Everybody Loves Raymond earned a lot of nominations and awards, winning a total of 15 Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Heaton, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Roberts, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Multi-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series.
Here is a selection of some the show’s most memorable quotes and the context that led to them.
11
“Are you hungry, dear?”
This is Marie’s most repeated line throughout the seasons, and it expresses so much in very few words. As an overbearing mother who constantly criticizes her daughter-in-law’s cooking and use of ready-made sauces, store-bought snacks, and frozen dishes, she automatically assumes, whenever Ray visits her, that he’s starving or has just had an unsavory dish or sandwich at home. So, she asks him, “Are you hungry, dear?” as soon as he opens her kitchen door, and Ray doesn’t help change her mindset because he immediately sits down for whatever she is willing to prepare for him.
10
“You’re born, you go to school, you go to work, you die.”
In season 6’s 19th episode “Talk to Your Daughter,” Ray clumsily attempts to explain the birds and the bees to Ally, but she is more interested in philosophical questions on a grander scale, which gets the whole family thinking and discussing the meaning of life. When Ray and Deb panic in front of him, Frank dismisses the issue as not complicated, and says, “Listen to me. Here is what life is. You’re born, you go to school, you go to work, you die. That’s it. That’s all. Cannoli, Marie!” Food and watching sports games are all that matter to him.
9
“What contest in hell did I win?”
In season 3’s 12th episode “The Toaster,” Ray wants to get his parents a meaningful Christmas present, so he has a toaster engraved with a love message from his little family to theirs. Unaware that it’s personalized, Marie and Frank return it for a coffee maker. When an outraged Ray finds out and explains it isn’t just an ordinary toaster, they attempt to get it back from the store, but it’s no easy task with so many toasters around. As Marie and Frank are bickering about the best way to approach the salesman regarding the issue, he asks her, “Can’t you just ever be quiet?”, to which she replies with, “Don’t you tell me to be quiet! I have a mind of my own, you know. I can contribute. I’m not just some trophy wife.” Frank then looks at her in disbelief, and says, “You’re a trophy wife? What contest in hell did I win?”
8
“This is the woman who shows up once a month to rip into me like a monkey on a cupcake!”
One of the show’s most memorable episodes is season 4’s 22nd chapter “Bad Moon Rising,” in which Debra shows clear signs of PMS and Ray clumsily attempts to calm her down, avoid clashing with her, and even brings her medication to ease her irritability. He is terrified of her, compares her moody alter-ego to Hyde, and has the nerve to secretly get her outbursts on a tape recorder as evidence. Enraged, Debra pushes him into a corner and asks him whether he considered giving her a simple hug to comfort her. He then protests with, “This is not huggable! This? This is not Debra. This is the woman who shows up once a month to rip into me like a monkey on a cupcake!
7
“‘Whack’ means something different to us.”
In “Robert’s Date,” the 15th episode from season 3, Robert’s African-American partner, the bubbly and feisty Sergeant Judy (played by Sherri Shephard), takes him out to her favorite joint. Robert has so much fun there dancing and hanging out with her friends that, over the weeks, he starts adopting their mannerisms, dressing like them, and using their slang. Ray and Judy try to get him to stop acting like he’s part of that community.
6
“He hates it when I cry. It reminds him of our wedding night.”
In season 1’s third episode “I Wish I Were Gus,” Ray’s great uncle Gus dies, and he’s asked to give the eulogy. Distressed he has to give a speech in front of people, he nevertheless asks Marie to make use of the opportunity to mends things with her sister Alda, whom she hasn’t spoken with in years. Marie then tries to get out of attending the service, under the excuse that she’d become too emotional, which Fra
