Everybody Loves Raymond had a rather impressive run. The show, which focused on the inner workings of the Barone family, managed to carve out its own niche, despite having stiff competition. Premiering in September 1996, the show competed against the likes of Friends, Mad About You, Seinfeld, and Friends in the comedy genre. The series still managed to amass fans because it was different from the other comedies on TV at the time. The series finale is what really set the show apart, though. The Everybody Loves Raymond finale was subdued and simple, unlike the more grandiose finales that seem traditional for long-running series.
The cast of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ sits around the Barone family’s table during the series finale
The cast of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ | Richard Cartwright/CBS
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How did the series end?
Everybody Loves Raymond ended its nine-season run in May 2005. When the series began, Ray and Debra were the parents of twin toddler boys and a Kindergarten-aged daughter. By the time the series ended, Ally was a teen, and Michael and Jeffrey were entering their pre-teen years. Aside from the children aging, not much had changed for Ray and Debra.
The series finale paid homage to family bonds, with the Barone family gathering at a hospital while Ray had surgery. During the episode, there were concerns that Ray was having difficulty coming out of anesthesia, but the few tense moments were quickly resolved. The series ended with Ray, and his entire family gathered around his kitchen table.
The ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ finale differentiated itself from the pack
The Everybody Loves Raymond series finale set itself apart from other comedies of its time in one significant way. In other beloved shows of the time, like Friends, Sex and the City, and Seinfeld, the finale brought about something big. There was a race to tie up all of the loose ends left during the shows’ lengthy runs.
In Friends, Monica Geller and Chandler Bing vacate their apartment after welcoming twins. The big move punctuated the fact that the friends were moving into a new phase of their lives. In Seinfeld, Jerry and his pals are finally held accountable for being generally awful to everyone around them. In Sex and the City, fans left all four women settled into relationships that worked for them after watching them traverse the dating scene for six years.
The series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond had a bit of drama, but in the end, fans got to leave the Barone family exactly as they found them. The finale moments of the show featured the entire family sitting around in Ray and Debra’s kitchen, just as they always did. There was no big change, no big wrap-up, and no big reveal. The series ended as if it could come back at any moment, and there is something really special about that.
The ending left the series in a perfect spot for a reboot, although that is unlikely ever to happen. Since the series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond, the cast has lost three key members. Peter Boyle, the actor who played Frank Barone, died in 2006 from multiple myeloma. Sawyer Sweeten, the actor who played one of Ray and Debra’s twins, died in 2015, and Doris Roberts, who portrayed Marie Barone, died in 2016. Ray Romano has addressed reboot inquiries over the years, insisting that he’s not interested.
