Drew Carey still has a long way to go before his tenure as host of “The Price is Right” is mentioned in the same breath as those of his predecessor, Bob Barker, or “Wheel of Fortune’s” Pat Sajak, but he has designs on sticking around for the long haul himself.

With Sajak leaving “Wheel of Fortune” earlier this month, Carey is now the longest-serving game show host on television, leading “The Price is Right” since 2007.

“I just show up and punch the clock and hope I have a job every day,” he told TV Insider. “I don’t think in terms of I’m the longest one. I do have a goal: I want to keep going until I die. This is my 18th season. I’ve got to get the 35 and 41 so I can catch Bob Barker and Pat Sajak.”

Carey rose through the ranks as a stand-up comedian before landing his own sitcom, “The Drew Carey Show,” which aired for nine seasons between 1995 and 2004. He also enjoyed a long run on the improv series “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” which ran for eight seasons from 1998 until 2007, the same year he took the reins on “The Price is Right.” When asked about the possibility he may one day retire, Carey said this job has been a blessing.

“Before, I was like, ‘Can I make it to five years? Can I make it to the end of my contract? Can I make it 10 years?’ The longest I’d been on TV was ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ nine years,” he said.

“Once I hit 10 years here, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s the longest I’ve ever had a job in my life. It’s such just a great part of my day, my year, my life. I can’t imagine giving it up.’ I don’t like CBS to know that (laughs), but it’s going to be a few years ’til my next contract negotiation. So maybe forget I said this. I can quit anytime I want!”

While Carey has made a home for himself on “The Price is Right,” he didn’t exactly have a high opinion of game shows while growing up.

“I watched them. I kind of looked down on it, honestly. Being a game show host, I was like, ‘Yeah, game show host …’ But it’s so much fun, and it’s great,” he said.

Carey, of course, replaced Barker on “The Price is Right” after Barker hosted the program for 35 years. Barker died in 2023 at the age of 99, and Carey said it’s important to carry on the legacy Barker created.

“Ever since the beginning, I wanted to be a good steward,” he said. “I learned that from when I was a church kid. You got to be a good steward of the Earth and good steward of your family and a good steward of your money.

“And I want to be a good steward of the show, so I don’t screw it up and wreck it from the very beginning. I was like, ‘Don’t mess it up.’ I just wanted to make sure it was always on.”

To that end, Carey has continued Barker’s tradition of ending each episode by reminding people to spay and neuter their pets, but he’s also thrown in encouraging words asking fans to look after their mental health.

“It’s important to me. I went through a rough couple of years, and I needed to put my mental health first. It was such a help for me to do that and not succumb to sadness or grief,” he said. “My therapist and my doctor helped me find tools to not go completely under. That’s all it is: tactics and tools you can learn to help your brain from not going down the drain.”

“Professional therapists and psychologists don’t have everything figured out, but they have a lot figured out,” he added. “Sometimes therapy helps. Sometimes reading a self-help book or talking to a friend. I feel better from being here. So I pass it along.”