I agree and it's difficult to keep a show that it supposed to fun afloat when the central character begins to become unlikeable. When Drew's character started going south, he seemed to change as well. When you'd see him on talk shows and other interview situations, he just seemed different. Can't put my finger on it, but there was a change.
"It's not the ups and downs that make life difficult, it's the jerks." Charles Chaplin

Dark is a good word. There was definitely something weird about the tone of the show toward the end. A lot of it had to do with Drew slowly becoming an unlikable person, which is the opposite of the direction in which the show began.
See you in hell, candy boys!

The odd thing is that the last 6 or 8 episodes of the series that were just burnt off during the summer in a back to back episodes type of way were a pleasant surprise. It just kinda flipped a default switch back to goofy, stress free type comedy seen in the early seasons. It was like they could do whatever they wanted because ABC just wanted to get the show over with and didn't even want to be bothered to worry about what content would be produced at the end. It just kind of disappeared at the end and most early fans missed a bit of a quick, nice finish to the show. It's too bad the show got away from what made it great. Goofs trying to get through each day. It turned into this dark (attempt at) comedy, over the top, bizarro world soap opera/Jerry Springer characters TV show that went off the rails. AndI don't know where Drew Carey's thought processes forked off to. I was a big fan from way before the DCS, but somewhere along the line, something changed during the run of the show. Can't point my finger on it. Was a great run for awhile though. The 1st Drew/Mimi scene each week became appointment TV for a few seasons that were not to be missed.
"It's not the ups and downs that make life difficult, it's the jerks." Charles Chaplin

S9 is an improvement over 8, but yeah.
Honestly, S6-7 aren't that great either.

Yeah, the story lines got progressively more outlandish and Drew became an almost completely unsympathetic character by the end of the show. The last two seasons are actually kind of depressing to watch.
See you in hell, candy boys!

Only season 1 is on dvd. Season 2-9 probably won't be released on DVD, so I watched old re-runs recorded from TBS.

Where did you get the entire series from? I've only been able to find season 1 on the internet.

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Just finished 8 and he hasn't gotten too unbearably political yet, but from what I remember season 9 is where everything is going to hit the fan.
Edit: As far as the gun episode, he was annoying in that ep, but I felt that episode wasn't the start of a political trend, more of an isolated incident.

Drew also turns into a conservative monster in seasons 8-9. Being pro-guns, complaining about "liberal media" etc.

Some other things:
I don't mind Kate's replacement too much. I'm glad she wasn't immediately a central focus of plots.
As stupid as Nicki's return was, I was sad to see her go.
Makeup-less Mimi - Takes a lot of getting used to, and it's odd now because she and Steve have a decidedly non-comedic storyline. I feel like they should've addressed her new look on the show (i.e. Neverendingstore.com wouldn't allow it due to their appearance standards or something).
The new office doesn't bother me, but I don't understand why they moved Drew's desk so far to the background. The new bosses do nothing for me, though I do like Kaitlin Olson as Traylor.
I really like the theme songs. I like how the credits are different from ep to ep. I especially liked the Wide World of Sports one with the instrumental theme.
Lewis is still the funniest character.