43 Fun Facts About Everybody Loves Raymond

Which newspaper does Ray write for?

Newsday, the real Long Island daily, employs Ray as a sportswriter; several episodes turn on his column deadlines and his road trips to cover games.

On which network did the show air its entire run?

The show is credited with helping revive CBS after its struggles in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

How many episodes were produced across the show's run?

210 episodes were made over nine seasons between the September 1996 premiere and the series finale.

In which Long Island town do the Barones live?

Lynbrook, in Nassau County, is the Barones' hometown on the show; Ray Romano himself grew up in Forest Hills, Queens.

Who created the series?

Philip Rosenthal, previously a writer on Coach, created the show for David Letterman's Worldwide Pants after the company signed Ray Romano following his 1995 Late Show stand-up spot.

Which real-life relative of Ray Romano inspired the character of Robert?

His brother Richard, the older of Ray Romano's two brothers, was the model for Robert; Romano also has a younger brother who really is named Robert.

What nervous habit is Robert Barone known for?

Touching food to his chin before eating is Robert's tic, seen in nearly every meal scene at Marie's table and mocked by Ray throughout the series.

What is Robert Barone's profession?

NYPD police officer is Robert's job: he starts the series as a sergeant, is promoted to lieutenant late in the run, and his patrol partner Judy is played by Sherri Shepherd.

What is Frank Barone's signature catchphrase?

"Holy crap" is the reflexive outburst of Ray's father whenever something surprises or annoys him, heard in nearly every episode and adopted by fans as his trademark.

What did Frank Barone do for a living before retiring?

Bookkeeper was the trade of Ray's father until he retired; he is also a Korean War veteran who brings up his service whenever it suits him.

What is the name of the lodge Frank belongs to?

His fellow lodge members once named him Man of the Year.

Debra Barone's maiden name is what?

Whelan is the maiden name of Ray's wife: her parents Warren and Lois Whelan, played by Robert Culp and Katherine Helmond, are wealthy and divorce late in the series.

Before marrying Ray, Debra worked in public relations for which team?

New York Rangers is the team: Ray's wife handled public relations for the NHL club before their marriage, a career she sometimes contrasts with life at home with three children.

Whose best friend is Amy MacDougall before she starts dating Robert?

Debra introduces the two, and Amy and Robert break up several times before finally marrying in season 7.

What were the twins named in the pilot episode, before being changed to Geoffrey and Michael?

Gregory and Matthew are the names of Ray Romano's real twin sons, borrowed for the pilot; from the second episode the characters were renamed Geoffrey and Michael.

How did Robert once get injured on the job?

Gored by a bull at an illegal rodeo is what happened to Robert in the fourth-season episode 'Robert's Rodeo'; he was hurt in the rear while breaking up the event and thought about quitting the force.

Who played Frank Barone?

Peter Boyle played Ray's father for all nine seasons and was Emmy-nominated seven times for the role without winning; he died in December 2006.

The actor who played Ray's father earlier starred in which Mel Brooks film?

Young Frankenstein (1974) cast him as the Monster, famously tap-dancing to 'Puttin' on the Ritz'; he also played the cabbie Wizard in Taxi Driver.

Who played the meddling matriarch Marie Barone?

Doris Roberts won four Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy as Marie; she had earlier played Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele and died in 2016.

Who played Ray's towering brother Robert?

Brad Garrett, 6 feet 8 inches tall, played Robert and won three Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series; he later voiced Gusteau in Ratatouille.

Who played Debra Barone?

Patricia Heaton won two Emmys as Ray's wife, in 2000 and 2001, and went on to nine seasons as the harried mother on The Middle.

Who played Amy MacDougall?

Monica Horan played Amy from her first guest appearance in season 1 through the finale; in real life she is married to the show's creator.

The child actors who played twins Geoffrey and Michael were the real-life brothers of which co-star?

Madylin Sweeten, who played Ally, is the older sister of Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten, the twins cast as Geoffrey and Michael; all three were born in Brownwood, Texas.

Who was Ally Barone named after?

Ray Romano's real-life daughter, Alexandra, gave Ally her name; Alexandra Romano also appeared on the show as Molly, Ally's best friend.

Which comedian played a friend of Ray's and later starred in The King of Queens?

Kevin James played Ray's friend Kevin Daniels in the early seasons before starring as Doug Heffernan on The King of Queens from 1998; Ray Barone turned up in several crossover episodes.

Which comic actor played Amy's father, Hank MacDougall, in the later seasons?

Fred Willard played Amy's father Hank MacDougall in the show's last three seasons, earning an Emmy nomination as a guest actor each year; Georgia Engel played his wife Pat.

Ray Romano is also the voice of which character in the Ice Age films?

Manny the mammoth has been Ray Romano's voice role since the first Ice Age film in 2002, through the sequels including 2016's Collision Course.

How many Primetime Emmy Awards did the show win from its 69 nominations?

15 Emmys came from 69 nominations; ten of them were for acting, shared by the four leads playing Ray, his wife, his brother and his mother, and two were for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In which two years did the show win the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series?

2003 and 2005 were the Outstanding Comedy Series years, the latter for the final season; in 2002 the show lost the top prize to Friends even though three of its actors won that night.

Which 2000 episode brought the show its first acting Emmy, for the actress playing Debra?

Bad Moon Rising, a fourth-season episode about the PMS of Ray's wife and his clumsy attempts to help, was the episode behind the 2000 Emmy win for the actress playing her.

Roughly how many viewers watched the series finale in May 2005?

32.9 million viewers watched the finale on 16 May 2005, the close of the ninth season, preceded by a one-hour retrospective special on the same network.

The house used for exterior shots of Ray and Debra's home is in which Long Island village?

Merrick, in Nassau County, has the real house at 135 Margaret Boulevard used for the exteriors of Ray's home, directly across from the house that stood in for his parents'.

The actor who played Frank suffered what medical emergency on set in March 1999?

A heart attack struck him during rehearsals in March 1999; he recovered and returned within weeks, having been written out of a few late third-season episodes.

In the episode "Baggage," what do Ray and Debra leave sitting on the stairs for three weeks?

A suitcase from a weekend trip sits on the landing for weeks as neither will carry it up; Marie then admits that the giant fork and spoon on her wall came from a similar standoff with her husband.

What does Marie's abstract artwork resemble in the episode "Marie's Sculpture"?

Female genitalia is what everyone but Marie sees in her abstract sculpture in the sixth-season episode; Ray, his wife and Robert scramble to keep it out of sight before she finally notices.

In "The Canister," who takes the blame after Debra realizes she never returned Marie's canister?

Frank takes the blame in the fifth-season episode, telling Marie he had the canister all along, after Ray's wife finds it at home and cannot face admitting Marie was right.

Which NFL legend guest-starred in the season 1 episode "Debra's Sick"?

Terry Bradshaw appeared as himself in the first-season episode, in which Ray's plan to interview the Hall of Fame quarterback collides with his wife and children falling ill.

In the hour-long "Italy" episode, whom does the family travel to visit?

Marie's cousin Colletta hosts the Barones in the two-part fifth-season opener, filmed on location in Italy; Ray sulks for much of the trip before finally falling for the place.

What is Ray's medical procedure in the series finale?

Having his adenoids removed is Ray's minor operation; when he is slow to wake from the anaesthetic the family panics, then agrees to keep the scare from him once he comes round.

In "Marie's Meatballs," how does Marie undermine Debra's attempt to learn her recipe?

She secretly sabotages the ingredients: Marie swaps the basil in the spice jar for tarragon so the meatballs fail, and later confesses she feared being needed less.

What is the title of the 2010 documentary about adapting the show for Russian television?

Exporting Raymond (2010) follows the show's creator to Moscow as he helps build the Russian version; he directed and narrated it, and Ray Romano appears briefly.

The Russian adaptation was broadcast under what title?

The Voronins (Voroniny) was the Russian title, moving the Barones to a Moscow apartment block; it began on the STS channel in 2009 and ran for a decade.

Roughly how many episodes did the Russian remake produce, a Guinness record as the longest adapted TV show?

552 episodes were made over 24 seasons by 2019, well beyond the American run; once the original scripts were used up, the Russian writers produced new stories of their own.