does not realise Kate is talking about him and believes he may have lost his chance to be with her. He then decides that during Steve and Mimi's party, he will try to make Kate fall out of love with the mystery man. At the party, Drew nervously waits for Kate, while Steve is worried about the men making the ladies feel uncomfortable with their bad behavior. However, his fears are swept aside when the women hire a male stripper. Drew asks Lewis to tell him who Kate is in love with. Lewis tries to give Drew a series of clues, but Drew does not get them. When Kate arrives, Drew believes that she is in love with Wayne Brady and tries to confront him. Drew's co-worker, Eugene (Colin Mochrie), sings a love song to him, but Drew thinks he is singing it to Kate. Eugene eventually kisses Drew, revealing his crush on him. When Drew finally gets the chance to speak with Kate, he tells Oswald that he does not feel that he is ready to be in a serious relationship with her because he has behaved badly. Production Conception and development On July 28, 1999, Don Aucoin from The Boston Globe reported that The Drew Carey Show would film a live, partly unscripted episode in November that year. Aucoin said the cast would also take part in improvisational comedy during the episode and it would be performed three times for different time zones. Executive producer and series co-creator, Bruce Helford commented "It's live, there's gonna be improv, anything can happen. I just hope they don't tap the keg until the third show." Since The Drew Carey Show began airing in 1995, several stunts were implemented to keep the show "fresh". Helford believed television had become stale and he and Carey wanted to "shake it up" with their various stunt episodes. Helford also described the live episode as having a similar feel to the live television shows from the past. Carey joked that the live episode meant he and the other cast members did not have to do multiple retakes. He added that he was doing it for the "publicity, ratings and for kicks". Helford was inspired by the NBC medical drama ER, who aired their own live episode two years prior. When he approached Carey with the idea for the episode, Carey was initially dismissive, until Helford informed