The Drew Carey Show: Pilot

"Pilot" is the first episode and the series premiere of the American sitcom The Drew Carey Show. It first aired on September 13, 1995 on the ABC network in the United States. The premise of the show revolves around the life Drew Carey would have lived if he had not become a stand-up comedian. The pilot introduces the main characters of Drew (Carey), Kate (Christa Miller), Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader), as well as Drew's workplace, the fictional Winfred-Lauder department store, and enemy Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney). The pilot was written by series co-creators Carey and Bruce Helford, while Michael Lessac directed. It was shot in April 1995 at the Warner Bros. Television studios in Burbank, California. The episode ranked joint 29th in television programs with the most viewers for the week of September 11–17, 1995. Critical response was mixed, with many comparing the show to the NBC sitcom Friends. Ray Richmond from the Los Angeles Daily News praised Carey's performance, but thought the episode did not click, while Variety's Tony Scott liked the opening sequence and Lessac's "inventive" direction.