Show B6 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Saturday May 8 2004 SHERMANS LAGOON Amid 'Friends’ hubbub Drew Carey quietly exits STEP ONE' APPLY MY PffENTEP COLOGNE neve ARRIKPCUrM TK ANNUAL ASCENSION KLANP SEA TURTLE taoffiPKMjy EN&LNEEREPTO ATTRACT JAMPORCE fCHA- M- NEW YORK (AP) — For all the attention given to this week’s “Friends” finale another comedy taped its final episode a few weeks ago — and few people outside its Hollywood set were aware of iL Drew Carey Show” is The finale expected to air on ABC sometime this summer That the show still exists at all for its ninth season has more to do with a classically bad business deal than any sense viewers want to see it “You can point to a lot of things that ABC did — they did a lot of things that were dumb” said Sam Simon who directed the final episode “and I think this was one of them” Smart and stylish — a comedy set in Cleveland where die principals would ' AP Photo occasionally break out into a show tune — Carey’s show once was one of ABC’s crown Carey slides down a bannister to escape from an jewels In the 1996-9- 7 season it averaged 17 Insane asylum as his pals perform a dance nummillion viewers the first of three straight years ber tit the hospital In this scene from ABCs The in Nielsen Media Research’s top 20 Drew Carey Show” New episodes of the tong-nThe show’s popularity was fading in 2001 ning comedy win premiere on Wednesday June 2 but it still seemed savvy when ABC reached a with the show's finale expected to air on ABC deal with Warner Bros Television the show’s sometime this summer producers to keep it on the air through 2004 v Thai the bottom fell out er Bros a tidy sum to go away and forget die It’s not clear whether viewers simply tired of final season the amiable bespectacled comedian Between Nobody at ABC or Warner Bros would talk his own show and “Whose line is it Anyabout whether that idea had even been broached There’s probably a financial incenway?” he logged a lot of face time on the network tive for Warner to continue production since Or they may simply have tired of trying to the show is popular in syndication — where find “The Drew Carey Show" The program the real money is made in television — and on an this just gives diem more episodes to sell Wednesday nights evening premiered So it means the final season of “The Drew where it has inhabited four separate time slots It’s also been shown regularly on Tuesdays Carey Show” is produced in a virtual vacuum Few people knew when or if the episodes And Thursdays And Fridays And Mondays By the middle of last season ABC took it off would nuke it on the air It’s still a lucrative vacuum: Carey reportedly die air and burned off many of the show’s made $600000 to $750000 an episode episodes during die summer ABC didn’t even bother putting it on this Money can’t buy everything though “I know you like people to see your work” season New episodes will premiere on June 2 said Simon who considers Carey (me of his and die network will show two first-ru- n best friends “It’s disappointing A lot of the episodes a week during the summer — the television equivalent of an afterthought perks of being a hot star and bong on a hit show that stuff goes away” If all this annoys die star he’s not letting oh Simon jokes that he asked ABC to speed “I don’t have anything bad to say about ABC" Carey said “I never will I only tried to things up by running the season’s episodes in split screen showing two in one half-ho' do a good show After that it’s out of my “On die other hand it was a little bit liberhands” Simon said the show was effectively ating’’ he said ’Thoe were no notes coming orphaned as is often the case in the creative from the network They didn’t even bother community because the people who ' it lost their jobs They didn’t seem coming to die V “If the people who put die show on die air at really concerned about the character arcs or about promoting the characters they dunk ABC were still there we’d still be on the air ' J wants to see” America said an and we’d still be a hit” he “It’s just Producers had a little fun took some : embarrassment to new regimes when other chances Parts of some episodes were shot in a shows do better than the ones they put cm die fonnat ’Without an audience formatbel instead of die ABC entertainment's most r&qnt manage- j meitt team Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne lost v w audience seen on most sitcoms' their jobs last month Longtime fiuu will enjoy watching the jourWhile ratings may have justified die show’s ney taken by some rtf the characters during die final season Carey must decide whether or not eventual burial the timing is still odd It’s not to marry his pregnant girlfriend in the show’s as if ABC is swirhming in hits the schedule final episode has so many holes that there would seem to be After the final taping Carey gave cast and when ABC is payroom for Carey particularly crew members a satellite radio and photo colaround for show million the an $3 episode ing lage as a gift Simon couldn’t remember who This would seem to be a deal ripe for a reneif anyone was there from ABC gotiation: ABC agrees to pay Carey and Warn- long-runni-ng of-“Th-e CATHY urn (UN you LET Y SEE THIS?? 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North has a textbook takeout double South’s advance shows 8 points West is tempted to bid two diamonds Nit his suit is too poor North's three-sparebid is a very strong action e raise would Even a invite game indicating 8 points So three spades promises 19 or 20 points four-spa- BY Rcyalflush Plumbing one-spa- de 0-- yovr bottom is tops with us de Paul quickly regretted having had Ma brother chooaa hw own raadfog for tha wadding youth-obsess- ed Other new releases: “Girl With a Pearl Earring” — Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson star in Peter Webber's sumptuous drama about 17th century painter Vermeer and a servant girl who becomes the subject of one of his most famous works The DVD includes a Sundance Channel “Anatomy of a Scene” segment DVD $2698 “Elephant” — Loosely based on the Columbine shootings filmmaker Gus Van Sant’s harrowing chronicle of a school day gone horribly wrong won the top prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival The DVD has a' featurctte and includes widescreen making-o- f and versions DVD $2795 full-scre- en at bridge By Phillip Alder DSCOVNT THEY OUT Helen Mirren and Julie Walters lead the cast in last year’s comic drama inspired by the true story of women in their 40s 50s and 60s from Win the prim British Women’s Institute who crcat- -' ed an international stir by posing nude for a charity calendar Along with deleted footage featurctte the DVD and a has a glimpse into the real calendar girls at the heart of the story who became role models and heroes for aging women disenfranchised by a culture DVD $2999Disney) two-spad- 17-1- de South has an easy raise to game West takes three club tricks then probably shifts to the heart nine Etedarcr has to play the trump suit without loss This seems to require finding West with So South wins trick four with his heart 10 then plays a spade to dummy's queen If East contributes the six declarer will have no option but to cash dummy’s spade ace East must drop the spade nine or 10 Does East have the doubleton If so declarer must return to his hand and lead the spade jack to pin the 10 or nine Here though this results in the loss of both a spade trick and the fall for iL but East must give it a try 6NEA2004 RortT A A Q S 4 ¥ KQ J I A king-dou-biet- A K 10 7 East West A K1 ¥t A A 10 ¥711 4 J 1 7 A KQ s a i 10 Atm South A J I 7 ¥ A It A Q I JI S S 4 4 10-nin- contract Probably South shouldn’t Dealer West Vulnerable: South 1 4 A A East-We-st West North East 1 DbL Pass Paw 4 Pus Pus IA Pasa Past Opening lead: A A |