When it was originally on: 1996-2005

Original network: CBS

Where you can stream it now: Paramount+ or Peacock

Had I seen it before: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the pilot but I have a general familiarity with the sitcom from various syndicated episodes over the years.

What IMDb says: Ray Barone, a successful sports writer and family man, deals with a resentful brother and meddling parents who happen to live across the street.

Why I picked it: Everybody Loves Raymond is an objectively successful sitcom but I’m not sure it’s been canonized the way other ’90s sitcoms like Friends or Seinfeld have. I’ve never heard about younger generations discovering it in streaming. Maybe that’s just because it’s streaming but never on Netflix? It’s one I always forget when I start thinking of The Great Sitcoms yet whenever I see an episode I’m like “damn, this was a good show. How come people don’t talk about it more?” Somehow is one is an immense success, but maybe underrated at the same time?

I love making sure my pilot list includes shows like this that occupy that gray area where they’re successful in some ways, and unsuccessful in other ways. I also try to make sure I include a traditional network sitcom.

What I liked: I think the pilot did a great job of establishing its “story engine.” Ray is perpetually forced to choose between keeping his wife happy and keeping his parents and brother happy. It’s easy to see how you could make hundreds of episodes with this formula and never tell the exact same story twice.

I also like the efficiency of the storytelling. When you get used to streaming shows you forget what sitcoms are capable of when forced into a 22-minute mold. It takes less than a minute to understand exactly who Marie is. She the overbearing mother-in-law who crosses lines in the name of “helping.” We get this from showing, not telling, when she comes in with baking soda because she smelled something questionable in the fridge. Great writing, and a great performance by Doris Roberts to drive the point home.

What I didn’t like: It’s a little odd to me that the pilot ends with Raymond finally standing up to his family, and the family seemingly being okay with it. It’s like we spent the whole episode building this wonderful story engine just to declare it obsolete. Now I think it’s fair to say that we’re not really supposed to believe anything is going to change. However, some pilots are about establishing a totally new reality and for all we know this is one of them? I think it would’ve only taken another minute or two to establish that Marie, Frank, and Robert are still going to keep showing up uninvited despite saying they won’t.

I also wish Ray was a little more likable. The bumbling sitcom dad is a trope for a reason, but right now I still feel like the show is asking me to sympathize with Ray moreso than his wife or mother, and I need him to be a tad smarter to justify that. He left his kids with his parents for what? Pizza? I get the feeling the dumb reasoning is supposed to be part of the joke but I still think the show as a whole would work better if Ray seemed like he was genuinely trying his best and just couldn’t do anything right, but I’m not sure we have that “genuinely trying his best” part.

Do I want to watch Ep. 2?: I don’t know? Obviously I know the show gets good eventually… but reviewing the pilot illuminated why it may not be “canon” in the way some shows of its era are. There’s funny moments, but the “husband stupidly mismanaged a situation, but could you please feel sorry for him anyway?” feels like a product of its time in a way other ’90s sitcoms don’t. Happy to continue watching its greatest hits, not sure it’ll ever be one I need to watch beginning to end.