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.




Everybody Loves Raymond

Rucurring Characters

Lois Whelan (Katherine Helmond): Debra's mother (also starred in Who's The Boss and Soap.....maybe other stuff that I will learn about later).

Linda (Maggie Wheeler): Wife of Bernie and friends of Ray & Debra.

Warren Whelan (Robert Culp): Debra's father.

Gianni (Jon Manfrellotti): A contractor, ex-futon repairman, and friend of Raymond. He was also on The King of Queens.

Judy (Sherri Shepherd): Robert's NYPD patrol partner.

Nemo (Joseph V. Perry): Pizza Restaurant owner.

Andy (Andy Kindler): A fellow sportswriter and friend of Raymond.

Uncle Mel (Phil Leeds): A relative of the family that makes several appearances.

Garvin (Len Lesser): A friend of Frank.

Bill Parker (David Hunt): Ray's nemesis neighbor (played by the real life husband to Patricia Heaton) Parker is often seen showing Ray up as a father, and Ray often makes jokes that Debra wishes she had married him instead.

Carrie Parker: wife of Bill Parker Stefania Fogagnolo (Alex Meneses): Robert's ex-girlfriend from Italy.

Peggy Ardolino (Amy Aquino): Single mother of Ally's best friend who has bullied Ray and later becomes Peter's girlfriend.

Marco Fogagnolo (David Proval): The intimidating Italian father of Stefania.

Doug Heffernan (Kevin James): A friend and golf buddy of Raymond's and an IPS deliveryman (a takeoff on UPS). (See The King of Queens.) Before 1998 James appeared as Kevin, a fellow sports writer who worked for the Mets.

Gerard (Fred Stoller): Ray's annoying cousin.

Lee and Stan: Friends of Marie and Frank.

Harriet Lichtman: Marie's bridge partner, and Frank's fantasy woman. Often talked about and only appears in season 8, in the episode "Who's Next?".

Albert, played by Ray Romano's actual father, Albert Romano.

Albert is a lodge friend of Frank and has been seen in various lodge-related episodes.

Molly, played by Ray Romano's actual daughter, Alexandra Romano. Alexandra plays Ally's best friend Molly in the contemporary era, but was first seen as a flower girl in a flashback of Ray and Debra's wedding.



Everybody Loves Raymond Notes

There were 6 different intros to the Everybody Loves Raymond series. One for a specific episode, and 5 for the 5 different seasons. Seasons 4, 5, 8, and 9 didn't have introduction sequences. The episodes in those seasons would start without one.

Phil Rosenthal and Monica Horan are "real life" husband and wife.

Phil Rosenthal, Monica Horan and Tom McGowan are all graduates of Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. The show makes frequent mentions/visuals regarding the university, including Ray's Hofstra tee-shirt (he usually wore in bed scenes), a Hofstra magnet on the Barone's refrigerator, and a stein with the University seal on the table behind Ray's couch. The university was also featured in season 6, episode 11 ("The Kicker"), when Frank and Robert attend a football game with Hofstra playing Northeastern and in season 8, episode 17 ("The Ingrate') where Ray receives an honorary doctorate degree in which Ray is wearing an actual Hofstra PhD candidate cap and gown and holding a Hofstra Honorary degree.

Phil Rosenthal and his wife continuously give back to their alma-mater. On October 2005, Phil and his wife (Monica Horan) hosted a live (sold out) performance of Everybody Loves Raymond: Inside the Writers Room at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse at Hofstra University.

The Everybody Loves Raymond score, including the opening and closing themes, was composed by longtime session drummer Rick Marotta and includes piecesof Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy'[2]

In early seasons, Kevin James frequently appeared as one of Raymond's friends, called Kevin. Kevin James later assumed the title role in his own sitcom, The King of Queens, and was from then on Ray's friend Doug. Ray, Robert, Debra, Marie and Frank also guest-starred as the Barones on The King of Queens in several episodes.

As well as appearing on The King of Queens, Ray and Frank appeared in an episode of the sitcom Cosby, and Ray appeared on The Nanny and Becker.

The title of Everybody Loves Raymond has been spoofed by many shows. Chris Rock spoofed the show's title for his own show called Everybody Hates Chris. The ABC drama Lost also spoofed the show's title for the second-season episode "Everybody Hates Hugo." A Law & Order episode has a parody title "Everybody Loves Raimondo's."

The Futurama movie, Bender's Big Score, contains a reference to a 30th century television show called, "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad." And the "Bender's Big Score" DVD contains an extra feature of an entire episode of "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad."

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

In the Judd Apatow movies The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, characters played by Paul Rudd have referred directly to the show. Lines include "That's just a good show, I tape it sometimes..." (when lending the main character a box of pornography, accidentally containing the Everybody Loves Raymond VHS) and "Marriage is like an unfunny version of Everybody Loves Raymond, but it doesn't just last 20 minutes... it lasts forever."

In Brad Garret's Show, 'Til Death, Ray Romano appears as an extra, (The episode where Brad's wife on the show are fighting over how he slapped her while going on a trip somewhere) After Ray shouts at Brad's wife, (Geeze Lady! What more do ya want! - Said because Brad is saying he's sorry and everything) Brad's wife asks who that was, and Brad replies with "It looks like someone I used to work with."



Click here for a great Everybody Loves Raymond video clip

Everybody Loves Raymond Events

Robert and Amy's wedding: The episode that may 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 several new recurring characters, including Amy's parents and brother. A rumored spin-off featuring Robert and Amy never materialized.

Mother's Day Fight: One event in the series that could be the most dramatic was the month-long feud between Debra and Marie. The argument lasted four consecutive episodes, between the 6th and 7th seasons.

The Finale had Ray getting his adenoids removed and he had trouble coming out of anesthesia. The final shot of the show referenced the Last Supper.

Seasons 1 through 6 all ended with flashback episodes.

Everybody Loves Raymond International Broadcasters

Network Ten in Australia aired the show right from its beginning to its end and occasionally shows repeats of the show to this day. FOX Classics has Pay-TV rights to the series in Australia and airs the show weeknights and occasionally holds marathons including one hosted by Doris Roberts. Paramount Comedy Channel in the United Kingdom currently airs the show. It often devotes whole days, usually at the weekend, to showing a season in its' entirety.

In Norway TV3 is currently airing the show. The show was also aired on TV2 when the episodes were new. In Turkey it is aired on the subscription based channel ComedyMax.

It is also on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom every weekday morning at 7:30am, usually airing the episodes and seasons in order of their first broadcast. Reception

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.[3]

The series-finale scored a 20.2 household rating, 32.94 million viewers (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.

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Everybody Loves Raymond Awards
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 (2000-2001) 2 wins

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Brad Garrett (2002-2003, 2005) 3 wins

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Doris Roberts (2001-2003, 2005) 4 wins

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Baggage" Tucker Cawley (2003) 1 win

Everybody Loves Raymond Screen Actors Guild:

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2003) Writers Guild: Episodic Comedy for "Italy" Philip Rosenthal (2002) 1 win

Nominations

Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Comedy Series (1999-2005) 7 nominations

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Ray Romano (1999-2003, 2005) 6 nominations

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Patricia Heaton (1999-2005) 7 nominations

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Brad Garrett (2000, 2002-2005) 5 nominations

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Peter Boyle (1999-2005) 7 nominations

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Doris Roberts (1999-2005) 7 nominations

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, 6 nominations: Philip Rosenthal and Ray Romano "Bad Moon Rising" (2000), Philip Rosenthal "The Angry Family" (2001), Jennifer Crittenden "Ray's Journal" (2001), Tucker Cawley "Baggage" (2003), Mike Royce "Counselling" (2003), Philip Rosenthal, Ray Romano, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens, Aaron Shure, Mike Royce, Leslie Caveny, Tom Caltabiano "Finale" (2005)

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, 2002-2006) 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

Achievements

Bravo placed the Barone family at number 41 on their list of 100 greatest TV icons of all time TV Land placed Frank's exclamation 'Holy Crap' at number 79 on their list of 100 greatest catchphrases of all time. TV Land and TV Guide placed

Marie's vagina sculpture at number 62 on their list of 100 most unexpected moments in TV history. TV Guide placed Ray Barone at number 10 on their list of 50 greatest TV dads of all time.