interviewed.

Carey provided the entertainment for the 2002 Annual White House correspondents' dinner. Once Carey completed his standup routine for the 1,800 guests, President George W. Bush, noting Carey's improv work, made a joke of his own: "Drew? Got any interest in the Middle East?" In 2003, he joined Jamie Kennedy to host the WB's live special ''Play for a Billion''. In September 2003, Carey led a group of comedians, including Blake Clark and ''The Drew Carey Show'''s Kathy Kinney, on a comedy tour of Iraq.

On June 8, 2006, ''Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures'' debuted on the Travel Channel. In this series, Carey traveled throughout Germany to photograph multiple FIFA World Cup soccer games while he immerses himself in the culture of the towns and states he visits. In early 2008, Carey appeared in Matt Groening's ''The Simpsons'' as part of the episode "All About Lisa" as a guest on Krusty the Clown's ''Krusty the Clown Show''.

Writing

Carey has routinely written throughout his career, including developing his stand-up comedy routines in his early stand-up career, and then moving on to assist in writing sitcoms. In 1997, Carey published his autobiography, ''Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined'' wherein he shared memories of his early childhood and of his father's death when he was eight. He also revealed that he was once molested, had suffered bouts of depression, and had made two suicide attempts by swallowing a large amount of sleeping pills. The book discusses his college fraternity years while attending Kent State University, and his professional career up to that time. The book featured large amounts of profanity and, as the title suggests, includes multiple dirty jokes (there is one at the start of each chapter) and references to beer. The book was featured on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list for three months.

Personal life

A United States Marine, he adopted his crew cut hair style during his time in the service. Carey has had refractive surgery to correct his vision and therefore did not really require glasses (any glasses he wore in public were merely props to help the audience recognize him). However, while this was true for several years, on the May 17, 2006 episode of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' he revealed that when he turned 40, he actually developed a need for bifocals. Carey currently lives in Los Angeles and New York City.

On October 9, 2007 Carey proposed to Nicole Jaracz. It will be Carey and Jaracz's first marriage. She has a five-year-old son, Connor, from a previous relationship, who Carey has had appear on ''The Price Is Right'' several times.

After encountering chest pains while filming ''The Drew Carey Show'' in August 2001, Carey went to the hospital where he underwent a coronary angioplasty. Although his weight was a comedic topic throughout his sitcom and improv shows, in 2010 he began a diet and exercise plan, resulting in an extensive weight loss and elimination of his type-2 diabetes.

Political views

Carey is an outspoken libertarian. He has expressed his political philosophy in the following terms, "I believe the answers to all the problems we face as a society won't come from Washington, it will come from us. So the way we decide to live our lives and our decisions about what we buy or don't buy are much more important than who we vote for."

Carey has expressed his distaste for the Bush administration's management of the War in Iraq, specifically on the September 15, 2007, episode of ''Real Time with Bill Maher''. He made donations to Ron Paul's presidential campaign for the 2008 election. On the September 26, 2008 episode of ''The Late Late Show'', Carey defined "libertarian" to host Craig Ferguson as "a conservative who still gets high."

Carey has spoken about his various political beliefs in several interviews and in 1998, he led a "smoke-in" in defiance of California's newly passed no-smoking ordinance inside bars and restaurants. Carey has hosted a series of mini-documentaries called ''The Drew Carey Project'' on Reason.tv, an online project of Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. The first episode, "Gridlock", addresses private highway ownership and was released on October 15, 2007. Other episodes discuss topics such as eminent domain, urban traffic congestion, and medical marijuana.

Sports involvement

Carey is a devoted fan of the U.S. National Soccer Team, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cleveland Indians. In 1999, Carey was part of the pregame ceremonies at the first game of the return of the Cleveland Browns, televised on ESPN. Carey attended the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Carey is a minority owner of the Seattle Sounders FC, who began play in Major League Soccer on March 19, 2009. Carey is a fan of FC Barcelona and of the Scottish team Rangers. In 2006 he was a season ticket holder for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Carey has shown his support for the Indians by throwing the first pitch at an August 12, 2006 game against the Kansas City Royals. He was rewarded by the Cleveland Indians for being "the greatest Indians fan alive" with a personal bobblehead doll made in his likeness that was given to fans. Carey responded to his bobblehead likeness by saying "Bobblehead Day, for me, is as big as getting a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame."

In 2001, Carey was the first television actor to enter World Wrestling Entertainment's 30-man "Royal Rumble" match, which he did to promote an improv comedy pay-per-view at the time. He appeared in a few backstage segments before his brief participation in the match. Upon entering the ring, Carey stood unopposed for more than half a minute, but after the next entrant Kane refused a monetary bribe, Carey eliminated himself from the match by jumping over the top rope and retreated from ringside. On April 2, 2011 Carey was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Kane.

Carey competed against five other celebrities in the first celebrity edition of the 2003 World Poker Tour. He placed fifth, only beating out actor Jack Black. Carey won $2,000 for his charity.

Philanthropy

Carey is a supporter of libraries, crediting them for beginning his successful comedy career. On May 2, 2000, in a celebrity edition of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'', he selected the Ohio Library Foundation to receive his $500,000 winnings. He later went on to win an additional $32,000 on the second celebrity ''Millionaire'', making him one of the biggest winning contestants on ''Millionaire'' who did not win the top prize. Carey also has played on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Cleveland Public Library charity. In June 2007, Carey offered to donate up to $100,000 (in $10,000 increments) to the Mooch Myernick Memorial Fund if anybody could beat him at the video game FIFA Soccer 07 for the Xbox 360. He dared five players from both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams to compete against him. Carey ended up donating $100,000 plus $60,000 for losing two games out of the six games he played.

In October 2009, Carey made a bid of $25,000 in a charity auction for the @drew Twitter account. He later increased his offer to $100,000 if the number of followers of his account @DrewFromTV reached 100,000 by the end of the auction. In an interview with CBS News, he announced that he would instead donate $1 million to the charity, Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG Foundation, if his follower count reached one million by December 31, 2009.

Photography

Carey can sometimes be seen on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as a press photographer. His images are sold via wire services under the pseudonym ''Brooks Parkenridge''. He was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2006, for his television show ''Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures''.

Awards and honors

Carey won the Cable Ace Award for Best Writing for his work on ''Drew Carey: Human Cartoon''. In 1995, he was named one of the "10 Hottest New Faces of '95" by ''TV Guide''. Carey received an honorary DHL from Cleveland State University in 2000. He won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Performer for his work in ''The Drew Carey Show'', in both 2000 and 2001. On February 21, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star can be found at 6664 Hollywood Blvd. In 2004, he was ranked 84th on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. On June 21, 2008 Carey won second place from the Los Angeles Press Club for his feature on medical marijuana in the multimedia package category. On June 26, 2011 Carey shared the award for "Best Advocacy Journalism" with Reason.tv Editor Nick Gillespie and Paul Feine at the 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards.

Filmography

Carey has starred in only a few television shows and films, but also has numerous guest star appearances in a variety of sitcoms and comedy shows.

Television work

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 1992 ||''The Torkelsons'' || Herby Scroggins || Episode "Say Uncle" |- | 1994 ||''The Good Life'' || Drew Clark || |- | 1994 ||''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (uncredited) || Veteran || Episode "Grounded for Life" |- | 1995–2004 ||''The Drew Carey Show'' || Drew Carey || |- |rowspan="3"| 1997 ||''Home Improvement'' || Road Kill specialist (Seymour 'Sy' Winterfleffin) || |- |''The Weird Al Show'' || rowspan=3|Himself || Episode "The Competition" |- |''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' || Episode "To Tell a Mortal" |- | 1998–2007 ||''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' || Host |- | 1999 ||''King of the Hill'' ||Hal || Episode "Not in My Back-hoe" |- | 2000 ||''Baby Blues'' || Himself || Episode "Bizzy Moves In" |- | 2001 || ''WWE Royal Rumble 2001'' || Himself (5th Entrant) || |- | 2004–2005 ||''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'' || rowspan=5|Himself || Host/Performer |- | 2006 ||''Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures'' || | |- | 2007–2008 ||''Power of 10'' || rowspan=2|Host |- | 2007–present ||''The Price Is Right'' |- | 2008 ||''The Simpsons''|| Himself |Guest on the Krusty the Clown Show |- | 2010 ||''Community''|| Ted || Episode "Accounting for Lawyers" |- | 2011-present ||''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza''|| Himself || Host/Performer |- | 2011 ||''Family Guy''|| Himself ||Host of ''The Price Is Right'' |}

Films

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes |- | 1993 ||''Coneheads'' ||Taxi passenger || | |- | 2000 ||''Geppetto'' || Mister Geppetto || Made-for-TV movie |- |rowspan="2"| 2005 ||''Robots'' ||Crank || Voice role |- |''The Aristocrats'' ||Himself || | |}

References

External links

Drew Carey's blog

Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars

Drew Carey's WWE Hall of Fame Profile

Reason Foundation Official site

Category:1958 births Category:Actors_from_Cleveland,_Ohio Category:Actors from Ohio Category:American game show hosts Category:American libertarians Category:American photographers Category:American soccer chairmen and investors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:Kent State University alumni Category:Living people Category:Major League Soccer executives Category:Ohio Republicans Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio Category:The Price Is Right Category:United States Marines Category:United States Marine Corps reservists Category:WWE Hall of Fame

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