Everybody Loves Raymond explored the various ways that parents could intrude on your life, but Marie and Frank sometimes went way too far.
Everybody Loves Raymond
In the world of Everybody Loves Raymond, most people seemed to actually love him. His wife Debra wasn’t sure every day, but overall she loved him. Robert, Ray’s older brother, definitely loved him but also kind of hated him, too. He was always competing with Ray, even though Ray wasn’t competing with him and still somehow winning.
Then, there were Ray’s mother and father. Marie and Frank loved both their boys equally. Well, it was more of an 80/20 split in Ray’s favor. That level of affection for their baby boy led them to do shockingly inappropriate things that drove mostly Debra nuts.
Relabeling Debra’s Herbs And Spices
Everybody Loves Raymond
The person with the biggest problems with Marie and Frank was always Debra. She fell in love with Ray and married him, not his parents. They were just part of the deal. While Marie was by far the biggest thorn in her side, Frank certainly didn’t help things.
An ongoing point of contention was Debra’s cooking, which Marie believed to be inferior to hers. In fact, Marie decided to give Debra some help in the kitchen by relabeling all the herbs and spices. Frank just kind of sat there and let that one happen.
Bad Behavior At A French Restaurant
Everybody Loves Raymond
Marie and Frank were not the kind of people who knew how to behave appropriately in almost any environment. Fans mostly saw them in the Barones’ home, and they certainly made themselves look ridiculous there on multiple occasions.
But they didn’t restrict their lunacy to the house. They took the Barones out for dinner at a fancy French restaurant. Ray certainly acted the fool, as one would expect, but his parents conducted themselves like they had never been out in public before. It was embarrassing to say the least.
Rose Caputo Dies, Leading To A Big Argument
Everybody Loves Raymond
The problem with having Marie and Frank around all of the time was that it put them in a position to start problems where there weren’t any. Frequently, they didn’t even have to try. Just being in the same space as Ray and Debra would cause problems.
Rose Caputo was not a major character on the show, but she was the woman Marie has chosen to marry Frank if she died before him. This led to Marie asking Debra who she had selected for Ray, which unsurprisingly set the table for a massive fight between Ray and Debra.
Meet The Stipes
Everybody Loves Raymond
When Robert got divorced, he moved back in with his parents until he got back on his feet. While it was something he had to do, it was a living hell for him. Eventually, Robert moved out and rented a room over the garage of Harry and Rita Stipes.
Much to everyone’s dismay, they were clones of Marie and Frank to the point that they liked Ray better. Marie and Frank’s response to Robert leaving was so insane and overbearing that Ray actually had to go to Robert and try to convince him to move back in with them.
Hanging Out At Ray’s House When No One Is Home
Everybody Loves Raymond
Saying that Marie and Frank acted like they owned Ray and Debra’s house might be the biggest understatement of all time. They pretty much wandered in as they saw fit, did and said whatever they wanted, then left metaphorical carnage behind.
But this was a new level, even for Marie and Frank. Ray came home one day to find Marie, Frank and Robert hanging out in the Barones’ house while no one who actually lived there was around. That would be an unsettling feeling to say the least.
Crashing Their Car Into Ray’s House
Everybody Loves Raymond
While Marie and Frank usually left metaphorical carnage in their wake, there were times that the carnage was all too real. And that doesn’t mean the usual fights and other problems they caused on an almost hourly basis.
This time, the carnage came from Marie and Frank backing their car through Ray and Debra’s house. Marie parked the car in Ray’s living room, a move that few people want as a general rule. Naturally, Marie and Frank’s reaction to the situation just made things much worse.
The Great Tuna Salad Fight
Everybody Loves Raymond
When a couple was together as long as Marie and Frank were, it’s no surprise that fights happen. Some people even maintain that a certain amount of fighting in a couple is healthy. But Marie and Frank took the whole thing too far, of course.
It all started with a fight over a tuna salad sandwich. As the battle progressed, Marie was living with Ray and Debra, and Frank was loving his pseudo-single lifestyle. Letting their squabble disrupt the lives of their family was typical Marie and Frank.
Traded In An Engraved Christmas Present
Everybody Loves Raymond
Despite all of his misgivings about his parents, Ray did his best to be a somewhat decent son. Well, saying he did his best might be an overstatement. Ray tried to do his best. An even more accurate statement would be that he often considered trying to to his best, though he rarely did.
One Christmas, Ray got the idea to give people personally engraved toasters. It was an odd idea but touching nonetheless. He eventually found out that Marie and Frank traded their toaster in for a coffee maker. It was both rude and odd as most stores don’t take personalized items back.
Freaking Out Over Fruit
Everybody Loves Raymond
Giving someone a gift should be a happy moment for everyone involved. It’s nice to receive a gift, but it also a great feeling to give someone a gift, especially when it’s appreciated. But when Marie and Frank were involved nothing was ever simple.
Ray once enrolled his parents in a fruit of the month club. That’s something a lot of people would have considered to be a nice gift. For Marie and Frank, it was the apocalypse. Marie in particular lost her mind over how much fruit was showing up. It really wasn’t that much fruit.
Debra Makes A Mean Braciole
Braciole is a classic Italian-American dish made with thin slices of meat that are stuffed, rolled and fried. It’s also Frank’s favorite dish. Marie once cooked him some braciole when they were dating that was so good that he knew she was the one for him.
Then, Debra cooked braciole that Frank loved more than Marie’s. Frank started hanging around with Debra a little too much and Marie got even more jealous of her. Marie and Frank started acting weirder than ever around Debra, making her experience new levels of being uncomfortable.
