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Everybody Loves Raymond

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Everybody Loves Raymond
File:Everybodylovesray.jpg
Ray (Ray Romano), Robert (Brad Garrett), and Frank (Peter Boyle)
Created byPhilip Rosenthal
StarringRay Romano
Patricia Heaton
Brad Garrett
Doris Roberts
Peter Boyle
Madylin Sweeten
Sullivan Sweeten
Sawyer Sweeten
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes210
Production
Running time30 Minutes
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 13, 1996 –
May 16, 2005

Everybody Loves Raymond, sometimes referred to in the abbreviated form Raymond, was a popular and long-running American sitcom that was produced from 1996 to 2005 and broadcast on CBS.

The show revolved around the life of Ray Barone, a Newsday sportswriter from Lynbrook, Long Island who lives with his wife, Debra, his daughter, Ally, and his identical twin sons, Geoffrey and Michael. Unfortunately for them, Ray's rather quirky and brash parents, as well as his self-doubting brother Robert, never give Ray or his family a moment of peace, and he finds himself and his wife being constantly dragged into their myriad squabbles.

Cast

Raymond Barone (Ray Romano)

Although he got special treatment from his mother, as a child Ray had a difficult relationship with both his father and brother. His brother Robert grew jealous because Ray would get Hot Wheels for Christmas, while Robert got shoes, etc. The jealousy remained into adulthood. Ray's father Frank never had a serious relationship with either of his children, often spending time at work or the Lodge. The only time Frank was a true father was when they watched the game on TV or went to the games. Ray became infatuated with sports and decided to pursue a career in sports writing.

Once Ray got the job as sports writer for newspaper Newsday, he proposed to his girlfriend Debra. The two had a daughter named Ally and twin boys, Michael and Geoffrey, originally named Mathew and Gregory. Ray never had a gift for parenting skills, preferring golf over day-to-day parenting. The couple would often argue over minor matters, whether it's about a suitcase that needs to be moved or a new can opener. They do agree on one thing, Ray's parents Frank and Marie are a nuisance to their everyday life. They live across the street and neither Marie's constant criticism nor Frank's oblique comments are appreciated. Ray's parents even went as far as to back a car into Ray's house by accident. This resulted in Ray finally speaking his mind to his mother and father over paying for wallpaper.

Ray enjoys playing golf with his brother Robert and several of his friends, including Andy, Gianni, and Bernie. Ray often complains about Debra never being in the mood- even bringing home an adult board game, which was discovered by the rest of the family. Ray is the protagonist of the show and most of the show's plots focus on his lifestyle (though a lot of Robert's life is depicted).

Throughout the series, Romano has developed the habit of casting family members for minor characters. In various seasons, we've seen his father playing Frank's friend Albert, his wife as a disturbed parent and daughter as both the flower girl at Ray and Debra's wedding and as the recuring character Molly, the infamous Peggy's daughter. Also, most of the main characters are based on actual Romano family members, such as Robert who is a mix of Ray's two brothers in real life.

Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton)

The henpeck wife of sportswriter Ray Barone, Debra grew up in Connecticut to loving, caring, and rich parents Warren and Lois, who have traveled all around the world since Debra left them. Debra is a very easily upset, complaining, judgmental woman who is always on Ray's back. She glares at and picks on Ray in nearly every episode. When Debra Barone met Carrie Heffernan, from another CBS hit, The King of Queens, it made for an interesting King of Queens episode and Debra quickly found a reason to become upset with Ray after noticing Carrie was upset with her husband.

After learning she was pregnant with twins, Debra brought up the issue that she and Ray would need to move in a bigger home, as they would now have three children. Once Ray's parents learned of this, Frank showed the married couple a nice home across the street from two lovely neighbors, Marie and Frank. Ray at first didn't want to buy the home, but Debra convinced him and they soon realized what a living hell they would be in.

Debra often gossips about Ray's family behind their backs because of all their annoying quirks. She mostly gossips about Marie who gives her the hardest time. Marie often barges into Debra's home insinuating how bad of a housewife and homemaker she is. Most of Marie's nasty insinuations are aimed at Debra's cooking. However, Marie has always been a class-A cook and Debra is notorious for making lousy food. Her one decent dish, lemon chicken, is the only one that Ray ever liked. Though she made one good meal once, it was soon revealed that was the same meal Marie made when Frank proposed, and Debra went back to her habit of making lemon chicken. Other things Marie criticizes is how Debra takes care of the kids and keeps the house. Marie often rewashes the kids and spends her days cleaning Debra's house all over again.

Debra enjoys reading before going to bed and is also active in the school PTA. Under all her complaining and finding things to be upset about, Debra really does love her family and yes, even Ray and Marie. Debra even defended Ray once when an old hag was bullying him around. Debra and Marie are known to take each other's sides on a lot of issues as well. Debra is a very caring mother and a loving wife.

Robert Barone (Brad Garrett)

Most of the jokes are aimed at how Robert is never able to find success and how his love life never picks up. Robert was conceived out of wedlock; one episode features Robert's discovery of that. Standing at 6' 8 1/2", he is the tallest Barone. It may be noted that he has a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, and this habit is often the center of many a joke. Robert is a caring uncle and still deeply cares for little brother Raymond, no matter how much jealousy he has.

After divorcing his first wife Joanne, Robert became a workaholic and was acknowledged by the NYPD for never being absent one day of his career. Robert was an exceptional cop, once stopping an armed robbery at Nemo's Pizza while Ray hid under a table; in another episode he is gored in the backside by a bull, forcing him to move back into his parents' house for several episodes. Robert's work partner is an African-American woman named Judy; she memorably introduced him to the dance club scene in one episode. Robert's diverse skills as a police officer even got him an interview with the FBI; However, his mother interfered in the interview process, and he was passed over for the position (though the FBI interviewer admitted that she had little to do with the actual denial.) He soon pursued early retirement to become an alarms salesman, but in the end returned to the NYPD as a lieutenant.

Robert dated Debra's best friend Amy MacDougall for several years and they have broken up several times. When Robert went with the Barones to a family trip in Italy, he had a small connection to an Italian girl named Stefania, who later immigrated to America, leading to one of his break-ups with Amy. Another occurred when Amy discovered Robert had been considering getting back together with his ex-wife. After a bad date with yet another woman, Robert ran into Amy in a bar and they soon got back together and married in 2003. In 2004 they purchased Frank and Marie's home, but they had to welcome Marie and Frank back in when they were kicked out of a retirement community 85 miles away.

Robert is also very jealous of his brother Raymond, who was favored by their mother, and also earned great success in life, becoming a sportswriter and winning many awards. Though they have this sibling rivalry and Robert's jealousy can confound matters, Ray and Robert are easily each other's closest friend.

Marie Barone (Doris Roberts)

The very insinuative mother of Raymond and Robert and wife to Frank, Marie is an Italian housemom who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and bringing up a nurturing and caring family.

Except for Frank, everyone in the family has a hard time standing up to Marie because of her guilt-tripping, especially Debra. One of Marie's most common acts is to be helpful and sweet but in the most insulting way, especially with her daughter-in-law Debra. Marie often barges into Debra's house and gives her cooking tips. Whenever something smells strange, she'll immediately ask if Debra is cooking anything. Marie also criticizes Debra's housekeeping and often rewashes all of the clothes and vacuums the house even though Debra's done it directly before her.

Not only does Marie have an insulting way of being nice, but she has a history of making matters worse. One of the worst things she ever did was accidentally back up her car into Ray and Debra's home and she even once refused to speak to Debra for weeks, which resulted in several episodes interlocking with each other. A close second is when she stands up to object at Robert's wedding, to ensure he is marrying Amy for love, and not because he's being pressured.

Frank Barone (Peter Boyle)

Frank Barone has lived in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York for most of his life and is of Italian heritage. His father (originally named Albert but was later renamed Joe) came to America and changed his name to Barone, causing much confusion when Raymond and Ally attempted to contact Frank's aunt Serena, still in Italy. The actual family name is unknown.

Frank is the one member of the Barone family who will unleash anything that is on his mind. Always derogatory and very derisive, Frank insults Marie and even uses names like Nancy and Shirley to describe men (including his sons) who are not macho enough. He often hangs out at the Lodge, where lodge policy (or tradition; it is not definitively explained) is to swim naked in the pool. Refusing to pay for any kind of repair, Frank also considers himself a general handyman and attempts to make repairs around Ray's household (often with disastrous results).

Frank's pastimes are eating and watching TV. He proclaims Marie is his cook and she often gives in, cooking him things from grilled cheese to ham, but once Ray comes over Frank has to wait till Ray gets his hands on the food. Frank will usually eat anything, even if Debra cooked it. Frank often watches television with his pants unzipped and that has become a running gag. When Marie temporarily moved in with Ray and Debra, Frank rented the Arnold Schwarzenegger collection and discovered salsa.

Frank's behavior often results in many people disliking him. Some of Frank's behavior include keeping score at his granddaughter's t-ball game, holding a record breaking football for ransom, and getting insider information on sporting events from Ray and betting on them. Despite his transgressions, Frank is a very passionate man and has a passion for dancing. He also deeply cares for Marie as he bursted out when she said they had a "loveless marriage.", as well as his family. Some of Frank's more tender moments involve taking the fall for Debra when Marie loses a sentimental item or handing Ray money for the zoo to take his children. During a moment of father-son bonding, Raymond and Robert discover that their grandfather was a physically abusive disciplinarian towards Frank, and that Frank had vowed never to be like him with his own children. This cast their father's abrasive and derisive behavior towards them into a new light, and drew the trio imperceptibly closer.

The cast often makes jokes about Frank being fat and bald as well as the way he smells. He brushes these jokes off with complete acceptance of his slovenly behaviour and his trademark "Holy crap!"

Amy MacDougall-Barone (Monica Horan)

Amy is Debra's friendly best friend and dated Robert for several years on and off. When she learned Robert was considering getting back together with his ex-wife and had also been seeing Stefania during a family vacation in Italy, she was furious and walked out on him. This caused problems, as both Amy and Robert wanted to get back together.

After briefly dating Gianni, Amy was single until a waiter tripped and dropped a tray of food all over her. Robert was in that bar that night and they got back together. Their relationship was fixed and they married in 2003. Robert bought Frank and Marie's home in 2004, but they were forced to allow them back in when Frank and Marie were kicked out of their condo 85 miles away.

Amy was a virgin for more than 36 years and she was finally ready to give it up for Robert. Her parents, Henry "Hank" and Patricia "Pat," are very religious and old-fashioned traditionalist protestants, astonished when their son Peter told them how Robert took away Amy's virginity. At first Amy's family and Robert's family had a total dislike for each other, resulting in a small Holy War, but they mended fences after Robert and Amy's wedding and occasionally visit each other during the holidays.

Monica Horan, the actress who plays Amy, is producer and co-creater, Phil Rosenthal's, real-life wife. Rosenthal had the idea to use his wife as Robert's love interest when the cast wondered what it would be like if Robert had a girl that Marie actually likes.

Supporting cast

  • Alexandra (Ally) Barone (Madylin Sweeten), Ray and Debra's eldest child and only daughter.
  • Geoffrey and Michael Barone (Sawyer Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten), Ray and Debra's identical twin sons.
  • Hank MacDougall (Fred Willard), Amy's father, is an austere, religious family man.
  • Pat MacDougall (Georgia Engel), Amy's mother, a polite, soft-spoken woman who enjoys jigsaw puzzles. She has secretly smoked cigarettes for almost 20 years.
  • Peter MacDougall (Chris Elliott), Amy's brother, is an eccentric comic book-obsessed geek who oftentimes tries to get the Barone family into some sort of trouble. For example, the meeting of the MacDougals and the Barones, Ray's forced second attempt at throwing Robert a bachelor party and Robert and Amy's wedding, to name a few.

Recurring characters

Some of the returning characters, as well as many walk-on roles, have been played by various cast members' families.

  • Parker, Debra (Patricia Heaton)'s real-life husband. Parker is often seen showing Ray up as a father and Ray makes jokes that Debra wishes she married him.
  • Albert, Ray Barone/Romano's real-life father. Albert is a lodge friend of Frank and has been seen in various lodge related episodes.
  • Molly, Ray Barone/Romano's real-life daughter. Molly is Ally's best friend but Romano's daughter was first seen as the flower girl at Ray and Debra's wedding.
  • Amy, Phil Rosenthal's (co-creator) real-life wife. Amy was first introduced as Debra's friend from her old P.R. days and later married Robert after many breakups and reunions.

Episodes

See the full list of episodes.

Show background

File:Everybodylovesray1000.jpg
Debra (Patricia Heaton), between Amy (Monica Horan) and Marie (Doris Roberts)

Based on the real-life experiences of Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond premiered on September 13, 1996, on CBS. The show was produced by HBO, Worldwide Pants (owned by David Letterman) and Where's Lunch?. It originally held the Friday-at-8 time slot, which is traditionally known for its poor ratings. Everybody Loves Raymond was no different. CBS executives, however, saw a promising series and moved the show to a better slot on Monday nights, where it outshone its competition. It continued to hold that time slot until the end of its run. The series finale was broadcast on May 16, 2005, though old episodes are still rerun in syndication.


Robert and Amy's wedding

The episode that could be reasonably argued to be the biggest moment on the show, while not necessarily the highest rated, was the May 19, 2003 episode in which Robert married his long-time on-again, off-again love, Amy MacDougall. With the marriage came a slew of new recurring characters, including Amy's parents and brother. However, a rumored spin-off featuring Robert and Amy never materialized.


DVD Releases

DVD Name
Ep #
Release dates
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
The Complete 1st Season 22 September 14 2004 January 17 2005 December 16 2004
The Complete 2nd Season 25 December 14 2004 July 4 2005 April 27 2005
The Complete 3rd Season 26 May 3 2005 January 16 2006 July 12 2005
The Complete 4th Season 24 September 13 2005 May 1 2006 April 5 2006
The Complete 5th Season 25 December 6 2005 July 3 2006 July 5 2006
The Complete 6th Season 24 May 9 2006 October 2 2006 N/A
The Complete 7th Season 25 September 19 2006 N/A N/A
The Complete 8th Season 25 December 19 2006 N/A N/A

U.S. Television Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were Eastern & Pacific

With the exception of the 2004-2005 season, the ratings data seen in this table is from Nielsen Media Research which was published in a May 15, 2005 USA Today article.[1]

Season Timeslot Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1st Friday 8:30PM
(September 13, 1996 to
February 28, 1997)

Monday 8:30PM
(March 3, 1997 to
April 7, 1997) 		September 13, 1996 April 7, 1997 1996-1997 #82 10.6
2nd Monday 8:30PM September 22, 1997 May 18, 1998 1997-1998 #33 13.3
3rd Monday 9:00PM September 21, 1998 May 24, 1999 1998-1999 #11 15.5
4th September 20, 1999 May 22, 2000 1999-2000 #12 17.1
5th October 2, 2000 May 21, 2001 2000-2001 #6 19.1
6th September 24, 2001 May 13, 2002 2001-2002 #6 20.0
7th September 23, 2002 May 19, 2003 2002-2003 #9 18.6
8th September 22, 2003 May 24, 2004 2003-2004 #10 17.4
9th September 20, 2004 May 16, 2005 2004-2005 #10Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page). 17.4Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).


Trivia

  • In the pilot episode, the twins were named Matthew and Gregory because of Ray Romano's twins of the same names. Further episodes had the twins named Michael and Geoffrey.
  • In an unusual turn for such a long-running show, every episode featured a single plotline followed throughout both acts. There were no subplots.
  • Amy's brother was originally introduced as "Russell", the owner of a comic book shop who was played by comedian Paul Reubens in a one-time appearance. When the character reappeared, his name was Peter and was played by Chris Elliott. This was a rare lapse in the show's continuity.
  • In early seasons, Kevin James frequently appeared as one of Raymond's friends. Kevin James later assumed the title role in his own sitcom, The King of Queens. Romano and Heaton guest-starred as the Barones on The King of Queens, despite the fact that James was playing a different character.
  • Although Robert Barone is four years older than Ray Barone, Ray Romano is three years older than Brad Garrett.
  • Like Robert Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Romano has a brother who works for the New York City Police Department.
  • Before becoming involved with comedy full-time, Ray Romano had a daytime job delivering futon mattresses. In the show, Raymond meets Debra while delivering a futon mattress to her apartment.
  • Monica Horan, who plays Amy on Everybody Loves Raymond, is married to Philip Rosenthal, the show's executive producer and creator.
  • On an episode of The Simpsons, Ray Romano voiced a character named Ray Magini. The character referred to Everybody Loves Raymond. In another episode, Mad Magazine stayed up all night thinking of the title "Everybody Hates Raymond".
  • Chris Rock spoofed the show's title for his own show called Everybody Hates Chris.
  • Frank and Marie live at 319 Fowler. There actually is a Fowler Avenue in Lynbrook, Long Island. However the addresses do not go as high as 319.
  • Debra's maiden name is Whalen.
  • The exterior shots of the Barone households were actually located in Merrick, Long Island.

Syndication

Awards & Nominations

Awards Won

Emmy Awards:

  • Outstanding Comedy Series (2003, 2005) 2 wins
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Ray Romano (2002)
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Patricia Heaton (2000-01) 2 wins
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Brad Garrett (2002-03, 2005) 3 wins
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Doris Roberts (2001-03, 2005) 4 wins
  • Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Baggage" Tucker Cawley (2003) 1 win

Screen Actors Guild:

  • Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2003)

Writers Guild:

Award Nominations

Emmy Awards:

Golden Globe Awards:

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Comedy Ray Romano (2000-01) 2 nominations

Screen Actors Guild:

  • Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1999-2000, 2002, 2004-06) 6 nominations
  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Ray Romano (2000, 2002, 2003-2005) 5 nominations
  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Brad Garrett (2004)
  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Peter Boyle (2002, 2004) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Patricia Heaton (2002-2006) 5 nominations
  • Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Doris Roberts (2004-05) 2 nominations


References

  1. ^ Keveney, Bill (May 15, 2005). "'Raymond': Sweet run, and now, sweet dreams". USA Today.


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