Customer Reviews

Everybody Loves Raymond - The Complete First Season [VHS]

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

A consistently funny sit-com. The situations are so typical of a lot of families (including mine!), I'm really laughing at myself.

Season One is a good one with some interesting guest stars. Here's a brief episode guide.

1. Pilot: Debra doesn't want Ray's family to come over for her birthday.
2. I Love You: Debra doesn't know why Raymond has trouble saying "I love you".
3. I Wish I Were Gus gs: Jean Stapleton. Ray is chosen to deliver a eulogy at a funeral where his mother and her feuding sister have a reunion.
4. Standard Deviation: Robert administers IQ tests to Raymond and Debra.
5. Look, Don't Touch: Ray feels guilty about being attracted to a waitress at Nemo's.
6. Frank, the Writer gs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Himself): Ray's dad wants to write his own column.
7. Your Place or Mine? Ray's mother leaves her husband and moves in with Ray and Debra.
8. In-Laws gs: Robert Culp: Ray asks his parents to get along with Debra's parents during a visit.
9. Win, Lose or Draw: Ray ignores his father's advice at a poker game and loses all his money.
10. Turkey or Fish gs: Robert Culp: Debra decides to cook fish for the family Thanksgiving dinner.
11. Captain Nemo: Debra tells Ray that he should be spending time with his kids instead of coaching basketball.
12. The Ball: Ray finds out that his father lied to him about a gift baseball being autographed by Mickey Mantle.
13. Debra's Sick: Ray has to take care of Debra and the kids when Debra gets the flu.
14. Who's Handsome? After hearing Debra tell Robert how handsome he is, Ray gets a make-over.
15. The Car: Debra doesn't like driving the old car Ray bought from his parents, but likes it even less when she learns why Ray likes it so much.
16. Diamonds gs: Barry Bonds (Himself): Ray finds out that the diamond on Debra's ring is a fake.
17. The Game: A game of "Scruples" gets the family arguing about honesty.
18. Recovering Pessimist gs: Katarina Witt (Herself), Tommy Lasorda (Himself), Marv Albert (Himself): Ray allows Debra to persuade him to become more optimistic but then is accused by his family of being big-headed.
19. The Dog gs: Kristie Yamaguchi (Herself): Ray brings home a stray dog, but Robert bonds with the dog.
20. Neighbors gs: Tommy Lasorda (Himself): Neighbors are upset with Ray's parents.
21. Fascinatin' Debra gs: Desmond Howard (Himself): The Barones attract the interest of a popular radio psychologist whose original intent was to interview Debra.
22. Why Are We Here? An episode where Ray and Debra recall how they ended up living across the street from Ray's parents.

Nowadays you just don't see many shows on TV that are worth watching. Everybody loves Raymond is a show that portrays what seems to be a realistic family and they deal with realistic everyday life problems. Such include problems with the parents- in-law, in marriage, in raising children, etc. This show has helped me look at society with a more critical eye also. I am currently a student at the University of California at Berkeley majoring in Sociology and Social Welfare and I find so many themes that we've spoken about in my classes here. The complexity of the characters and of the problems they face provide the viewer with a funny, yet educational, portrayal of family life.

The first season of "Raymond" is very different in tone and delivery than it was in years to come. Many shows hit their stride right out of the box and others have to adapt to the talents on hand and run with things that explode later on. It took a while for the writers of "Raymond" to find the voice of each character and form them accordingly. The now-iconic personalities didn't gel until the middle of the first season. But when they did, it became a legend.

The writers weren't the only ones searching about. As just one example, actor Brad Garrett tinkered around before he found the literal voice of Robert: He completely altered his delivery from a coarse baritone to a mopey bass as he learned what clicked with the audience.

It's fun watching the characters develop and the actors begin to own their parts. Romano will readily admit he's the weakest actor but - like Jerry Seinfeld - he tethers the rest of the cast together. And what a cast! Special props to Patty Heaton. She goes so much against the "beleaguered sitcom wife" stereotype that it's absolutely refreshing.

My only complaint? No Play All function. In fact, this is one of those annoying formats that makes you go through two menus to watch each episode. Play All should be industry standard by now.

This is fantastic, I watched this a lot when I was holidaying in the U.S. and for the last few weeks it has been shown in the U.K. Everything about this show is so funny, It brightens up my day no end when I watch this, I am only sad it isn't on longer!!

When EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND got started, back in 1996, it started out at a slow and unassuming pace, introducing us to the delightfully off-the-wall shenanigans of the Barone family. Ray Barone (Ray Romano) is a sports writer with two beautiful twin boys and a daughter (all played by the Sweetin children, younger siblings of Jodi Sweetin of FULL HOUSE fame), as well as a long suffering wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), his older brother, Robert (Brad Garrett) and his parents, Marie (Doris Roberts) and Frank (Peter Boyle of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN fame).

What sets this show apart from other programs is its matter-of-fact approach to the trials and tribulations of a very close knit family (sometimes, painfully close knit!). These early episodes really set the pace for future episodes that only grew more and more hilarious. The formative shows introduced us to the neurotic Robert, who went through a painful divorce and moved back in with his parents. His mother, Marie, is overbearing, perfectionist and narcissistic, yet, she also genuinely wants what's best for her kids. Granted, Ray and Robert are both in their mid thirties. Frank, on the other hand, is unabashedly blunt, harsh and apathetic to human suffering (with the exception of the time he spent in Korea during the war). Ray is an overgrown man-child wh married the more sophisticated Debra, and there are times when both of them wonder how they even ended up together! Yet, at the end of the day, they sincerelly love each other. This is a great program and I definitely reccomend this DVD, as a fine way to get started on your RAYMOND addiction.

I am pretty sure that while some of you have been tuning into "Raymond" from the very beginning, there are many, many other loyal fans who didn't start getting into the show until it really took off around Season 4. In any case, this season is a very fun one to revisit and will undoubtedly take you back to the cast's much earlier days.

Seasons 1 and 2 focused mostly on Ray, Debra and their very young family. 5-year-old Madylin Sweeten and her real-life brothers, 1-year-old twins Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten, were sweet and fun to watch as such little kids. The characters, in general, were not nearly as developed as they became, which is all too natural, but the storylines were fresh and genuinely funny.

It's not my favorite season, just because the characters were brand new and didn't have much to them quite yet (Ray and Debra barely even argued), but I enjoy watching the episodes to see how far everyone has come in these past 9 years. As always, it's nearly impossible not to pinpoint at least one of these characters who reminds you of someone you know from your own life, which is why it's so hilarious to watch. "The sitcom of our times," indeed!

Outside of episodes 4-Standard Deviation, 5-Look, Don't Touch, 10-Turkey Or Fish, 20-Neighbors, 21-Fascinatin Debra, & 22-Why Are We Here?. The first season was not stellar by any means. The first episode and the Eulogy were lame. Thankfully, this series was not cancelled. It would turn out to be one of my favorites over time. Episode 4, saw the war between the sexes in full blossum, & the last two episodes is when the series hit its stride. The characters & their very strident differences came out in ways that you knew would make for a far better second season. The Barones will be very missed.

This is one of the best family-oriented sitcom this decade. "Everybody Loves Raymond" put a new twist on the family sitcom. Most good "family" sitcom we know, such as Fullhouse, Growing Pains, and the Cosby Show, deals mostly with parents-children situation and tension. ELR is different as it really focuses on the tension between a middle-aged man and his meddlesome parents. Raymond's young children have relatively little cameo, though some episodes deal with them (e.g., Pet Cemetary, Micheal's Basketball).

I think this TV show is great, simply because we all have similar situations that we can relate to. And the older we get (middle-aged), the more likely these situation occurs. For example, parents who come over all the time, or your mom who doesn't think your wife is "good" enough. ELR takes those cases and put it in a comedic light. The typical spousal tension is there as well, and the best episode for that is "the Can Opener," shown in a later season. There are other episodes where Debra (Ray's wife) and Ray get into each other nerve, but there are too many to count.

For this first season, my favorite episodes are "Standard Deviation" and "Who's Handsome." The first pilot episode is definitely different, and you can tell that the actors and actresses are still a little rusty and starting to get used to working among each other. If you follow the first episode onward, you'll realized that certain things carried over to the next year and the next. The "fruit-of-the-month" first brought up in the 1st episode has carried on to the 9th season!

My girlfriend thinks that Friends is the best sitcom today, but she said that she enjoys ELR because it is more family-oriented. I like it because I love to see Brad Garrett, the guy who plays Raymond's older and quirky brother. He plays a brother who always feels second-place, and you can feel that weight in his face as the years go on. How can you not like this guy! By the way, this show has some strong language, like d*** and the B-word. It also has references to sex. So probably not for younger children.

Everybody Loves Raymond is quite possibly the greatest sitcom of all time. (It is WAY funnier that Seinfeld, which was more clever than funny, but apparently people confuse the two.) There is a real innocence to the first season that gradually eroded as the show progressed. It's as if the writers made a conscious decision to sacrifice the "clean family sitcom" image for "edgy family sitcom", without going so far as to sacrifice what made the show so enduring. When watching the first season in retrospect it's almost weird how well Ray and Debra get along here. Debra practically never yells at Ray and there's a cheesy "conflict resolution" scene between them at the end of almost every episode. Some people liked this side of their relationship when compared to other seasons and started to hate the show when it started to move away from this device. I don't care for it. I'd much rather have Debra yelling at Ray or vice versa every episode, it's funnier that way. Their constant arguing started getting annoying in the sixth season, but thankfully the writers got things back on track for the final three seasons.

Season one has many typical sitcom plots and some are pulled of better than others. Only the episode "Standard Deviation" seems like it would be at home in later seasons. The actors were still trying to find their way as well. Brad Garret doesn't alter his baritone delivery until late in the season and Romano speaks in a bored, monotone voice.

The pilot episode does a nice job of introducing the characters and setting up the premise as well as some running gags. Fans should get this season set just to see how radically different it is from the others and how far it came. The fact that this show's potential was turned into greatness is a testament to its writers and actors.

First telecast in the Fall of 1996, Everybody Loves Raymond became an instant favorite among TV audiences, a love affair that would last for nine memorable seasons. Following on the heels of a series of successful sitcoms starring stand-up comics - Seinfeld, Home Improvement, The Drew Carey Show, etc., Everybody Loves Raymond drew upon the comedic talents of Ray Romano who plays the role of the title character Ray Barone...

A successful Long Island-based sportswriter, Ray and his wife Debra (Patricia Heaton) enjoy a happy marriage and the company of their three children - daughter Ally (Madylin Sweeten) and twin sons Geoffrey (Sawyer Sweeten) and Michael (Sullivan Sweeten). But they also happen to live directly across the street from Ray's parents, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), who take it upon themselves to enter their son and daughter-in-law's house whenever they wish (without knocking) and dispense advice and sometimes insults. Joining Frank and Marie is Ray's brother Robert (Brad Garrett), a divorced policeman, who periodically lives with Frank and Marie and is often jealous of Ray's idyllic life. Together, they create the perfect loving and dysfunctional family...

The Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 1) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which Debra and Ray, sick of Ray's parents and brother showing up uninvited, conspire to keep their nosy relatives out of the house... Other notable episodes include "Frank, The Writer" in which Ray's father attempts to become a newspaper columnist like his son, and "Turkey or Fish" in which Debra and Marie engage in an unofficial competition to see who can cook the best Thanksgiving dinner... The Season 1 DVD also includes guest appearances by sports icons Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Terry Bradshaw, Barry Bonds, Katarina Witt, Tommy Lasorda, Marv Albert, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Desmond Howard...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Pilot)
Episode 2 (I Love You)
Episode 3 (I Wish I Were Gus)
Episode 4 (Standard Deviation)
Episode 5 (Look, Don't Touch)
Episode 6 (Frank, The Writer)
Episode 7 (Your Place Or Mine?)
Episode 8 (In-Laws)
Episode 9 (Win, Lose Or Draw)
Episode 10 (Turkey Or Fish)
Episode 11 (Captain Nemo)
Episode 12 (The Ball)
Episode 13 (Debra's Sick)
Episode 14 (Who's Handsome?)
Episode 15 (The Car)
Episode 16 (Diamonds)
Episode 17 (The Game)
Episode 18 (Recovering Pessimist)
Episode 19 (The Dog)
Episode 20 (Neighbors)
Episode 21 (Fascinatin' Debra)
Episode 22 (Why Are We Here?)

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