coma or die. Drew's friends surround him with his favourite things, try talking to him again and Ed (Joe Walsh) plays Drew's favourite song. Steve allows the doctor to remove Drew from the respirator and Drew's fantasy world disappears. A heavenly guide (Ben Stein) appears and tells Drew he has passed the test to get into heaven, but he must decide if he wants to go to now or go back to living. As Drew heads towards the light, Mimi goes into labor. Production In January 2001, Drew Carey told The Charleston Gazette's Ellen Gray that during the February sweeps, his character would be going into a coma, while Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney) would give birth to Drew's nephew. Carey said Drew's coma would feature special effects and Dan Doran, a publicist for the show, added "When he slips into the coma, he kind of goes into this fantasy world where nothing goes wrong." Terry Morrow from the Daily News thought "Drew's in a Coma" had a simple concept compared to previous stunt episodes, which the show employed to keep things fresh. Carey said such episodes gave people "a reason to watch." The episode was the first of "a two-part event" and a story arc with long-running consequences for the character. "Drew's in a Coma" was written by Les Firestein and directed by Gerry Cohen. The fantasy sequences see Drew fly above Cleveland, party with beautiful women, enjoy a "pizza tree and beer fountain" and play Trivial Pursuit with historical figures William Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln. Meanwhile, his friends try to save him and the episode ends with a cliffhanger as Drew goes towards the light. However, Morrow wrote that there were no plans to kill Drew off, as Carey had another year to go on his contract. "Drew's in a Coma" featured guest appearances from actor Ben Stein and musician Joe Walsh. The show's regular theme tune was replaced with The Smiths' "Girlfriend in a Coma". Reception In its original broadcast, "Drew's in a Coma" finished in 26th place in the ratings for the week of February 5–11, 2001. The episode had a Nielsen rating of 9.6, meaning that it was seen by 9.6% of the nation's estimated households. It was the third highest-rated show on ABC that week, following episodes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The Practice. The episode received mostly positive attention from critics.