An introduction to "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996-2005)

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran from September 13th, 1996 to 16th May 2005. The show ran for nine seasons and was immensely popular all around the world. This article looks at the successful programme in more detail.

Background of the show

The show revolves around the life of Italian-American Raymond Barone, who is a newspaper sportswriter from Lynbrook, Long Island, New York and his family. Raymond lives with his wife Debra, their daughter Ally and their identical twin sons Michael and Geoffrey. Although, the kids are present throughout the series and the same actors are used, they are not a major focus of the show. Ray and Debra The main focus of the show is Ray and his wife. Raymond and Debra constantly have marital disagreements, with Raymond preferring to watch sports television instead of talking with Debra about important matters. Like his father, Raymond works full-time, leaving all the child-rearing responsibilities to Debra, and he has to be bullied into helping with any work around the house. A recurring theme on the show has them having a long interaction each night while in bed, just before going to sleep. Raymond's parents, Marie and Frank, and brother Robert, live across the street, and frequently make their presence known to the frustration of Raymond and Debra. Debra's frequent complaints about Raymond's family are a running joke.

Ray and Robert

Robert is Ray's older brother and he is Ray's biggest nemesis. Robert, who is insecure and jealous of Raymond for being the favourite son, as well as Raymond's relative success in both his professional and family life. Robert and Raymond are frequently seen fighting like children and picking on each other.

Broadcasting

Everybody loves Raymond was, and still is, broadcast in an incredible twenty seven countries other than the United States of America including in the United Kingdom, Australia and even as far a field as Malaysia. In the U.K, the show was shown on Channel 4 and Comedy Central and re-runs are still shown reguarly (01.08.11). All nine seasons of the show are also available on DVD and home video. The complete series of the show came out on DVD in 2008.