One of the most popular shows of the 90s was The Drew Carey Show, but it is one of the harder to find TV shows because it had not been streaming online. Now, for the first time, it is streaming free online.
Recently The Drew Carey Show popped up on Plex as part of a massive group of new content from Warner Bros. Discovery. This marks the first time the show is streaming for free online legally.
Recently Drew Carey opened up about why it’s been hard to find online. “It’s not in syndication … because of music rights…,” Drew Carey said to TV Insider. “We’re going to try to change that around and get it back out there.”
Rights issues for streaming are more common than you may think when it comes to music. Recently the launch of the 90s hit anime show Evangelion saw its classic credits music replaced because of similar issues.
Many 90s and earlier shows had complicated rights deals that didn’t envision a world where most TV shows streamed online. That’s why, for example, many older Disney Channel shows like Bug Juice are not available for streaming on Disney+. Going back and getting rights for music for those older shows is difficult.
This need to get new rights for some shows has delayed their release on streaming and left many fans without an easy way to view them, especially when DVDs are often no longer being manufactured. Now when new shows are made, streaming rights are built into the contracts, helping avoid these issues.