All Episodes Talk: Just Don't Eat a Fly

[zxy556575]

For general show discussion.

[FormerMod-a1]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[ByTor]

The other night I was watching the episode "Who Am I?" where Raymond seemed bored with his friends and pondered joining Frank's lodge.  Debra was miffed that Ray didn't enjoy the Amazon lecture series, after she was initially excited that Ray wanted to do "what adults do."  Well then I guess I'm still not an adult, because I would have been snoring right next to Ray if I were there!

[CherryAmes]

I'd have been miffed if my husband fell asleep on me in public, especially right where the speaker could see him.  Talk about embarrassing!  On the other hand maybe Deb should have encouraged Ray to do grown up stuff with something a little more Ray-ish.  Aside from sex and golf though I'm not sure what other grown up interest she could have tried to get him to do!  But yeah, a lecture on the Amazon seemed guaranteed to fail.

Edited August 28, 2015 by CherryAmes

[ByTor]

Oh yeah, I'd be embarrassed as well...and then along came the "poke my eye out" comment!  As far as other "adult" activities are concerned, they live close enough to NYC that I'm sure they'd be able to find something to do.  Oh wait, this is Ray we're talking about, a man for whom a trip to Italy was nothing but a whine-fest! 

 

Speaking of Italy, Debra had one of my all-time favorite lines.  When Ray complained about a vacation with his parents, Debra said "They're going to bother us anyway, they might as well do it in Italy!"

Edited August 28, 2015 by ByTor

[Guest]

Reading the "Best of" thread made me wonder, how would you rank the seasons from best to worst?

 

Season 6 - I think this was just the strongest overall season.  "The Angry Family" "Marie's Sculpture" "Season's Greetings"  "Tissues"  "Lucky Suit" and "Older Women" are just classics.  And then there is "The Skit" which might be my favorite episode EVER. It ended with the Marie / Debra rift which I don't think was the strongest plot, but it had a lot of laughs too.  The only episode I really disliked this season was "Cookies."

 

Season 4 was where I felt the show really started hitting its stride.  "The Can Opener" "The Will" "Debra Makes Something Good" "No Thanks" and "Prodigal Son" are some of my favorites this season. My absolute favorite though is "Bad Moon Rising."  I don't really care for "Alone Time" or "Confronting the Attacker" or "Hackidu." "The Christmas Picture" makes me laugh but if I think about it, I get angry with Debra and Marie to the point I don't enjoy it.  But the others make up for it.

 

Season 8 - I absolutely love "Thank You Notes" if only for the ending scene. I also love "Misery Loves Company" "The Contractor" "Liars" "The Bird" "Crazy Chin" and "Blabbermouths."  I think this season used Amy's family, but didn't overuse them the way I felt Season 9 did. They were best in more limited doses. 

 

Season 7 ended very strongly with Robert's wedding and the leadup to it.  From "The Plan" and "The Shower" to the world's worst Bachelor party, I enjoyed the lead-up to the wedding. Also, Robert's proposal to Amy.  I can also never forget "Baggage" which is another one of those milestone episodes that is such a classic. However, I really dislike "Grandpa Steals" "Sleepover at Peggy's" "The Sigh" and "The Annoying Kid."  A lot of the other episodes are middle of the road- "Marie's Vision" was one of the weaker Thanksgiving ones, I hate everyone in "The Thought That Counts" but it has it's laughs, and the "Robert Needs Money" plotline was very weak 

 

Season 9 The second episode of season 9 where they make Ray and Debra take Frank and Marie back with them is one of my favorites of the season. The scene where they detail everything wrong with Frank and Marie and Debra and Ray feign surprise before finally cracking is so well done. I also love Boys' Therapy, Favors, and Sister-in-Law.  I dislike Debra's Parents, A Date for Peter, and The Faux Pas.  I think the finale is almost perfect.

 

Season 5 - other than "The Canister" and "The Wallpaper" this season is very mediocre to me.  Italy bored me. The Walk to the Door is one of my least favorite episodes.  I get very frustrated by "Super Bowl" and I get easily bored with Stefania. ". "Frank Paints the House" also makes me hate the majority of the characters, so it isn't very good.

 

Season 3 had two of the best holiday episodes of the series. I almost always loved the holiday themed episodes but "No Fat" and "The Toaster" are really two of the best.  However, I didn't really care about Robert moving out, his relationship drama, and I really didn't like where Marie and Ray went on a cruise.  

 

Season 2 had a number of episodes I love - The Checkbook, Marie's Meatballs, Good Girls, T-Ball, and Traffic School. However, I dislike Six Feet Under, The Garage Sale, The Wedding, The Family Bed, and Father Knows Least.  They went way too hard to portray Debra as the martyr and Ray as the bumbling idiot.  

 

Season 1 suffered from trying to establish the show, as many pilot seasons do. There aren't very many episodes that really stick out to me - Turkey or Fish and The Game are really the only ones I like rewatching from this season.

[ByTor]

This is fun!

Season 3: There are consecutive episodes that I truly do not like (Frank's Tribute-Cruising with Marie-Ray Home Alone-Big Shots), but despite that, the episodes I love are among my favorites, including The Invasion, Driving Frank (I forgot to give the signal!), Robert's Date, The Getaway, Working Girl, and Be Nice. I have fallen asleep to Working Girl-Be Nice on Netflix for the past week!

Season 4: This season has several consecutive episodes that I absolutely LOVE: The Sister-Cousin Gerard-Debra's Workouts-No Thanks, and I adore Hackidu (mostly due to Paul Reubens) & What's with Robert; what keeps this from being tied with Season 3 for my favorite is that some of my most despised episodes are here, namely Bad Moon Rising, Someone's Cranky, Prodigal Son, Alone Time, and Confronting the Attacker.

Season 6: Many good ones here, including Snow Day (one of my all-time favorites), Seasons Greetings, Tissues, The Skit, The Angry Family, Older Women, Frank Goes Downstairs, Marie's Sculpture, and Raybert. I'm not a fan of Jealous Robert, No Roll, and Cookies, but it's the whole "Debra and Marie aren't speaking" arc that keeps me from ranking this season higher.

 

Season 5:  Mostly strong episodes in this season, my favorites being Italy, The Wallpaper, The Author, The Walk to the Door, The Canister, Silent Partners, and Humm Vac.  I really REALLY don't like Meant to Be, What Good Are You, Net Worth, Separation, and Super Bowl.

 

Season 7: My favorite of this season is Homework, mostly because I love that Marie read the running backs of the NFL book (a spoooorts book!) and includes my favorite Thanksgiving episode Marie's Vision.  The Annoying Kid, She's the One, The Thought that Counts, Just a Formality, Meeting the Parents, and Robert's Wedding were also ones I loved.  I like Baggage all right, but I don't find it as funny as most people do (my favorite part of that one is a little random, it was the scene where Raymond put on the wrinkled shirt from out of the suitcase).  I utterly do NOT like Pet the Bunny (I HATE the "Frank is the toughest tough guy who ever toughed" episodes), Robert Needs Money (yes, Raymond DID have a right to say something about you using that money to go to Vegas), Grandpa Steals, Somebody Hates Raymond, Sweet Charity, and The Disciplinarian.

 

Season 2: Love Civil War, Mia Famiglia (I think we all wanted a relative like Zia Sarina, Ray!), Marie's Meatballs, and The Checkbook (Robert & Raymond kicking the ATM with the elevator music playing in the background will never NOT be funny).  I was so-so on most of the others, but had a special dislike for Mozart, The Family Bed, and T-Ball (I mean, yes Debra is "busy as hell" but if she had time to pick up pretzels at the grocery store for a snack, she could have bought carrot sticks and granola bars instead), and The Garage Sale.

 

Season 8:  This actually has some that among my most watched, including Misery Loves Company, Thank You notes, Blabbermouths, The Bird, Jazz Records, and Model, but IMO it also includes some of the weakest, including Home From School (although I did like the "Pee Pee Raymond" story), Peter on the Couch, Liars, Slave, Lateness, Crazy Chin, and Debra at the Lodge (which started the skeevy "Debra is hot" crap).

 

Season 9:  Saved by The Home and Not so Fast, and to a degree I enjoy The Faux Pas and a Date for Peter; IMO the rest was just bad. 

 

Season 1:  I agree it suffers from "finding itself" syndrome.  Turkey or Fish is the only episode I like from that season.

[Guest]

 

Season 2: Love Civil War, Mia Famiglia (I think we all wanted a relative like Zia Sarina, Ray!), Marie's Meatballs, and The Checkbook (Robert & Raymond kicking the ATM with the elevator music playing in the background will never NOT be funny).  I was so-so on most of the others, but had a special dislike for Mozart, The Family Bed, and T-Ball (I mean, yes Debra is "busy as hell" but if she had time to pick up pretzels at the grocery store for a snack, she could have bought carrot sticks and granola bars instead), and The Garage Sale.

 

A lot of my issues with ELR stem from Debra always feeling she is the busiest person, has it the worst, etc.  I feel like she truly enjoys playing the victim.  This is one example - someone else took the role of organizing it for all you busy parents, and yes, they were ridiculous.  But rather than step up to organize something, you just don't follow the guidelines set.  The Family Bed - she wanted Allie be in her bed, but made Ray the one who had to enforce it.  And then she got upset when he did.  I'm sure twins are a ton of work, but she had built-in help from Marie seemingly whenever she wanted it, she had a babysitter coming 3 times a week until she got jealous of her, she didn't have to work outside the home - Debra complained far too much, in my opinion.

[ByTor]

Debra complained far too much, in my opinion.

In mine, too. I know the counter-argument is usually that Ray is a whiny baby who won't help around the house, but in Working Girl (Season 3), Debra comments that the twins are in pre-school 5 days a week, and Ray mentioned Ally being 6, so she was either in kindergarten or 1st grade. IMO there is no reason why she would need help with the house when the kids aren't even there.

And because I'm all riled up over T-Ball...I don't get that whole "you should stick up for me because I'm your wife" thing. Debra was wrong and was being obnoxious about it, she should have been called out. Of course that may be a reason why I'm divorced :)

Edited October 19, 2015 by ByTor

[Homily]

And because I'm all riled up over T-Ball...I don't get that whole "you should stick up for me because I'm your wife" thing. Debra was wrong and was being obnoxious about it, she should have been called out. Of course that may be a reason why I'm divorced :)

 

The problem in that episode wasn't so much that Ray didn't stick up for Debra but that he did what he always does, sucks up to others and throws family under the bus.  Frankly if anyone talked to me the way that guy had talked to Debra my husband would have had something to say even if later we would have talked about where I was in the wrong too.

[Guest]

Speaking of the T ball episode, I liked that Patricia Heaton was sick for it. It gave it that touch of realism that sometimes you're a little sick and keep going and don't have time for nonsense about soccer snacks. ;)

[ByTor]

I'm not seeing where Debra got thrown under the bus, or how Coach Brian spoke to her in a way that would warrant her needing to be defended. Yes Brian is a big pain in the ass, but he told her the snack she brought wasn't on the approved snack list, it's not as if he said "Pretzels are not on the approved snack list, you stupid bitch" As usual, Debra had to argue under her usual crutch of being " busy as hell," because apparently throwing a box of healthy food in a shopping cart is more taxing on her time than throwing in a box of pretzels. She started an argument at a little kid t-ball game because she refuses to admit she was wrong. With the exception of Bad Moon Rising, I find this episode to be Debra at her worst.

[BogoGog24]

Well I can understand the logic of it being just as simple for Debra to get a healthy snack as an unhealthy one, however #1 a lot of TV shows don't often use real world logic anyway and #2 it's not as though she brought cookies or chips. Pretzels may not have been on the "approved" list but they're not exactly unhealthy and I think that's why Debra wanted to defend herself because they treated it as though she brought deep fried Oreos or something. Her snack was perfectly fine and I guess she thought Ray should have sided with her in that regard.

[Homily]

It was the way Coach Brian spoke - he was fricking obnoxious!  Total kudos to Dan Castellaneta - I wanted to reach through the screen and smack him as well!  Plus let's face it the writers had Ray absolutely turn on Bri-Bri-Brian at the end and I'm sure the stuff they had Ray say reflected how he had really felt about the whole thing.  And that was Debra's point.  He never disagreed with her in the first place, he just wouldn't take her side and be supportive if it meant someone else not liking him.  I loved how they have a very plausible back story that explains why Ray is the way he is though "pennies are money"!

Edited October 20, 2015 by Homily

[BogoGog24]

My favorite part is when it gets out that Ray brought every snack they asked for and he goes "WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THE STUPID SNACKS!" And then the bit with the plantains- "I ate 2 of them before I found out you're supposed to cook them!"

[ByTor]

I always Brian as someone who speaks in that manner because he spends a lot of time around children, and yes I agree, the actor did a great job. Debra argued for herself, she made her point, why did she need Ray to pile on? Debra is just one of those people who refuse to admit when they are wrong (as was evidenced by getting fired on her 1st day at work with Charlotte Sterling). If she even gave a semi apology over not bringing an approved snack, I would have been more sympathetic toward her arguing about having to bring a snack again the following week. It's her obnoxious attitude that drives me crazy. Maybe if she gave some of this attitude to Marie, she wouldn't get so many visits. Anyway, I'll shut up about this episode, but in a nutshell I don't think Ray was wrong to not jump to her defense.

[Homily]

Bottom line, all the characters can act obnoxiously sometimes and if they didn't we wouldn't have much of a show.  If Debra had meekly accepted Bri-Bri-Brian's criticism of her snack choice and agreed to abide by the approved snack list next time we wouldn't have had much of a comedy going on!  Well we still would have had one of the twins running through the scene in a diaper which was pretty cute (and brought back memories of my own son who we used to call Jumping Jack Flash because he liked to take off his clothes) but otherwise not so much funny,

Edited October 20, 2015 by Homily

[ByTor]

Bottom line, all the characters can act obnoxiously sometimes

True...as much as I complain about Debra, I didn't think she was even close to being an overall obnoxious character (that's why my opinion is that she was at her worst during the t-ball episode, I don't think she was typically like that), that honor (IMO) went to Frank.

[Guest]

True...as much as I complain about Debra, I didn't think she was even close to being an overall obnoxious character (that's why my opinion is that she was at her worst during the t-ball episode, I don't think she was typically like that), that honor (IMO) went to Frank.

 

Another interesting question..... rank the characters from most to least obnoxious!  :)

[ByTor]

Most to Least:

Frank

Marie

Debra

Raymond

Robert

Amy

I'm not counting the kids...it's not about them :)

[Guest]

I agree with most of your list, but I think I would switch Robert and Raymond.  Ray very rarely did outright mean things during the course of the show, in my opinion. He was thoughtless, but Robert was more obnoxious to me. When he wanted to take down Raymond, he didn't care who he hurt.  

[VCRTracking]

Ray did one really horrible thing in the last season though.  Where he lied and told Debra that the other members of the PTA thought she dressed "trampy" because how unkempt he was. First it made her feel bad afterwards and at that point Ray should have told her the truth. He really should have done it before  Debra was like "F@#k those people" and dressed in a very lowcut top and leather miniskirt and boots at the next PTA meeting!

Edited October 20, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Homily]

Ray did do some mean things, almost always in ways that affected Debra but Robert was downright horrible.  I recently saw the episode where Ray forgot to thank Debra in his speech when he got an honourary degree and the glee with which Robert made sure everyone knew Ray had screwed up was just incredibly mean spirited.  Robert from the early seasons would not have done that but by the time that episode came along Robert would do anything and hurt anyone if he had to as long as he was able to gloat over Raymond.  Ray as far as I can recall never did anything like that to anyone.  Even the mean things he did with regard to Debra were usually done to get himself out of trouble it wasn't done to cause trouble for her, sure sometimes it did, but in fairness I don't think that was ever why he did it.  Unlike Robert!

Edited October 20, 2015 by Homily

[Homily]

(that was weird, I put in my obnoxious list but it isn't showing up in my post)

 

Worst to least:

 

Frank

Robert

Marie

Peter

Ray and Debra (tied)

Amy (who shouldn't even be on the list!)

[ByTor]

I agree with most of your list, but I think I would switch Robert and Raymond.  Ray very rarely did outright mean things during the course of the show, in my opinion. He was thoughtless, but Robert was more obnoxious to me. When he wanted to take down Raymond, he didn't care who he hurt.

Honestly it was a toss up between Ray and Robert. Robert was super obnoxious in several episodes...the one Homily mentioned about the speech, and the Christmas one where he was on Raymond's case about Raymond paying more for Marie's birthday gift (the figurines), but nobody would have known that except that Robert's big mouth is the one who outed it...and of course there was his glee at telling Debra that Raymond's Christmas gift to her was actually Robert's idea.  But Ray won because of all the times he tried to get out of being with the kids, even going so far as to admit he found them "boring", the fact that he could be a whiny mama's boy, his lies about Debra (yes, he does to it to get out of trouble, but to lie that she is an alcoholic is a bit extreme).

[BogoGog24]

For me one of the worst things Ray ever did was in the episode where he exploited her anger for sex. It's always been one of my least favorite episodes. I mean I know men like sex as much as they like breathing, but I'm not sure how many husbands would really stoop to the level of taking advantage of their wife's feelings for his own gain.

[Guest]

Plus I found it super obnoxious how Robert in later seasons showed off his crush on Debra. That was just... gross.

Amy was obnoxious for like half of one episode. She barely registers on the scale. Her family on the other hand...

[ByTor]

Yeah Amy's family on the obnoxious scale (most to least)

Peter

Pat

Hank

Amy (of course)

Edited October 20, 2015 by ByTor

[Guest]

I think I would say

Peter

Hank

Pat

Amy

In fact, if factored in with the rest of the cast, I would go

Frank

Peter

Marie

Debra

Hank

Robert

Ray

Pat

Amy

[ByTor]

OK, I'll say:

Peter

Frank

Marie

Debra

Raymond

Robert

Pat

Hank

Amy

RUSSELL!!!

[Inquisitionist]

It was the way Coach Brian spoke - he was fricking obnoxious.

 

And the whole premise was obnoxious, i.e., that parents can't individually decide what an acceptable snack is.  Brian was one of those little Nazi types who loves to exert his "power" over trivial things.  IMO, Debra was right to refuse another "turn" at bringing snacks 'cause screw him.  :-)

Edited October 21, 2015 by Inquisitionist

[CherryAmes]

Oh absolutely agree!  Brian was such a control freak and the way he tried to shame Debra and the way Ray was backing him up was funny (I liked this episode) but so irritating too!  I've known people like Brian.  Petty little people - and it's funny how often they end up in charge of kids.  Hmm.  Wonder why that would be?

[BogoGog24]

I think when it comes to the characters being obnoxious, they pretty much all are in one way or another and to different extents, with the possible exception of Amy. I don't see how it's really a bad thing since most people in real life are obnoxious sometimes or have faults. IMO it's one of the reasons the show is so great because having faults make the characters multi dimensional and more human, therefore more believable and relatable. I think we all have a family sort of similar to the Barones or know people in our real lives who are a bit similar to one of these characters and that's one of the reasons people love/d this show.

[VCRTracking]

 

And the whole premise was obnoxious, i.e., that parents can't individually decide what an acceptable snack is.  Brian was one of those little Nazi types who loves to exert his "power" over trivial things.  IMO, Debra as right to refuse another "turn" at bringing snacks 'cause screw him.  :-)

 

Frank: We had guys like that in Korea. Second lieutenants. College guys. Platoons hated their guts. You know what happened to them? You know what friendly fire is? Well, sometimes it wasn't so friendly!

Ray: They killed their own guys?

Frank: Not always. Sometimes they'd just send them back to college, to the ones without a lot of steps.

 

Dan Castellaneta did a great job playing Coach Brian. Such a far cry from his voice as Homer on The Simpsons. He was a pain in the ass in the T-Ball episode but I did think he made a good point in the basketball episode that he shouldn't make joke at one of his sons' expense during the game.

 

Watching the episode now where Robert proposes to Amy and tries to get permission from her parents bringing Ray along to help. but he just makes it worse,(seeing their jigsaw puzzle of Jesus) "Hey, isn't this the guy who sells tie dyed shirts at the beach?"

Of course Peter comes in and is a total dick.

Edited October 21, 2015 by VCRTracking

[ByTor]

I think when it comes to the characters being obnoxious, they pretty much all are in one way or another and to different extents, with the possible exception of Amy. I don't see how it's really a bad thing since most people in real life are obnoxious sometimes or have faults.

Kind of like Ray. Part of his obnoxiousness is how he tries to get out of doing stuff with his kids, yet they showed he's not all bad by going out in the rain to Ho-Ho-Kus to get Ally a Hakidu card. I love that episode, especially the exchange between Russell and Raymond: "You look like IRS"..."I do?"..."That's just it, you don't"

[Inquisitionist]

Casting Paul Rubens as Russell was inspired. Who else can sell a line like:

You see, Lotta is a little girl with a bow on her head and although she's morbidly obese, she still finds happiness.

 

Too bad they couldn't get "Pee-wee" again and had to morph Russell into Peter.

[CherryAmes]

My understanding of that was Ray Romano didn't want "Pee-Wee" because he'd had another brush with the law - I think his usual problem of getting caught being nasty in movie theatres,  Hmm, wasn't that something his TV "Dad" got caught doing a few years ago?  Apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess!

[VCRTracking]

When I first heard that I was puzzled because Reuben's arrest was years earlier, why did they decide to cast him as Amy's brother in the first place if they had a problem with it? I decided to look into this and found out that yes in 2002 charged with having pornographic material found by police at his house but the charges were dropped. Wikipedia: "Being a big collector, Reubens had often bought in bulk, with one of his vintage magazine dealers declaring that "there's no way" he could have known the content of each page in the publications he bought and that he recalled Reubens asking for "physique magazines, vintage 1960s material, but not things featuring kids" He also moved to Florida for two years to take care of his terminally ill father who died in February 2004. The first episode with Chris Elliot as Peter was in 2003.

[Inquisitionist]

"Being a big collector,

 

Wow, he really was perfect for the role of Russell.  ;-)

 

Speaking of family members, do you all remember the one time we saw Debra's sister, Jennifer, who had decided to become a sister (nun)?  The storyline was a little contrived, but I loved the scene of Ray singing Dominique, nique, nique... with his t-shirt fashioned into a make-shift veil on his head.  And of course, the way he covered his nipples with his fingertips when Jennifer entered the room was priceless!

[CherryAmes]

In real life Patty Heaton has a sister who is a Sister (nun).  I wonder if that played into their decision to have that episode and if so if some of what Debra was feeling about it reflected Patty Heaton's real emotions.  I dislike this episode only because I found the woman playing Jennifer was not particularly good in the role.  Most of the time when ELR has a guest star they are fantastic - but not in this episode.

[ByTor]

Well, Debra was just jealous that Jennifer dated The Who :)

 

I love the end when Debra & Jennifer are eating the hidden stash of chocolate. In fact I thought of  this episode the other day; I was putting on my patchouli perfume and thought hey, this is Hindu for stink :)

[VCRTracking]

I like Debra's parents played by Katherine Helmond(she'll always be Mona from Who's the Boss to me) and Robert Culp. My favorite episode is where Ray walks in on them them having sex(they were divorced so it was just "physical") and he quickly closed the door and let out a silent scream!

[ByTor]

I like Debra's parents played by Katherine Helmond(she'll always be Mona from Who's the Boss to me) and Robert Culp. My favorite episode is where Ray walks in on them them having sex(they were divorced so it was just "physical") and he quickly closed the door and let out a silent scream!

Debra really squicked me out in that episode, when she assumed they were back together & was getting out of bed to congratulate them.  She wanted to go to the other bedroom to see her naked parents who just had sex?  Just...no :(

[CherryAmes]

That was just so, well, odd!  Also the next  morning when she's happy they're hungry again?  Ick.  I get that they were trying to convey that she was giddy at the prospect of her parents getting back together but yeah, just all kinds of inappropriate!  But I still love this episode.  Especially Hank 'n' Pat and their reaction to Warren saying you don't need to be married to have sex :).

Edited October 23, 2015 by CherryAmes

[ByTor]

Well, they were rehearsing for a musical, after all :)

[Inquisitionist]

My second favorite with Debra's parents is the Thanksgiving in S5 (Fighting In-laws) where Ray overhears from the garage that they're going to marriage counseling in New Jersey rather than touring Baden-Baden (or Hagen-Dagen, as I think Ray calls it).  This has one of Debra's all-time great rant lines: "My parents could set fire to an orphanage on Christmas Eve and they still wouldn't be as bad as your parents!"  (approximation, but you get the idea)

 

My absolute favorite is the following Thanksgiving, when Warren brings an "older woman" to the family get-together at Ray and Debra's (Older Women).  The discussion between Warren and the Barone men about his "thinking" in going with an older woman is classic.  (Frank:  You're still handsome, nice tan, you've got all your teeth and then some.)  As is Frank telling the story of how he could have had his "chance" with Claudia, the 300-pound cleaning woman.  (Debra: Wait, you watched her clean the glass?  Frank:  Well, I'm not monk.)  I've watched this one many times, and it always cracks me up.

[Maharincess]

I like Debra's parents played by Katherine Helmond(she'll always be Mona from Who's the Boss to me) and Robert Culp. My favorite episode is where Ray walks in on them them having sex(they were divorced so it was just "physical") and he quickly closed the door and let out a silent scream!

She'll always be Jessica Tate to me.

[VCRTracking]

Yeah I've watched a lot of Soap a while back. Great show.

 

My absolute favorite is the following Thanksgiving, when Warren brings an "older woman" to the family get-together at Ray and Debra's (Older Women).  The discussion between Warren and the Barone men about his "thinking" in going with an older woman is classic.  (Frank:  You're still handsome, nice tan, you've got all your teeth and then some.)  As is Frank telling the story of how he could have had his "chance" with Claudia, the 300-pound cleaning woman.  (Debra: Wait, you watched her clean the glass?  Frank:  Well, I'm not monk.)  I've watched this one many times, and it always cracks me up.

 

That's one of my favorites too! I love when he said "And even though she was not what you would call classically beautiful, I could see what Ray saw in her!" and Ray's exasperated "Dad!"

 

That Peter Boyle never got an Emmy is one of the major injustices along with Jason Alexander never getting one for Seinfeld. I know he got one for a guest spot on The X-Files(which he deserved) but he should have gotten one playing  playing Frank.

 

I recently saw Outland, an underrated sci-fi movie from 1981 starring Sean Connery which is sort of "High Noon in space" and Boyle is terrific as the villain, the corrupt manager of a mine on one of Jupiter's moons.

Edited November 10, 2015 by VCRTracking

[AriAu]

Marie's Sculpture was on the other night and it is never not funny! I think the cast was cracking each other up, especially Robert who seemed on the brink of losing it throughout. Great lines, great expressions, nothing blatently stupid, nothing grating from Debra.....great episode!

[ByTor]

I just got an e-mail from Target that they are having a 50% sale on Christmas decorations.  I couldn't help but think of the "Jazz Records" episode, when Ray scared the crap out of Frank & Marie with the jazz CD when they returned from their bargain decoration sale...complete with a Menorah!