His sitcom's nine-year run didn't end under the best of circumstances. It would have undoubtedly been canceled after seven seasons because of low ratings, but ABC had signed a contract with Warner Bros. (the studio that produced the sitcom) to keep it in production through Season 9 — and ABC burned off episodes from the past two seasons during the summer months.

Carey makes it clear, however, that he's not complaining about the shows that made him rich and famous.

"I had it really good. There were challenging days and not challenging days," he said. "But I'm telling you, it still beat working at Denny's where I used to work. It sure beat cleaning up the hot fudge machine on the third shift, because that was your side work. It beat all that, so I'm not going to complain at all."

But he told his agents, "From now on, I don't want to do anything that's work. I don't want to do anything just for the money. If I do something, it has to be fun to me, it has to be cool, it has to be something I would enjoy doing."

(That sounds like common sense from someone who's made a whole lot of money, but all you have to do is glance around the world of show business to see how infrequently this happens.)

And Carey found something fun like "Power of 10" and "The Price Is Right." Carey said he was "intrigued" by "Power," which gives out up to $10 million to contestants who guess correctly about the results of a nationwide poll.

(See 'The rules of the game' to learn how the game is played.)

And it's quickly obvious that Carey enjoys the game as much as the contestants. Probably more.

"I don't know the answers, so I get to play along with everybody," he said. "This isn't even work."

And, just like — dare I say it? — game-show icon Bob Barker, Carey has a genuine rapport with contestants.

"The reason why Drew is a great game-show host — the reason he jumps up and down — is Drew has genuine empathy for people," said Davies. "He really likes to see people win money."

"I want to give away that $10 million," Carey said. "Yeah. It's not my money. It's (CBS chairman) Les Moonves' money. That's why I can't wait to give it away."

Having come from a poor background before becoming a wealthy man, Carey loves the idea of giving away millions to regular people.

"'The Drew Carey Show' and 'Whose Line?' were such a blessing to me, because I made so much money off of them. I'm making money off interest and syndication money. And, like, what could somebody offer me that I would give all that up?"

And he doesn't feel like he's giving anything up to do "Power of 10," mostly because he likes the show.

"For a couple of days a week, I hang with people I really like, talk about soccer, and talk about these poll results," Carey said. "I like this kind of talk. It's something I would do anyway, and I just happen to have to do it in front of a camera for two hours a week. Big deal."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com