From “She’s the One” to “The Canister,”Everybody Loves Raymond’s greatest episodes are still just as hilarious today.Everybody Loves Raymond’s nine-season runturned Ray Romano from a successful standup comedian into a globally recognizable icon. This hilarious story of a dysfunctional Italian-American family was so culturally specific, yet so universally relatable.
In the 210 episodes it aired,Everybody Loves Raymondrarely missed. But the best episodes of the run stand head and shoulders above the rest, like the one where Frank and Marie drive through the front of Ray and Debra’s house, or the one where Debra finds out Ray taped over their wedding video to record the Super Bowl.
10Wallpaper
Season 5, Episode 3
Afterthe Barone clan’s romantic trip to Italy, they wasted no time getting back to their regularly scheduled craziness back in New York. In the very next episode, “Wallpaper,” Frank and Marie accidentally crash their car into Ray and Debra’s house.It’s a hilarious slapstick gag, expertly pulled off by the production crew, and that’s just the beginning.
Everybody Loves Raymondis streaming on Peacock and Paramount+.
This is the final straw for Ray and Debra; they’re sick of Ray’s parents constantly barging in uninvited, and crashing their car through the front door is the perfect comic escalation of that. The classic slapstick opening leads to some really funny bickering over who’s responsible for paying to repair the house.
9The Ball
Season 1, Episode 12
Season 1’s “The Ball” was one of the first episodes toshow a softer side of Frank. Ray initially feels betrayed when he learns that his dad forged Mickey Mantle’s autograph on a baseball he gave him as a kid, which remains one of his most prized possessions to this day.
But he comes to realize that the fake autograph was one of the clearest expressions of love his dad ever gave him. Frank did everything he could to get Mantle’s real autograph, but even after failing that, he still didn’t want to let his son down. He only forged that signature to make Ray happy.
8The Finale
Season 9, Episode 16
Everybody Loves Raymondended after nine seasons, and its final episode was perfect. It didn’t stray so far from the usual formula that it didn’t satisfy as an episode of the show, but at the same time,it went deep enough and had enough of a sense of finality that it still satisfied as a definitive ending to the series.
In the finale, after Ray goes in for a routine procedure, the doctors struggle to wake him up. With his fate uncertain, the family reckons with the possibility of losing him. So much of the series had dwelled on conflicts between the family to create comedy, butthe finale highlights just how much they all love each other.
7The Tenth Anniversary
Season 4, Episode 16
The season 4 episode “The Tenth Anniversary” opens with one ofthe worst things Ray ever did, butit leads to one of his sweetest romantic gestures. It begins with Debra wanting to rewatch her and Ray’s wedding video on their 10th anniversary. But when she puts in the tape, she finds that Ray recorded a Super Bowl over it.
It’s hilarious to see the fallout of Ray’s colossal mistake, and heartwarming to see the lengths he’ll go to make up for it.
Debra is justifiably incensed to find that the most important day of their lives was erased in the name of football, but Ray has a surprisingly thoughtful solution: he organizes a vow renewal ceremony. It’s hilarious to see the fallout of Ray’s colossal mistake, and heartwarming to see the lengths he’ll go to make up for it.
6The Letter
Season 2, Episode 11
It’s a common practice for people to take out their frustration at someone by writing them a strongly worded letter and not actually sending it, and it’s a common trope in sitcoms — fromThe SimpsonstoModern Family— for that letter to unwittingly find its recipient. InEverybody Loves Raymond, Marie received a strongly worded letter from Debra.
Conflicts between Debra and Marie are always fun, and this is basically just half an hour of the two trading insults — but it arrives at a surprisingly sweet resolution.
Marie wrote an angry letter right back, leading to a vicious back-and-forth thatfeels like a multi-camera version ofWicked Little Letters. Conflicts between Debra and Marie are always fun, and this is basically just half an hour of the two trading insults — but it arrives at a surprisingly sweet resolution. Airing their grievances paves the way for reconciliation.
5The Checkbook
Season 2, Episode 16
Ray takes it upon himself to do the family’s finances in an attempt to prove to Debra that it’s not as difficult as she makes out in season 2’s “The Checkbook.” Of course, the plan blows up in Ray’s face as he quickly realizes he has no idea what he’s doing and the family heads into ruin.
This episode has one of the funniest images in the show: Ray, reaching for the light, only for it to turn off on its own because he failed to pay the electric bill and the power has been shut off.“The Checkbook” builds to a hilarious climaxas Ray desperately tries to deposit some of Robert’s money into his account.
4Lucky Suit
Season 6, Episode 16
The advantages and disadvantages of an overbearing, overprotective mother are beautifully encapsulated in season 6’s “Lucky Suit.” As Robert prepares for a job interview with the FBI, Marie ruins his lucky suit, sends an embarrassing apologetic fax to his interviewer mid-interview, and brings cookies to the FBI’s office in an attempt to make amends.
The whole ordeal is hilarious, especially in the waysDoris Roberts leans into the cringe and Brad Garrett captures Robert’s humiliation, but it also leads to one ofEverybody Loves Raymond’s most emotional scenes. Marie confesses that she wanted Robert to retire from law enforcement, not put himself in more danger, because she’s terrified for him.
3The Canister
Season 5, Episode 19
The tension between Debra and Marie is epitomized in the season 5 episode “The Canister.” Marie insists that Debra never returned a canister that holds deep sentimental value, but Debra insists that she did give it back. As with any minor disagreement between the two,it quickly escalates into all-out psychological warfare.
Eventually, Marie relents and apologizes to Debra, which is a huge step forward in their relationship. But then, it turns out the canister was in Ally’s room all along, threatening to undo all that progress.The episode builds to a rare heart-to-heart between Frank and Debra, as Frank admits that he loves Debra like a daughter.
2The Christmas Picture
Season 4, Episode 11
The funniest episodes ofEverybody Loves Raymonduse a really mundane scenario to showcase the deep dysfunctions within the Barone family. Something that should be really simple becomes a near-impossible task just because it requires all these people to get on the same page.
In season 4’s “The Christmas Picture,” Ray just wants to take a nice family portrait for the holidays. But deliberation over what everyone is going to wear, arguments about who does or doesn’t deserve to be in the picture, and Marie threatening to sit it out altogether turn this family photo shoot into a waking nightmare.
1She’s The One
Season 7, Episode 9
Easily the most iconic, and arguably the most bizarre episode ofEverybody Loves Raymondis season 7’s “She’s the One.”The show got a lot of laughs out of Robert’s disastrous love life, and it never got any more disastrous than in “She’s the One.”
This is Everybody Loves Raymond at its best: a relatable situation with a hilarious twist.
Robert brings over his dream girl, who seems to be perfect in every way… until Ray sees her eat a dead fly. Robert naturally refuses to believe that his date ate a fly… until he goes back to her apartment and it’s jam-packed with frogs. This isEverybody Loves Raymondat its best: a relatable situation with a hilarious twist.
