Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond

Category: Sitcom

Created By: Philip Rosenthal

Stars: Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle

Number of Seasons: 9

Number of Episodes: 210

Original Channel: CBS

Original Run: September 13, 1996 to May 16, 2005

Everybody Loves Raymond is an Emmy, SAG, WGA winning and Golden Globe nominated American sitcom, originally broadcast on CBS from September 13, 1996 to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of Ray Romano (who is represented by the Ray Barone character he plays) and the writing staff. The main characters on the show are also loosely based on Romano's family members. It is one of the most critically acclaimed American sitcoms of its time. Everybody Loves Raymond was nominated for and won many awards. The show reruns in syndication on different cable channels such as TBS, and in most TV markets on local stations.



Everybody Loves Raymond Background

Everybody Loves Raymond revolves around the life of Italian-American Ray Barone, a newspaper sportswriter from Lynbrook, Long Island. Ray lives with his wife, Debra Barone, their daughter, Ally, and their identical twin sons, Michael and Geoffrey. Ray's parents and brother Robert frequently make their presence known to the frustration of Ray and especially Debra. Unfortunately for Ray, he always has to hear about it from Debra. Debra particularly finds herself at odds with Ray's mother, Marie — a passive-aggressive woman. Ray often finds himself in the middle of all the problems and arguments. His biggest nemesis is Robert, who is insecure about Ray being the favorite son. Although Robert and Ray are frequently seen fighting like children and picking on each other, the brothers are very devoted to each other.

Robert frequently calls Ray "Cubby" and stands up for him, while Ray has a great admiration for Robert, who is a police officer. Their father, Frank, is very tough and does not like to show his feelings, but through the years several episodes were crafted to show how much he loves his family. Ray and Debra have their share of marital disagreements, with Debra frequently denying Ray sex, and Ray prefers watching sports television to talking to his wife. A recurring theme on the show has them having a long interaction each night while in bed, just before going to sleep, and sometimes there is a sweetness between them.



Everybody Loves Raymond Main Cast



Ray Barone (Ray Romano)

Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton)

Robert Barone (Brad Garrett)

Marie Barone (Doris Roberts)

Frank Barone (Peter Boyle) Everybody Loves Raymond Main Crew

Executive Producers: Phil Rosenthal (Head Writer), Stu Smiley, Rory Rosegarten, Ray Romano, Lew Schneider, Tucker Cawley, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens, Aaron Shure and Mike Royce.

Co-Executive Producers: Lisa Helfrich Jackson, Tom Caltabiano and Leslie Caveny. Producer: Holli Gailen.



Everybody Loves Raymond Supporting Cast

Amy

Monica Horan plays the role of Amy MacDougall-Barone, Robert Barone's wife. She is also the best friend of Debra Barone, Ray's wife, who introduced Amy to Robert. Although Amy married Robert in the seventh season of the show, she had been making appearances since the first season. Many issues have caused them to break up in the first six seasons, with one being caused by Raymond. After Amy broke up with Robert from finding out he was with two other women, Amy only returned three times- once when she and Stefania thought of a way to make him a better mate; again when she dated one of Raymond's friends because of a plan by Debra and Marie to make Robert envious; and once more when she planned to take Ray and Debra to the airport for their vacation (the three of them ended up staying at Marie and Frank's house because the power went out). She wouldn't make another appearance until Thanksgiving, when Marie had to get glasses. Quite often, she apologizes to someone even if she didn't do anything wrong. In an episode from season nine, for example, Amy apologized to Ray for yelling at him, even though she had the right to yell because Ray insulted her.

Amy is a soft-spoken girl who was raised in a family of devout Protestants (the Barones are Catholic) who consider their Bible the "guide to life". She once described her parents as "people who wouldn't yell if they were on fire". Amy's parents and brother live in Pennsylvania.

Amy was a virgin when she met Robert, which Ray had a hard time believing since Amy was 33 years old at the time. She eventually lost her virginity to Robert before they were married, but they were spotted having sex by their neighbors, causing Robert's neighbors to sign a sheet boycotting Amy from his apartment building.

Amy's Parents

Amy's parents, Hank (Fred Willard) and Pat MacDougall (Georgia Engel), are very devout Christian conservatives who oppose the marriage of their daughter to Robert because of divorce and other transgressions in his past. These matters are not helped as they soon learn that the MacDougalls and the Barones are not the most compatible of families. The two sides still do not like each other after many tries at truce, although the Barones have always loved Amy and the MacDougalls have somewhat come to accept Robert .

Peter MacDougall

Peter (Chris Elliott) is Amy's older brother who has a strange personality and a sneaky, clever mind. He is also opposed to the marriage of his little sister and insists that he will keep trying to break it up. But come wedding day, it turns out that Marie is the one to interrupt the wedding after the priest says "speak now or forever hold your peace". Peter is single but lives with his pet house cat, Miss Puss. At first, Peter and Robert do not get along very well, but in "Peter on the Couch," the two find common ground in the fact that they suffered the same problems growing up (being the overshadowed older sibling and living with their parents for a long time) and gain acceptance of each other. Eventually, Robert even gives Peter his old apartment. In a later episode, he hooks up with Molly's mom, Peggy (Amy Aquino).

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. Everybody Loves Raymond Children

Alexandra "Ally" Barone (Madylin Sweeten): Ray and Debra's only daughter who is five years old at the beginning of the series. Ally is a young girl at the start of the series, and by the end, is in her teens. She was named for Romano's real-life daughter. Geoffrey and Michael Barone (Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten): Ray and Debra's identical twin sons who are two years old at the beginning of the series. In the pilot episode, one of the sons is referred to as "Matthew" and the other as "Gregory", the names of Romano's real-life twin sons. A running joke is Frank's insistence that Geoffrey may be latently homosexual.