Ray Romano’s titular series “Everybody Loves Raymond” occupies a prestigious position in the pantheon of classic sitcoms. The prime-time staple ran nine seasons over the course of as many years, from 1996 to 2005. During that time, creator Phil Rosenthal worked with his intrepid writing crew to pump out 210 episodes, which were neatly collated into seasons that ran between 22 and 26 episodes a piece. The one exception was the ninth and final season, which was cut down to 16 episodes.
Despite its enormous run time, the show spends most of its time on two sets, the homes of Ray Barone and his parents, Frank and Marie Barone (Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts). Specifically, the bulk of the show takes place within the kitchen/family rooms of each home, where the primary cast — including Ray, his parents, wife Debra (Patricia Heaton), brother Robert (Brad Garrett), and three children — gathers time and again within these spaces to talk, discuss, laugh, cry, and, of course, get mad at each other.
There isn’t really a main point of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” The show centers on the daily humdrum drama of life, with a special emphasis on the family dynamic therein. Encyclopedia Britannica sums up the entire experience with a single line, saying that it is “a witty and insightful portrayal of the quotidian travails of family life. The fact that “Everybody Loves Raymond” managed to run for as long as it did is pretty impressive. In theory, a show about life should provide endless fodder for content. In practice, it’s hard to squeeze out an infinite stream of genuinely funny moments within the mundane of the day-to-day.
