The most frustrating thing about television shows being released on DVD, besides paying for what you can get for free with a little TiVo ingenuity, is simply having to wait for them to be repackaged and released.

The Drew Carey Show is a fine example of this frustration. The first season of the show is just being put out twelve years after its debut. That’s a confounding amount of time for one of the best sitcoms in at least the last quarter century. Of course it’s true that releasing TV shows on DVD wasn’t exactly in vogue when the show debuted. Still there is no reason the first season couldn’t have been released several years ago.

While the show got much better, specifically after Craig Ferguson joined the cast as Carey’s unscrupulous boss Nigel Wick, the debut season serves its purpose in establishing the hilariously surreal nine-to-five world that the show is set in. In addition, Drew Carey’s performances also became stronger after the show enjoyed some success.

The strongest part about the show is easily the cast and the chemistry of their ensemble acting. The bumbling, wet-brained characters of Lewis Kiniski (Diedrich Bader) and Oswald Lee Harvey (Ryan Stiles) represent the best comedy duo since The Odd Couple and are pulled off with true comic genius. The first season also establishes Christa Miller’s character of the fiery Kate O’Brian. The relations between Carey and Miller’s characters provide a large portion of the show's plot and the show really lost its steam when Miller left to join the cast of Scrubs.

The best episodes of the first season are easily “Drew and Mrs. Louder,” which showcases Carey’s senile, tough-as-nails boss Mrs. Louder (Nan Martin), and “Drew’s New Assistant,” that zeroes in on the character of Mimi Bobeck, whose constant battles with Carey’s character is another large plot point of the show.

The DVD release includes two lackluster “special features” including a documentary of cast reflections called “Life inside a Cubical” and a spoof called “1-900-MIMI.” Hopefully the subsequent seasons will provide more interesting extras.

I can’t really imagine anyone not being familiar with The Drew Carey Show but if for some reason you have been living in a cave and missed this comedic gem, this first season is sure to get you hooked.