Kirpianuscus many motifs are pieces of pledge for this series. first - its realist, humor and the way to do a powerful sweet-bitter story about family. than - Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle doing an admirable couple. not the least, the grow up of Ray . because, prisoner of the "jail" who is his family,he becomes, episode by episode, a nice presence, looking for balance between wife, brother and parents. and this does the series more than one from others but a perfect show about every day ordinaries challenges. so, a special series.

kenhe I say this as a one time fan of Raymond. I felt the show was relatively apolitical, clean in language and content, and even though the adult characters were ALL deeply flawed, they were mostly likable but quirky. Except for Marie. She exhibits all the properties of a mentally ill paranoid schizophrenic, and he double talks denigrating Ray's wife are despicable, and in no way funny. The episode which most bothered me was when Ray's wife tells her kids to bet on whether her husband, Ray, and their father would do,say, or indicate something stupid. That is SICK to teach one's children to ridicule and laugh at their father. The one with the girl who ate insects was a real close runner up. Frank, Ray's dad, ALWAYS says the most insensitive, vulgar, and irrelevant comments possible, except when he is demanding that his wife feed him like he was some sort of infant. Ray is a man child of course, in need of direction, criticism, and help from his hyper critical and judgmental wife or he wouldn't last a day. Ray is of course a SPORTS WRITER so surprise he enjoys both watching and participating in SPORTS! How can his wife not understand this, but oh yeah, all she does with Ray is whine and complain that he doesn't help her a little bit with the house. Not a word of thanks for Ray's hard work, he is a hard working, sober, loyal, and relatively responsible husband. Instead Ray is presented as a bumbling buffoon unable to raise his kids, satisfy his wife, and cut himself from his mother's apron strings. This show had potential, but it just degenerated into another mindless family situation comedy, with strong elements of serious mental illness used for comic effects. Sorry folks, it failed.

O2D Since I am a fan of stand up comedy, I knew Ray Romano wasn't funny and managed to avoid this terrible show until recently.The popularity of this show says a lot about Americans.It says they all have sad lives and no sense of humor.If you haven't seen this show let me explain it to you.It's about a married couple that hates each other and their families.The man only cares about himself and the wife is an insufferable pig.The man's parents and brother are even worse and they are always there.He has three kids and they are almost never there.There are times when they are eating Thanksgiving dinner with all of their relatives and the kids aren't there.Why would someone who hates his parents buy a house across the street from them?Why would someone who is completely self-absorbed get married?Why would a network give a sitcom to someone who isn't funny?None of those questions are ever answered.The only people who might enjoy this are people in unhappy marriages.If you live in constant fear of your wife, this may be your show.If you have a brain, avoid this.

Parker Lewis Everybody loves Raymond was like a safe pair of hands, a safe comedy that wasn't politically incorrect really, and it made one smile. All credit to Ray Romano for being a successful comedian with this sitcom.One brief scene stood out...where Debra expressed interest in taking the family on a holiday to Vietnam. Cue Ray who hummed the Ride of the Valkyries, which many will know is the main theme (I guess) from Apocalypse Now, and the audience had to laugh I guess. I guess the USA was still reeling from "Vietnam" even after more than two decades.If this episode was shown now, I wonder how many of the current young generation would laugh or feel bewilderment at Ray's Ride of the Valkyries?