One foot here and one foot there: Nicole Sullivan plays Twister® with Drew Carey.

"See? Isn't everything funnier after six of these margaritas?" - Nicole Sullivan (as Diane Pulaski) on The Drew Carey Show

Per usual for sitcoms, the situation is delineated within the first three minutes of the show. Carey goes to a convention in Las Vegas, runs into Luther from Coach [the show originally aired as part of ABC's "Viva Las Vegas" night in which characters from different ABC sitcoms airing that night run into each other in Las Vegas], and promptly loses all his money at the craps table. Carey winds up in the fountain outside the casino, looking for coins, when he meets Diane Pulaski (Nicole Sullivan), a waitress who works at the casino. She offers to show him how to have fun in Vegas without gambling, and Carey obligingly agrees. Diane gets Drew drunk and takes him to a cheesy wedding parlor (where wedding ceremonies are performed by ministers dressed up like dead rock stars) where Drew agrees to get married, naively thinking the marriage ceremony and certificate are not legally binding (they are). Drew, of course, is apoplectic when he realizes Diane has cozened him in this way, but once she tells him the truth - that she is divorced, is battling her ex-husband for custody of her two kids, and that she stands a better chance of winning if she is married - Carey, always the nice guy, agrees to go along with the sham marriage for a few days (even though she says she will tear up the marriage certificate if he refuses), long enough to convince (supposedly) a social worker that they are a real family.

The plot of this episode is far-fetched, even by today's standards. Even assuming that the social worker is initially convinced by the couple's act, won't he find out the truth when they get a divorce only a few days later? And for that matter, are we to believe that Carey gambled away even his credit cards in Vegas? Once the viewer suspends disbelief, however, watching the show becomes quite enjoyable. After all, in twenty-two minutes a week, even an excellent sitcom such as The Drew Carey Show is capable of doing little more than providing us with a heavily distorted view of reality. Still it seems highly unlikely that even a relatively naive person from Cleveland would go along with this woman's scheme. The plot moves along smoothly, though, and the supporting cast, especially Ryan Stiles and Christa Miller, are well-represented.

Diane (Nicole Sullivan) explains why she tricked Drew into marrying her.

Nicole Sullivan's character, of course, is only one of a series of women that over the years have inveigled the congenial Carey. Few, if any, however, have put forth as laudable an effort as Sullivan does here, from her first appearance in the fountain scene to the closing moments of the show. She has no trouble making this rogue figure into a likeable character, in spite of the fact that one could easily be highly suspicious of her motives. [As the episode unfolds, we discover that Diane is from Cleveland, but at initially those with a suspicious train of thought might think she was lying to gain Carey's confidence. Furthermore, how far in advance did she resolve to trick Carey into getting married? Are those even her children? And if she's willing to enter into a fraudulent marriage to retain custody of them, just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants?] There does seem to be some on-screen chemistry between the two characters. For example, when Sullivan describing how they should act in front of the social worker, says "[d]on't be surprised if I touch you and kiss you as if we're a couple," Carey quips "[d]on't be surprised if I enjoy it." Indeed, the viewer might even be tempted to speculate, "what if" - but ultimately Sullivan's character is too wacky to be taken seriously as a love interest. It is precisely this wackiness, however, that contributes to a large extent to the high quality of this show. Sullivan probably does not deserve all the credit here - the writing is very good, and Carey and his supporting cast did quite well. But Nicole Sullivan was extremely funny in this episode, and I'd be hard-pressed to think of an actress who could have done a better job with this role. Overall, this will probably rank in most fan's minds as one of the most memorable, if not one of the best, Nicole Sullivan guest appearances.

Video clips (in QuickTime 4.0 format):

• Nicole Sullivan's first appearance in the show [fountain scene] (22 seconds; 1.2 MB)
• Drew finding out that Diane has tricked her (1 minute 14 seconds; 2.0 MB)
• Diane and Drew playing Twister® (42 seconds; 1.2 MB)