Everybody Loves Raymond’s 10 Funniest Episodes

The most iconic moments of the hit sitcom that was nominated for 69 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 15.

Everybody Loves RaymondCBS
In the 1980s, sitcom television mostly revolved around the family nucleus, children’s shenanigans, and a strong moral compass; such was the case of Full House, The Cosby Show, and Family Ties. The 1990s took it up a notch by featuring more realistic situations, with flawed, relatable characters who constantly butted heads and gave more outrageous and believable slice-of-life content.

One such show was Everybody Loves Raymond, which nabbed a whopping 15 Primetime Emmy Awards over the course of nine seasons, from 1996 to 2005, and is still streamed today. The story follows the daily struggles of two related Italian-American families, the Barones: a married couple with three children, and their meddling in-laws residing right across the street. The former consists of a sports columnist, Ray (stand-up comedian Ray Romano), his stay-at-home wife Debra (Patricia Heaton), their daughter Alexandra, and twin sons, Michael and Geoffrey.

Ray’s parents are Marie (Doris Roberts) and Frank (Peter Boyle), while his brother is a divorced police officer named Robert (Brad Garrett). Every actor except Boyle and the kids would go on to win an award for Outstanding Actor or Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

These wonderfully performed characters have different dynamics with one another. Ray has always been more popular than Robert and extremely spoiled by their mother Marie, resulting in a lazy adult who would much rather go golfing with his friends than assume his responsibilities at home.

As such, Robert, the gigantic, gawky brother, has always been jealous of him and still longs for parental approval. On her part, Marie is a top-notch cook who always criticizes Debra’s appearance, cooking, parenting, and cleaning, while Frank is a rude and crude war veteran who lives for television, sports games, and snacks.

As for Debra, she not only has to deal with her nosy in-laws, who always barge in unannounced, but also with Ray’s constant lying and maneuvers to get out of basic tasks like driving the kids to school or getting groceries. All of these antics and feisty interactions resulted in numerous hilarious situations, and here are 10 particularly memorable episodes.

10 Marie’s Meatballs — Season 2, Episode 15

Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode Marie’s MeatballsCBS
Debra isn’t a particularly gifted or creative cook, but everyone loves her lemon chicken dish, Ray and Frank included. That is why in the episode “Marie’s Meatballs,” when Ray’s mother brings him her famous spaghetti and meatballs, and he chooses to have it over the chicken, his wife becomes very upset. Ray then asks her to copy Marie’s recipe, and she reluctantly agrees in the hope of making another successful dish in her own household.

Sabotaged Meatballs
Marie seemingly gives Debra her secret recipe and teaches her all the steps, but the end result isn’t quite the same, and Ray still prefers his mom’s meatballs. After some trial and error and a shrewd investigation, it turns out that it’s all Marie’s fault; she was just being her petty self by sabotaging Deb’s meatballs and placing a label for basil on a tarragon jar. Another memorable scene features Marie scolding Frank for putting a practically empty juice jar back in the fridge.

9 The Wallpaper — Season 5, Episode 3

“The Wallpaper” is another iconic episode, and it involves Marie and Frank violently crashing their car into Ray and Debra’s house, completely destroying their parlor and living room. After much deliberation, Frank reluctantly agrees to pay for the damage, but the hired contractor uses different wallpaper from the intact portion of the wall.
Just when audiences thought the in-laws couldn’t make a more intrusive entrance, the Barone patriarch and matriarch pull the ultimate unannounced visit by destroying the front of their son’s house. Not to mention that Ray fixates on how the stripes on the new wallpaper are much thinner than the original, and the job is therefore “incorrect.” Deb tries to convince him to pick his battles and is grateful Frank has agreed to compensate them to begin with, given how cheap he usually is.

8 Robert’s Date — Season 3, Episode 15

Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode Robert’s DateCBS
In the season 3 episode “Robert’s Date,” Judy (Sherri Shepherd), Robert’s patrol partner, feel

s sorry for him and decides to take him out clubbing with her friends at a predominantly black venue. Rob, who is a decent dancer, lets loose and wants to blend in so badly that he picks up black slang and starts dressing differently for days. Judy then desperately asks for Ray’s help because she doesn’t want to hurt Rob’s feelings.

Trying to Be Cool
Garrett delivers a solid performance as the awkward, wannabe cool guy who dresses in outfits that look ridiculous on him and overuses street slang. He thinks he is in his element only because he has been enjoying being part of a more relaxed environment than his usual circle.

Robert: That is so whack!

Ray: We’re Italian, Robert. “Whack” means something else to us.

7 The Model — Season 8, Episode 21
Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode The ModelCBS
Robert has always had complexes about his image. So in the episode “The Model,” when he “gets discovered” by a talent agent for his interesting features and exceptional height, he gets very excited. The next day, he goes to the agency and pays $2000 to have his portfolio taken by the resident photographer, only to later find the premises have been vacated, and he has been scammed.

Desperate and ashamed, Rob enlists Ray to help him take fake portraits, so he can show them to the rest of the family and tell them it was his choice to quit “modeling.”

“Interesting Features”
I can just imagine the headlines: “Giant Cop is Giant Schmuck!”

The irony of a police officer being conned isn’t lost on Rob, and of all the people he could ask for artistic help, he had to pick Ray. The scene of him striking “modeling” poses and Ray stepping into the role of a demanding professional photographer for the fake portfolio is comedic gold. What’s more, Ray gets genuinely upset when the others criticize the printed photos for being poorly framed or too blurry.

6 Debra Makes Something Good — Season 4, Episode 18

Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode Debra Makes Something GoodCBS
In “Debra Makes Something Good,” Deb cooks braciole, and it’s so delicious that Ray, Robert, and Frank keep raving about it and asking for seconds. When Marie gets wind of their excitement, she decides she isn’t going to let such a “mediocre” cook steal her thunder.

Actually Delicious Dinner
Ray and Frank’s facial expressions range from bewilderment to delight, as they can’t believe they’re actually enjoying Debra’s culinary skills; Ray, in particular, has difficulty reconciling this feeling with his guilt over hurting his mother’s ego. Marie, naturally, can’t hide her jealousy and does her best to undermine her daughter-in-law and downplay her success. Eventually, Frank turns back to Marie’s kitchen because it’s more diverse, much to her relief.

5 Marie’s Sculpture — Season 6, Episode 5

In “Marie’s Sculpture,” the Barone matriarch takes an art class and unwillingly produces an abstract sculpture that resembles the female anatomy. Only her boys and Deb are aware of the likeness, and Marie decides to gift it to Ray and Deb and expects them to proudly display it in the house.

A Questionable Statue
Frank is strangely drawn to the sculpture and has no idea why, and Deb is uncomfortable leaving it in the living room for all to see; it’s only a matter of time before Marie walks in on Ray as he is covering it with a garbage bag. Appalled, she decides to gift it to the church auction. But even the nuns (Lauri Johnson and Mary Gillis) who come over to pick it up realize what it represents long before she does. She is outraged when the sisters break the news to her, but Frank is, of course, ecstatic when a caretaker bluntly tells him it looks “like a c**t.”

Marie: Oh, my God… I’m a lesbian!

4 Baggage — Season 7, Episode 22

Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode “Baggage”CBS
In “Baggage,” Deb and Ray have come home from their vacation in Connecticut, and they leave their large suitcase in the middle of the stairs, each refusing to be the one to carry it up to the bedroom and unpack it. The suitcase remains there, unopened, for three whole weeks, despite their individual attempts to make the other one put it away.

Someone Has To Get the Luggage
Heaton was nominated for her acting in this particular episode, and the writer, Tucker Cawley, won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, among others. Cawley based the premise on a real argument with his own wife, and the episode hilariously illustrates how spouses often refuse to fold and compromise out of pride.

3 She’s the One — Season 7, Episode 9
She’s the One, Everybody Loves RaymondCBS
Rob thinks he has met the perfect girlfriend: Angela (Elizabeth Bogush) is beautiful, funny, and sweet. So, he brings her to meet Deb and Ray. Everybody is having a good time until the latter catches Angela gobbling up a fly and relays his disgust to his skeptical brother in the hilarious episode “She’s the One.”

Romano’s own brother, who dumped his date as soon as he realized her obsession with snakes. When Rob visits Angela’s apartment to see for himself what is going on, he finds lots of plush frogs and terrariums full of frogs and insects.

His facial expressions and Ray’s screams of disgust earned this episode an IMDB rating of 9.0. Per user reviews, it’s “One of the funniest of any sitcoms,” and “I can re-watch over and over and see something new every time.”

2 The Toaster — Season 3, Episode 12

Throughout the show, Marie makes it no secret that she is not fond of Ray’s gifts in general. So, when he gets her a toaster for Christmas in the episode “The Toaster,” she doesn’t even open the box and trades it for a state-of-the-art coffee machine. The problem is, Ray had it especially engraved for his parents. Feeling guilty, Marie and Frank go back to the store to retrieve the toaster and keep their coffee maker.

That is My Toaster!
The Herald-Dispatch ranks this episode at number two on its list of the best Christmas episodes, right behind The Big Bang Theory’s “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis.” Some of the most memorable lines include:

Marie: I have my own opinions. I’m not just some trophy wife.

Frank: Trophy wife? What contest in hell did I win?

1 Lucky Suit — Season 6, Episode 16

Sam Anderson in Everybody Loves Raymond’s Episode “Lucky Suit”CBS
In “Lucky Suit,” Robert is over the moon when he finds out he is recommended for an FBI job, and plans on wearing his special suit for the interview. Marie, however, is not having it, as she fears enough for his life as a police officer already; she will do whatever she can to stop him, even march to the local FBI office herself.

Sam Anderson guest stars as Special Agent Thomas Garfield, who tries to keep his cool in front of the panicking, apologetic, and overprotective mother.