Top 10 Hilarious Everybody Loves Raymond Running Gags
#10: "Holy Crap"
While everyone does love a good catchphrase, there is a fine line between a good one and a bad one. A good one fits the character, makes you laugh and doesn’t feel like the situations are being created just so the character can say the line. One such catchphrase was Frank Barone’s. Sure, if the show had been on HBO it might have been a more R-rated expression, but on CBS in primetime they could get away with “holy crap.” And to be honest, we think it’s funnier that way than had they allowed Frank to start dropping F-bombs all over the place.
#9: Ray Being Rejected
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Often, when Ray tries to get intimate, he’s shot down by his wife. It’s a classic married couple trope, but the “Everybody Loves Raymond” writers have a lot of fun with it throughout the show’s run. There are a number of funny moments with the couple in bed, ending with Debra rolling over. In one episode, Ray even points out that when Debra wears her flannel pajamas to bed, he knows there’s no chance of anything happening. The running gag is so much a part of the show that in the final season they have an episode in which Ray says no to Debra’s advances just so she can see how it feels.
#8: Imitating Ray’s Voice
There’s no denying that Ray Romano has a distinct voice and manner of speech just ripe for imitation. And over the course of the show’s nine year run it seems like pretty much every other character on the show had a go at poking fun at Ray. From his friends to his family, everyone shows off their Ray impression at one time or another. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And if that’s true then no one was flattered more often, by more people, than Ray. We guess everybody really does love him.
#7: Marie Being Passive-Aggressive with Debra
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Another classic sitcom premise is the not-always-loving relationship between a spouse and their inlaws. In this case it’s Debra and her mother-in-law Marie, who’s constantly pointing out, both directly and passive-aggressively, Debra’s shortcomings in the home. Her cooking and cleaning are constantly under the Marie microscope and a source of frustration for Debra and humor for us. Marie relishes the fact that she can hold those things over Debra. So much so that in one episode when she agrees to teach Debra how to cook meatballs, she purposely sabotages Debra’s efforts.
#6: “Is This About Me?”
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Ray’s older, and much taller brother Robert is a good-looking police officer, but he’s always felt like a second-class citizen in his family. And as such he can be a little paranoid that people might be talking about him or that he did something wrong. One of the show’s great running gags plays off that and has Robert saying whenever he walks into a room and everyone in the room stops talking. But he really shouldn’t be worried because it is almost always not about him.
#5: Robert Touching Food to His Chin
Besides his insecurities, or maybe because of them, Robert has a whole host of quirks and OCDs - from his hatred of being poked to his need to separate his “Good & Plenty” candy into “goods” and “plenties.” But perhaps the oddest and most enduring of all his quirks is his need to touch food to his chin before putting it in his mouth. This compulsive behaviour is part of the character from season one and while it does get mentioned on numerous occasions, it isn’t until season eight that we finally find out why he does it.
#4: Marie Feeding Ray
Like the classic old school Italian mother she is, Marie is always cooking and, in turn, always feeding her family. Many of the scenes at Marie and Frank’s house take place in the kitchen and feature Frank at the table eating and Marie at the stove cooking. Also, as you would probably expect, almost everytime Raymond walks into the house his mother asks him if he’s hungry. Of course, as anyone with an Italian mother knows, his answer doesn’t matter because he is getting food put in front of him regardless.
#3: Fruit of the Month Club
The starter gun went off on this running gag right in the pilot episode when Raymond bought his parents a membership to a Fruit of the Month club. It seems simple enough and to many of us we would be happy to receive such a gift - or at least act grateful. But to Frank and Marie the gift was an assault of fruit that made them very uncomfortable and they made sure to bring it up on multiple occasions. The Fruit of the Month scene in the pilot is one of the classic moments of the entire series.
#2: Ray & Robert's Rivalry
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The show is called “Everybody Loves Raymond” not “Everybody Loves Robert.” And Robert’s feelings of inferiority to his brother can even be seen in the opening credits for the first couple seasons as an annoyed Robert goes by exclaiming that “Everybody loves Raymond.” While most parents would never admit to having a favorite child, it’s hard to deny the fact that, when it comes to their mother, Raymond is the golden boy to Robert’s silver, or maybe even bronze. This lifelong feeling of second-best leads to some very funny moments of him being quite happy whenever things don’t go well for Ray. And from Ray’s side, he really enjoys poking fun at his brother whenever he has a chance - which is quite often.
#1: Ray’s Nicknames for Debra
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When Ray would walk into the house after a long day at work he could have just said, “Honey, I’m home.” That would have been fine. But instead the show took this walk-in-the-door opportunity and turned it into the series’ best running gag as Ray would seemingly make up a different cutesy nickname every time. According to a fan wiki for the show there were over 25 different nicknames. And while the gag was primarily used during the first three years, it did make appearances in later seasons as well. For example, in a great season six episode where Ray’s friends test out his theory that he can call Debra anything as long as he says it in that cute way. Needless to say… he can’t!
