The Drew Carey Show
The Front
TV Flash files “The Front” as hour 17 of 233 in the TV Flash guide — The Drew Carey Show (1995–2004) on ABC, season 1, episode 17, aired 1996-02-07, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 233 in the The Drew Carey Show guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1996-02-07 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Drew's New Assistant” (S01E16). Next is “Playing the Unified Field” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Drew may have to terminate his affair with Lisa or risk job termination when the store bans interoffice dating. His solution? Ask Kate's boyfriend to pretend he's dating Lisa, to throw co-workers off the track.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Front sit in the The Drew Carey Show guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 233 — hour 17 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did The Drew Carey Show S01E17 air?
The Front aired 1996-02-07 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Why do episodes start with musical numbers?
Elaborate musical and dance openers were house style — local pride and surreal flourish before the department-store plot clocked in.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Cleveland as sitcom geography: a discount store, Buzz Beer, and cold opens that danced before the plot bothered to start. Drew Carey’s everyman deadpan against Ryan Stiles, Diedrich Bader, and a city treated like a character instead of a punchline. Blue-collar multi-cam with musical nerve — a workplace comedy that could rock without leaving Ohio.
Visual first: a Cleveland everyman in a discount-store silhouette, Mimi's makeup as a walking cartoon, cold opens that danced before the plot bothered to clock in. Drew Carey and Bruce Helford's ABC sitcom (1995–2004) treated the city as a character instead of a punchline. *Blue-collar, musical, local pride as a look.* The tags will call a dance number mid. **This was not mid; this was a city photographing as itself.**
Filed against
- Drew Carey as Drew Carey
Drew Carey made Cleveland sitcom geography as himself on The Drew Carey Show — a discount store, Buzz Beer, and cold opens that danced before the plot bothered to start. Everyman deadpan against a city treated like a character instead of…
- Ryan Stiles as Lewis Kiniski
Ryan Stiles's Lewis Kiniski danced The Drew Carey Show into Cleveland as sitcom geography — a discount store, Buzz Beer, cold opens that moved before the plot bothered to start. Everyman deadpan against Diedrich Bader and a city treated…
- Christa Miller as Kate O'Brien
Christa Miller played Kate O'Brien on The Drew Carey Show — Cleveland as sitcom geography, a discount store, Buzz Beer, cold opens that danced before the plot bothered to start. Drew's everyman deadpan against Ryan Stiles, Diedrich Bader,…
- Diedrich Bader as Oswald Lee Harvey
Diedrich Bader’s Oswald Lee Harvey made The Drew Carey Show’s Cleveland a dim-bulb symphony — discount store, Buzz Beer, cold opens that danced before the plot started, everyman deadpan against Ryan Stiles and a city treated like a…
- Kathy Kinney as Mimi Bobeck
Kathy Kinney's Mimi Bobeck painted The Drew Carey Show in Cleveland neon — discount-store sitcom geography, cold opens that danced before the plot clocked in, blue-collar multi-cam with a makeup-counter weapon. TV Flash files her as 1990s…
- Craig Ferguson as Nigel Wick
Craig Ferguson’s Nigel Wick made The Drew Carey Show’s Cleveland boss a comic weapon — discount-store tyranny, Buzz Beer aftertaste, a Scottish sneer against everyman deadpan. Cold opens danced before the plot started; Wick still arrived…