The ANNOTICO Report
Personally, this was not one of my favorite shows. The
only characters that
were sensible were Non Italian, Raymond's wife Debra,
and all of Robert's
girlfriends.
Raymond is not too bright, AND a Wimp. The Brother Robert
is a
psychological mess.
If Frank and Marie, were my parents, I would have left
home, and Never
written. :)
Chicago Sun Times
By Miriam DiNunzio
Staff Reporter
May 8, 2005
Where has all the laughter gone? Network prime-time television
now finds
itself ensconced in the age of the heavy-hitting drama.
With the departures
of "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "Frasier," only one sitcom
has been able to
maintain both high quality and a mass audience, and that's
the CBS hit
"Everybody Loves Raymond." But that, too, will soon be
exiting the airwaves.
There was a Golden Age, the 1970s until the mid-80s, when
sitcoms ruled
prime time. The writing was both intelligent and funny.
The characters
fresh and truly comical. The story lines provocative,
yet laughter-driven.
That's what made "Everybody Loves Raymond," which debuted
in 1996, so
delightful. The laughter was back -- in a smart,
forget-the-troubles-of-the-day kind of way.
After nine seasons, "Raymond" is about to call it quits,
with the series
finale airing at 8 p.m. May 16 on WBBM-Channel 2. No
fanfare, no "special"
final episode, just a regular 22-minute show. With 12
Emmy Awards,
"Everybody Loves Raymond" must know what it's doing.
The show was the brainchild of its star Ray Romano and
co-creator Phil
Rosenthal. If the story lines seemed "too real," it's
because many of them
were culled from Romano's and Rosenthal's real-life family
exploits.
Ah, la famiglia.
The show centered around two generations of the Italian-American
Barone
family of New York -- Marie and Frank Barone and their
two children,
Robert, the divorced and still-living-at-home, police
officer older son,
and Raymond, the successful, married-with-children golden
child who lives
across the street.
Being of Italian heritage, my curiosity about the sitcom
was almost
instantaneous. Would this be just another show that played
up those
horrible Italian stereotypes?
As my late Italian grandmother would say: "No."
They weren't mobsters, or thugs, or people with seriously
deviant problems.
They were people I knew.
Maybe it was the little things. Among Italians, the correct
term for your
matriarch is "Ma." "Dad" or "pop" is preferred for the
patriarch. Ma is the
best cook on earth -- nobody can duplicate her lasagne,
spaghetti and
meatballs or, God-forbid, her braciole. The plastic covers
on the sofa are
non-negotiable. Chocolate cake will solve all of life's
problems. Lemon
chicken does not a meal make.
"Everybody Loves Raymond" was first and foremost about
the family -- a
somewhat dysfunctional but totally loving family.
This was not Ozzie and Harriet. This was not Archie and
Edith. This was not
Homer and Marge. The Barone family was, in many ways,
my family. My
friends' families. Maybe your family. They said stupid
things. They said
funny things. They said ridiculous things. They said
loving things. But
they said. They talked.
And they argued.
Most of the series' best comedy revolved around arguments
-- those petty,
stupid everyday LOUD discussions that, when you stop
and think about it,
are really very funny. The Barones argued about who invented
the lawn,
about who they'd pick for their respective spouses as
a replacement after
their deaths, about who was a better cook, about who
was the favorite
child, about why you don't serve fish for Thanksgiving
dinner, or why the
men never helped with housework, or why an aquarium is
not the best idea
for a birthday present, or why you should never borrow
or lend money to a
relative. The guilt trips alone became became riotous
comedy.
That Ray was an idiot is an understatement, but he always
meant well. Wife
Debra (multiple Emmy winner Patricia Heaton) could be
seen as the snobby
outsider, but she loved Ray with all her heart, no matter
how lame he could
be. Robert (Brad Garrett) was the most insecure person
on television,
drowning in self-pity. "It's all about you, Ray" became
his rallying cry,
but he had a heart as big as he was tall. Frank (Peter
Boyle) was an
overbearing sexist boor who used his experiences in the
Korean War to teach
his kids about life's hard knocks. But to him, family
came first. Marie
(Doris Roberts) was the world's most exasperating mother-in-law,
who truly
believed that no woman was good enough for her Raymond,
and that a mother's
love is irreplaceable. Who could blame a mom for loving
too much?
So at the end of nine seasons, what did "Everybody Loves
Raymond" teach us?
Perhaps teach is not the right word. "Ray" reflected.
It reflected the
everyday lives that many families live: We have to do
laundry, and fight
about why the hamper is never used. We have to sit through
grueling holiday
dinners with the in-laws. We have to fight our spouse
for counter space in
the bathroom. We have to confront our parents when they
become too old to
drive. We work longer hours because sometimes we actually
enjoy our time
away from the family. We have to accept that relatives
can be ingrates, no
matter how much time you spent picking out the perfect
Christmas present.
We have to realize that a daughter's $200 party dress
is indeed the most
important thing in the world when you're 11. We have
to realize that when
we get married, we not only gain a husband or wife, we,
as only Debra could
say it, "gain a whole freak show who set up their tent
across the street."
"Everybody Loves Raymond" made a lot of people laugh every
Monday night,
and made many of us realize there are people in the world
who are actually
as mixed up as we are. Every family has its Raymond,
its Marie, its Frank,
its Robert, its Debra. And yet, life really is good.
In the episode where Robert and Amy (Monica Horan) finally
get married,
Raymond, in his best-man toast, tells the newlyweds to
"keep the good ones"
-- the good memories in life, because in the end, those
are the ones that
really matter. So, in appreciation, let's toast "Everybody
Loves Raymond"
for nine seasons of feel-good laughter. For nine seasons
of "good ones" to
keep
Here are some of this writer's favorite episodes of "Everybody
Loves
Raymond":
Season 1
"Turkey or Fish": Marie has always cooked the family
Thanksgiving dinner,
until Debra steps up and says she wants to handle the
responsibility in
order to create her own traditions that she can pass
down to her children.
Debra, chided throughout the series for her poor culinary
skills, decides
she can't compete with Marie's turkey and fixings, so
she opts to serve
fish. The fish ends up in the dishwasher, Marie ultimately
shows up with a
turkey anyway, and Frank and Debra's dad duke it out
over watching a soccer
match instead of the Thanksgiving Day football games.
Season 2:
"Anniversary": On his parents' 40th wedding anniversary,
Ray learns that
his folks separated for an entire year when he was a
young child. The
flashback to the separation, caused by an argument over
salt, is simply
priceless as Romano and Heaton play the young Frank and
Marie.
Season 3
"Robert Moves Back": Robert and his virgin girlfriend
Amy (Monica Horan)
make love for the very first time, only to discover that
his entire
apartment building saw them through his bedroom picture
window. Too
embarrassed to remain in his building, Robert moves in
for a while with
Debra and Ray, which leads to one of the most hilarious
moments in
television comedy involving Robert, Amy and a very unique
use of Robert's
police uniform.
Season 5
"Italy": In a fabulous two-parter (my absolute favorite
of the entire
series), Marie surprises the family with a two-week trip
to Italy to visit
Rome and her ancestral hometown. Everyone's thrilled
except Ray, who has a
cold, and can't see the beauty of the forest for the
Italian cypress trees.
The gorgeous episode, shot on location in and around
Rome, speaks volumes
about family and the importance of learning about and
appreciating one's
heritage. The episodes also introduce the gelato shop
owner Signore
Fogagnolo (the menacing father of an Italian woman who
falls for Robert),
played by "The Sopranos" alum David Proval.
Season 6
"Marie's Sculpture": Marie has taken up sculpting, and
she presents Ray and
Debra with her first work, a giant abstract that resembles
a VERY intimate
part of the female anatomy. The scenes in which one by
one (except for
Marie) they begin to associate the work with the exact
part of a woman's
body are some of the funniest moments in any television
sitcom in history.
"Baggage": Ray and Debra have a two-week standoff over
a vacation suitcase
that neither one wants to "carry upstairs." It's a battle
of wills, made
worse by the fact that Ray has to go out of town, needs
a suitcase and
comes up with an ingeniously hilarious substitution for
it. Oh, and then
there's the wedge of cheese.
Miriam Di Nunzio
For nine seasons, "Everybody Loves Raymond" unleashed
pearls of wisdom amid
its unique brand of witty repartee. And though some of
the following
passages are funnier when viewed in their original context,
they speak
volumes about the characters and the success of the show:
-------------------------------------------------------------
On marriage, romance and dating
Ray: "Men don't like to cuddle. We only like it if it
leads to ... you know
-- lower cuddling."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Debra wants Ray to have a vasectomy.
Debra: "Why don't you tell your partner that it might
be in his best
interest to take over this little responsibility. He
might get out more
often."
Ray addresses his "partner":
Ray: "Don't listen to the crazy lady. No snip snip."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert finds out just how young his date is.
Robert: "Did you see the way she looked at me when she
found out I was 43?
Like I just sat up in the coffin."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray tries to address his brother's fear of the ultimate
commitment.
Ray: "OK, Robert, you want to know the advantages of marriage.
Fine. You
know when you fall asleep and you stop breathing? When
you're married,
there's always somebody to nudge you back to life."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ray: "You want to know what marriage is really like?
You wake up, she's
there. You come back from work, she's there. You fall
asleep, she's there.
You eat dinner, she's there. I know that sounds like
a bad thing. But it's
not. Not if it's the right person."
Frank: "I'd like a minute for rebuttal."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ray and Debra have a heated argument over his behavior
at the buffet at
parent council elections at their kids' school.
Ray: "You said you didn't know me?"
Debra: "You were stuffing your pants with food!"
Ray: "So? I'm your husband. You're supposed to love me,
no matter what's in
my pants."
----------------------------------------------------------
On family
Debra is flummoxed after a psychotherapist interviews
her and Raymond for a
new book on families.
Debra: "Dr. Laura thought I was boring."
Ray: "You're not boring. You're normal. Living in my house,
I prayed for
normal. Then, I had to fall asleep to the sound of my
brother naming his
toes. There was Fat Tony, Danny the Weasel, Billy Stretch
and Tastes Bad."
-----------------------------------------------------------
On raising kids
Ray tries to tell his young daughter Ally to behave.
Ray: "All right, Ally, you have to do what Mommy says."
Ally: "Why?"
Ray: "Cause I do."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ray and Debra's young twins are beside themselves with
laughter after
knocking their father's golf bag down the stairs.
Ray: "Yeah, you won't be smiling when we send you a postcard
from
Disneyland."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ally gets "the talk" from her dad.
Ray: "Turns out Ally didn't want the sex talk! She asked
me why God put us
on earth!"
Debra: "So what did you tell her?"
Ray: "I told her heaven was too crowded."
Debra: "You what???"
Ray: "And then I faked a cold and got the hell out of
there."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
On life in general
Debra can't deal with one more stupid thing Ray has done.
Debra: "You know what, I'm tired. Could you just call
yourself an idiot?"
----------------------------------------------------------------
Robert comes home with takeout food from Nemo's pizza
parlor.
Robert: "Hey, ma, I told Nemo you were hurt, so he threw
in these
breadsticks for free."
Marie: "They look old."
Frank: "You are what you eat."
Marie: "Robbie, give your father his order of miserable
bastard."
---------------------------------------------------
Frank: "You want to know the meaning of life? You're
born, you go to
school, you go to work, you die. Marie, cannoli!"
---------------------------------------------------
Frank's response to life's ups and downs.
Frank: "Holy crap!"
--------------------------------------------------
Compiled by Miriam Di Nunzio
http://www.suntimes.com/output/
entertainment/sho-sunday-ray08.html