Everybody Loves Raymond

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Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond logo.png
GenreSitcom
Comedy
Created byPhilip Rosenthal
StarringRay Romano
Patricia Heaton
Brad Garrett
Madylin Sweeten
Doris Roberts
Peter Boyle
Monica Horan
Opening theme"Everybody Loves Raymond Theme" (seasons 1–2)
"Ode to Joy" (seasons 3–5)
"Drunken Sailor" (season 6)
"Jungle Love" by Steve Miller Band (seasons 7–9)
Ending theme"Everybody Loves Raymond Theme"
Composer(s)Rick Marotta
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons9
No. of episodes210 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Production location(s)Hollywood Center Studios(season 1)
Warner Bros. Studios
Burbank, California (seasons 2–9)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production company(s)Where's Lunch
Worldwide Pants
HBO Independent Productions
DistributorKing World (2000–07)
CBS Television Distribution(2007–present)
Release
Original networkCBS
Picture format480i (4:3 SDTV) (seasons 1–3)
1080i (16:9 HDTV) (seasons 4–9)
Audio formatDolby Surround 2.0
Original releaseSeptember 13, 1996 –
May 16, 2005
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning over nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Worldwide Pants, in association with HBO Independent Productions. The cast members are Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Madylin Sweeten, and Monica Horan. Most episodes of the nine season series were filmed in front of a live studio audience, with a few exceptions.

Series overview[edit]

The show is centered on the life of an Italian-American everyman named Raymond Barone, a sportswriter for Newsday living with his family on Long Island. Beleaguered, diffident and dryly sarcastic, Raymond takes few things seriously, making jokes in nearly every situation, no matter how troubling or serious. He often avoids responsibilities around the house and with his kids, leaving this to wife, Debra.
Raymond and Debra have a daughter Ally (Alexandra) and twin sons Michael and Geoffrey (originally Matthew and Gregory in the pilot). The Barone children are regular characters but not a major focus. Raymond's parents, Marie and Frank, live across the street with older son Robert (who, later in the series, has his own apartment). All Barone relatives frequently make their presence known to the annoyance of Raymond and Debra; Debra's justifiable complaints about Raymond's overbearing family serve as one of the show's comedic elements. Out of the three unwanted visitors, Debra is particularly intimidated by Marie, an insulting, controlling, manipulative(though ultimately caring) woman who criticizes Debra passive-aggressively and praises Ray, clearly favoring him over other son "Robbie," whose birth necessitated her marriage (a fact revealed in the episode "Good Girls").
Raymond typically falls in the middle of family arguments, incapable of taking any decisive stand, especially if it might invoke his mother's disapproval. Robert, a miserable gentle giant, jealous of his younger sibling's position as favorite son and also of the success his brother has achieved both professionally and personally, is Ray's biggest rival. Robert and Raymond frequently argue like overgrown children, focusing much of their energy on picking on or one upping each other, although deep down they love each other dearly.
Frank Barone is a fiery retiree prone to directing insults and merciless put-downs at any and all targets. Largely an absentee father when the boys were growing up, Frank buries his feelings and rarely yields to sentiment. As the series progresses, however, several episodes demonstrate that the senior Barone loves his family immensely. Unlike everyone else, Frank has no problem comically criticizing Marie and often comes to Debra's defense whenever Marie comments disparagingly about their daughter-in-law.
Raymond and Debra's marriage is fraught with conflicts. Raymond prefers sports television over discussions with Debra on marital matters. Like his father, Raymond works full-time, leaving most child-rearing responsibilities to his wife; and he is often forced to help around the house. One of the show's recurring elements finds the couple having a long discussion in bed each night before going to sleep.

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Everybody Loves Raymond episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedNielsen ratings[1]
First airedLast airedRankRating

122September 13, 1996April 7, 1997N/AN/A

225September 22, 1997May 18, 1998309.2[a]

326September 21, 1998May 24, 19991110.6

424September 20, 1999May 22, 20001211.4

525October 2, 2000May 21, 2001512.6[b]

624September 24, 2001May 20, 2002412.8

725September 23, 2002May 19, 2003711.9[c]

823September 22, 2003May 24, 2004911.2[d]

916September 20, 2004May 16, 2005911.2
  1. ^ Tied with The Simpsons
  2. ^ Tied with Friends and Monday Night Football
  3. ^ Tied with Survivor
  4. ^ Tied with Monday Night Football

Characters[edit]

Main article: List of Everybody Loves Raymond characters
  • Raymond "Ray" Barone (Ray Romano) is a sportswriter for Newsday. He lives in Lynbrook, Long Island with his wife, Debra, and their three children Alexandra ("Ally"), Geoffrey, and Michael. His parents Frank & Marie and brother Robert live across the street. Raymond's character is loosely based on the real-life Romano, as he is the father of twin boys and a girl. Ray is emotionally unable to take any sort of stand on anything, especially if it brings him to any sort of conflict with his mother—the exception is when he protests about sex or some trivial matter. Raymond's mother favors him over Robert.
  • Debra (née Whelan) Barone (Patricia Heaton) is Raymond's wife, and mother of Ally, Michael and Geoffrey. As a housewife, Debra claims she is frequently overworked, underappreciated, and stressed out. This leads to her yelling and occasionally attacking inanimate objects, largely because she has to deal with all the housework and her three rambunctious children with almost no assistance or support from Raymond; additionally, she constantly puts up with Marie's intrusiveness and criticism. On frequent occasions this frustration boils over and is vented towards Raymond. While Debra has a fractious relationship with Marie, she is shown to share many tender moments with Robert, and occasionally Frank.
  • Robert Barone (Brad Garrett) is Raymond's older brother and the son of Frank and Marie. Standing at 6'8½" (2.04 m), he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, once referred to as "crazy chin." Robert is often jealous of the attention that Raymond receives from their mother, to the exclusion of his every achievement. Robert has been a New York City police officer for over 23 years (explicitly stated as 15 years early in season 1) and attains the rank of lieutenant by the end of the series. His height, appearance, and depressed demeanor are the source of much humor. However, despite his imposing size, Robert is a very skilled dancer. Divorced from first wife Joanne prior to the beginning of the series, he is frequently unlucky with women, until his on-off relationship with his girlfriend Amy McDougall finally results in marriage.
  • Marie Barone (Doris Roberts) is Raymond and Robert's mother and the wife of Frank. Intrusive, controlling, manipulative, and over-nurturing (at least with Raymond), she is a housewife who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and family. Marie and Frank live across the street from Raymond and Debra in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York which often irritates the latter couple. Marie's meddling tendencies include going through their mail, redoing their laundry, and upstaging Debra in the kitchen. She also goes to great lengths to control Robert's love life and get him to settle down and bring her more grandchildren.
  • Francis "Frank" Barone (Peter Boyle) is Raymond's father and Marie's husband, a retired bookkeeper, and registered real estate agent, with a stubborn masculine personality and no interest in personal hygiene. A United States Army veteran, Frank served in the Korean War, which he frequently brings up to everyone's annoyance. He mocks his sons' inability to handle their own personal and domestic problems; unlike his sons, he is not intimidated by Marie and disparages her regularly with little to no provocation. Although both he and Marie maintain that he only married her for her cooking, he is shown to care about her genuinely. He is a member of the Order of the Caribou Lodge, and was named Man of the Year by his fellow members.
  • Amy McDougall/Barone (Monica Horan) (recurring seasons 1-7, starring seasons 8-9) becomes Robert Barone's second wife (in season 7), and is the best friend of Debra, who introduces her to Robert. A recurring character for the first seven seasons of the series, Amy became essentially a regular cast member for the remainder of the show's run. However, Horan's name did not get added to the opening credits until the final season. Many issues cause Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being caused by Raymond, and another happening because Robert was seeing other women, one of whom was his ex-wife. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she did not do anything wrong. She was born to very religious parents who, according to Amy, "wouldn't yell if they were on fire." In real life, Horan is the wife of creator/executive producer Philip Rosenthal.
  • Alexandra "Ally" Barone (Madylin Sweeten) is the daughter of Raymond and Debra. She is the oldest of the Barone children. She is not seen much, even though she is credited in the main cast. She is said to be a better cook than her mother, and maybe someday her grandmother. In real life, Madylin is the sister of Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten.
  • Geoffrey Barone (Sawyer Sweeten) and Michael Barone (Sullivan Sweeten) are the twin sons of Raymond and Debra. Their names in the pilot were Gregory and Matthew. In real life, twins Sawyer and Sullivan are brothers of Madylin Sweeten.

Connection to The King of Queens[edit]

Kevin James was an actor and writer on Everybody Loves Raymond. Once James got his own show, The King of Queens, the two shows crossed over.
The first crossover happened on The King of Queens. In it, Ray Barone and Doug Heffernan become friends. Later on the same night, Kevin James showed up on Everybody Loves Raymond as Doug Heffernan.[2] The shows would go on to crossover several more times.
There are two continuity errors in this universe. Kevin James played a different character in earlier seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond than on The King of Queens. The second one is that Chris Elliott appeared as one character on Everybody Loves Raymond, and another on The King of Queens.

Foreign remakes[edit]

Russian version and documentary[edit]

In 2009, series creator/producer Philip Rosenthal traveled to Russia to adapt the show for local audiences. His experience was documented by a film crew and released as the documentary feature Exporting Raymond.[3] The Russian version is titled (in Russian)Воронины[4] (Voronin's Family, a Russian surname sounding similar to the family's name, The Barones).[5]

Other versions[edit]

The show was adapted in Poland under the title Wszyscy kochają Romana (Everybody Loves Roman).[6] It was picked up by TVN and premiered on September 2, 2011. However, due to low ratings (less than 2 million viewers a week), the station put the show on hiatus after four episodes.[7]
In Egypt, a sitcom called El Bab Fil Bab (الباب في الباب ), which means "Close Doors" in Arabic, is produced by Sony Pictures Television, translating Everybody Loves Raymond with minor changes to adapt the Eastern Culture. The first season aired in the month of Ramadan2011; second season in 2012.
A Dutch remake called Iedereen is gek op Jack (Everybody is crazy about Jack) premiered in 2011. The second season started airing in March 2012.
An Israeli remake called "Mishpacah Lo Bochrim" (משפחה לא בוחרים) (You Can't Choose Your Family) premiered in October 2012, and was cancelled after 10 episodes aired.
A pilot for a British remake, titled The Smiths, has been commissioned to be produced for BBC One and was filmed in May 2013 at Elstree Studios. Lee Mack wrote and starred in the pilot, as Michael Smith. The pilot also starred Catherine Tate, Tom Davis, Gwen Taylorand David Troughton.[8]
An Indian remake, titled "Sumit Sambhal Lega" ("सुमित संभाल लेगा" – "Sumit Will Handle Everything"), premiered on August 31, 2015 on STAR Plus.
A Czech remake called "Rudyho Má Každý Rád" (Everybody Loves Rudy) premiered on ČT1 on 31.08.2015, comprising 12 episodes.[9]

Reruns[edit]

The show reruns in syndication on various channels, such as TBS, TV Land, and in most TV markets on local stations.[10] The show is still broadcast regularly in the UK. From 2000 to 2007, King World distributed the show for off-network syndication and Warner Bros. International Television handled international distribution. In 2007, CBS Television Distribution took over King World's distribution. CBS only owns American syndication rights; ancillary rights are controlled by HBO and Warner Bros. Television (WBIT distributes the series outside the US in conjunction with HBO; while HBO Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video own DVD rights worldwide). The show airs every morning on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.
Everybody Loves Raymond has aired in Australia on Seven Network (seasons 1-3), on Network Ten (season 4-9), on Eleven (a sub-channel of Network Ten) and on Foxtel's Pay TV network TVH!TS previously called TV1 (formerly aired on FOX Classics). The show reruns in India on the channel Romedy Now.

Home media[edit]

HBO released the Complete Series of Everybody Loves Raymond on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4. Region 4 Complete Box Set was released on August 13, 2008. In Australia, the first five seasons were re-released in 2006 in slimmer packaging (originals were wide spine cases). Also, some were released with a cardboard slip cover. Also, in North America, the first two seasons were each re-released in 2010 in standard keep cases with cardboard slipcovers in a double-season pack. It is unknown whether or not they will be sold individually like this. Also, in 2012, the sixth and seventh season two-pack was reissued in the keep case packaging. Recently, Season 9 was re-released in standard keep cases. It is also unknown whether or not the remaining seasons will be reissued in the slimmer packaging. As of September 2012, all episodes are available on Netflix for streaming. Also on September 14, 2004 The Complete 1st Season was released on VHS. The sixth-season DVD set contained the episode "Marie's Sculpture", which previously had not aired in the United Kingdom and was not released until almost five years after the end of the 6th season.
DVD nameEp #Release dates
Region 1Region 2Region 4
The Complete 1st Season22September 14, 2004January 17, 2005December 16, 2004
The Complete 2nd Season25December 14, 2004July 4, 2005April 27, 2005
The Complete 3rd Season26May 3, 2005January 16, 2006July 12, 2005
The Complete 4th Season24September 13, 2005May 1, 2006April 5, 2006
The Complete 5th Season25December 6, 2005July 3, 2006July 5, 2006
Holidays with the Barones3December 10, 2005
The Complete 6th Season24May 9, 2006October 2, 2006October 4, 2006
The Complete 7th Season25September 19, 2006January 15, 2007April 4, 2007
The Complete 8th Season23May 8, 2007July 16, 2007October 3, 2007
The Complete 9th Season16September 18, 2007November 12, 2007October 3, 2007
The Complete Series210October 30, 2007September 5, 2011August 13, 2008

Reception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Two Entertainment Weekly reviews of the show have been posted. Ken Tucker's review shortly after the show's debut awarded it a B+; he stated the show's writing wasn't "top-notch", but "Romano manages to communicate something distinctive."[11] A 1997 review by Bruce Fretts, which gave the show the same score, said that the show "may now be the best sitcom on the air."[12] Common Sense Media's Betsy Wallace, who awarded the show four out of five stars, wrote: "the cast is stellar and plotlines shed light on universal human insecurities, such as doubting that your spouse still finds you attractive as you grow older." However, she warned that the show's "intimacy issues of married couples -- including (in)frequency of sex -- often take center stage," as well as the show's mild language.[13]Plugged In said in their review, "Seven years and a mantle full of Emmys later, Raymond is still smartly scripted, now with new characters added to a maturing, expanding family."[14] In 2013, Complex ranked the show as 49th of "The 50 Funniest TV Comedies of All Time", with writer Matt Barone saying that "You'd want to pat Ray on the shoulder and say, 'We feel for you, man,' if you weren't laughing so hard."[15] Also in 2013, TV Guide ranked it #60 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".[16]

Accolades[edit]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Everybody Loves Raymond
During its nine seasons, Everybody Loves Raymond was nominated for 69 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 15 of them, including 10 for acting. The series was also nominated for 21 Screen Actors Guild Awards (1 win) and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy for "Italy" in 2002.

American television ratings[edit]

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
The series finale scored a 20.2 household rating, 32.94 million viewers[17] (29% of all viewers at the time) and an 11.2 rating among adults 18–49. At 8pm, Everybody Loves Raymond: The Last Laugh averaged a 15.3 household rating, 24.52 million viewers and a 7.5 among adults 18–49. Throughout the latter six seasons of the show, Everybody Loves Raymond maintained its position on the top ten rankings.
The highest average rating for the series is in italic text.
SeasonTimeslot (EST)Season premiereSeason finaleTV seasonRankRating
1Friday 8:30 p.m.
(September 13, 1996 – February 28, 1997)
Monday 8:30 p.m.
(March 3, 1997 – April 7, 1997)		September 13, 1996April 7, 19971996–1997#847.8
2Monday 8:30 p.m.September 22, 1997May 18, 19981997–1998#309.2
3Monday 9:00 p.m.September 21, 1998May 24, 19991998–1999#1110.6
4September 20, 1999May 22, 20001999–2000#1217.8
5October 2, 2000May 21, 20012000–2001#819.0
6September 24, 2001May 13, 20022001–2002#620.0[18]
7September 23, 2002May 19, 20032002–2003#818.39
8September 22, 2003May 24, 20042003–2004*#1017.38
9September 20, 2004May 16, 20052004–2005#1017.4

References[edit]

  1. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (Ninth Edition). Ballantine Books. p. 1695-1697. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  2. ^ "Crossover: "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The King Of Queens"". www.poobala.com. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
  3. ^ Hollywood Reporter Archived January 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Сериал "Воронины", смотреть онлайн бесплатно все новые серии "Ворониных", 11, 12 сезоны, лучшие актеры 2011-2012 гг". Ctc-tv.ru. Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  5. ^ [1] Archived March 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Wszyscy kochają Romana (2011)" (in Polish). aleseriale.pl. Retrieved 19 Aug 2011.
  7. ^ Piątek 30.09.2011 (2011-09-30). "PUDELEK – Serial Kasprzykowskiego ZNIKA Z ANTENY!". Pudelek.pl. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  8. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy. BBC Commissions Pilot For ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Remake ‘The Smiths.’ Deadline Hollywood(May 9, 2013).
  9. ^ "Přehled dílů — Rudyho má každý rád — Česká televize". Česká televize. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  10. ^ Everybody Loves Raymond: Make Mine a Double Paramount Comedy.
  11. ^ Tucker, Ken (September 20, 1996). "Everybody Loves Raymond(1996)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  12. ^ Fretts, Bruce (April 11, 1997). "TV Show Review: Everybody Loves Raymond (1996)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  13. ^ Wallace, Betsy. Everybody Loves Raymond – Television Review. Common Sense Media. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  14. ^ Isaac, Steven. Everybody Loves Raymond. Plugged In. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  15. ^ Barone, Matt (February 26, 2013). "The 50 Funniest TV Comedies of All Time". Complex. Complex Media. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  16. ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time". TV Guide.
  17. ^ Kinon, Cristina (December 3, 2009). "The most watched TV episode of the decade was . . . the series finale of 'Friends'". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  18. ^ Brooks, Tim; Earle Marsh (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1946—Present): Ninth Edition. United States: Ballantine Books. pp. 1694–1697. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

External links[edit]