DVD Review | Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 1)
Written by: Kage Alan

I’ve gotten to the age where I’ve separated my film and television tastes from my parents.  Every offspring does that, right?  Since we no longer “have” to watch what our parents do, we go our own way…sometimes even purposely.  Suffice to say that my folks have loved this show since the first time they caught it.  When they recommended it to me, I avoided it like the plague.  Was it the right thing to do?  Probably not.  Was it a “me” thing to do?  Definitely.  It took me until I watched “Welcome To Mooseport” to become interested enough in the talents of Ray Romano to give this show a chance.  I’m glad I did and it annoys me that my folks were right.

For those of you like me, here’s a bit of a recap.  Sports writer Ray Romano has everything a man could want…well, mostly.  He has a wonderful career, a spunky wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), who knows how to keep him in check, three young children (fortunately and as the title sequence tells us, it’s not about the kids) and his parents (Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts) and brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), who live across the street.  Yes, directly across the street.  Does the word “meddlesome” describe your family?  Well, wait until you meet these people.  Mom can’t help but express every opinion that comes into her head, dad wants to do his own thing with impunity and Robert desires the recognition he’s never gotten because everybody loves Raymond.

While the majority of the episodes have their charm and fair share of humor, there is one that continues to stick in my mind; “Standard Deviation.” Robert decides to give Ray and Debra a test to see who has the larger IQ.  Naturally, it goes the way the audience expects, then takes a turn for the hilarious when Robert admits there was a mix-up in the results.  What ensues reminded me exactly of how my partner and I would react to each other.  And the end?  Talk about busting a gut!  I haven’t watched something that funny in a while.  The other aspect of the show that gets me is the mother.  She is just as insightful and frustrating as they come.  Talk about blowing all the wrong things out of proportion…  I love that woman, but am not sure I could cope with her like her kids do.

As for casting, this show couldn’t have come together more perfectly cast.  Doris Roberts owns her part while Peter Boyle is a beautiful foil.  The two have terrific chemistry and are a pleasure to watch.  And speaking of foils, Patricia Heaton is in complete control of her character as well as her hold over her goofy-acting television husband.  While all of these actors are standouts, Brad Garrett takes the cake.  He manages to play the gentile, jilted giant with just the right amount of adult perspective mixed with childhood innocence.

HBO has released “Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 1)” in its original Full Screen ratio.  Video quality is fairly consistent as is audio.  I have no real complaints with either of them.  As for extras, they’ve done us proud!  There are two commentaries, one on the pilot episode and one on the final episode, with Creator Philip Rosenthal and Ray Romano.  They give some fantastic information on the show, about how things evolved, where they went and their own observations of the first season.  Fans of the show won’t be disappointed with them.  Aside from that, there’s featurettes “How We Got Here” (22 ¾ min), “Casting The Family” (11 min), “On The Air” (20 ¾ min) and Ray’s Appearance on David Letterman (5 ½ min).  It’s nice to see something more than a series of 5 minute snippets.  There’s real material here.

By himself, Ray Romano is indeed funny.  With an ensemble cast such as what the show has here, he’s downright hysterical and I am beginning to understand why it’s lasted so many years.  For those who have watched the show from its debut or shortly thereafter, it’s going to be great fun going back and resdiscovering its origins.  For those of us who missed it, we’re going to have a great time starting from the beginning and watching it without commercials!  There’s terrific fun to be had here.

Season Rating: B+
DVD Special Features: A