So, from time to time, I’ve seen people on here ranting on and on about “Everybody Loves Raymond”, with some folks even giving the show alternate nicknames that fit their opinion of the show.
I, for one, am a huge fan of the show, mainly because the character interactions in the show are like twisted, heavily exaggerated versions of stuff I’ve seen in my own family.
Also, it has occured to me that I’m far more easily amused than most other people, and frankly, I pity those people. I mean, seriously, having to WORK to be amused? No thanks!
So, just to see if I’m alone on this one, who else loves this show? If you are one of those guys who harbors a strong dislike for this show… then maybe this thread just isn’t for you.
I like many of the secondary actors, and I always get a kick out of disfunctional but loving families, but seriously…Raymond needs to die. As do the creepy twin boys.
I liked it. It did have a much lower hit/miss ratio than most of the other shows I like but when it was good, (like the show where Marie got all the women in Robert’s life to critique him), it was really good. Each character had something of a 2D personality which I thought was a strength as it enabled easy set-up jokes. When they exaggerated that too much though it always fell flat.
I loved the show overall. Loved Robert and Frank the most. Doris Roberts was great, too. Their interactions are what made the show for me. I thought the wife - I’m blanking on her name for some reason- was played well by the actress, but the character got on my nerves sometimes - she was just a bit too bitchy. And Raymond was often a bit too dumb and predictable, as were most of the plots. But when Frank or Robert walked in the room, I put down my liquids cause I knew I’d be LMAO.
Like the OP says, I liked it because there was something there that reminded me of my own family, but cranked up to eleven. Sometimes I would watch it and swear that that the writers had been spying on us. Like the episode where neither one of them would put the suitcase away… been there, done that.
And I have to say, I think “Don’t let a suitcase full of cheese become your giant fork and spoon” is one of the most profound utterances ever heard on a sitcom.
I always thought it was an above-average sitcom, hurt by a below-average title. Ray Romano was never a comic actor, but the entire concept was redeemed by the character of Marie and Doris Roberts’ brilliant acting.
Oh yeah, Peter Boyle should have had a MUCH bigger part, too.
Hehe, I thought it was funny how Raymond was all calm about the car running into his house, but absolutley flipped out and tore his parents a new one when the wall paper didn’t match after they had it fixed.
Also, the episode(s?) in Italy was amusing, with Robert getting into a relationship with the daughter of a local Don, and Ray’s parents blowing out the tires on a Vespa.
Ray was a doofus and got tiresome, but I loved the wife and the mother in law. She is a watered down version of MY MIL, sadly enough–Marie would be a vacation, believe me.
Loved the FIL as well as Robert. The kids I could have done without–but there are so few Danny Partridges in TV world. (only Danny Partridge-Danny Bonaduci is a dick, IMO).
I will always have a soft spot for the show–I was not a regular viewer-because it was playing on an airplane once when I was travelling back from UK–it really helped kill a few hours. What is one looking for in a sitcom (besides intelligent plotting and interesting characters with funny lines)? Raymond had all of that–unlike MOST sitcoms today.
Did you ever see the antacid commerical those two did, with Brad Garret sitting on the edge of the bed saying “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” and Doris trying to sleep in the bed making snarky comments?
