Shark Bytes

Without a doubt, not only the worst show that has even been on television, since nothing could be worse, it is the worst show that will ever be on television. Each of the characters is so far over the top it is beyond parody. I am offended by the shrew wife, stupid husband, interfering mother-in-law, etc., as being even believable, much less representative of any real family. Every show has the same basic lame plot. Stupid husband does something dumb - shrew wife overreacts - causing dumb husband to do something even dumber - m-i-l has to put in her 2 cents, aggravating the situation....aaarrrggggghhhhhhhhh

very mediocre show with extremely annoying cast..but i like patricia heaton although she plays the stereotypical shrewish wife but she is very talented.

and raymond..well i think he is the most annoying person in the universe

It has long been my opinion and observation that with a few talented exceptions, an actor's true personality and character are easily seen in the characters they play especially on TV. I remember a few years ago seeing the woman who plays Debra appear on Dr. Phil to get help for her anger and rage problems. No big surprise there!

Very funny show but the last season was mediocre IMO. I guess they just figured, it's the last season so let's just make Ray a buffoon and Debra even more of a bitch (although I don't know how she put up with him and his lunatic family for so long, I would've moved away a long time ago, but I guess that would be the end of the series LOL). Anyway, I wasn't a big fan of Amy, she was pretty anal and her face kind of bugged me, she basically had one expression(<x>she's also married to Phil Rosenthal the co-creator of the show). My favorite character was Frank, even though he was a mean old bastard (no offense, RIP Peter Boyle). My favorite episode is the Thanksgiving (or Chrismas, I know it was a holiday) episode when Debra's father brings home that old lady, that episode was hilarious. I don't think the show really ever JTSed, it was consistantly(sp) funny but for me the show wasn't the same when Robert married Amy, still a very funny show and it was smart to end the series when they did. Good chemistry between all the actors IMO, Doris Roberts is a great actress and very funny lady (remember National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? she was hilarious in that)Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton were great together as well, great chemistry, you'd think they were an actual couple. Anyway, great show, a true classic.

And the poster below who said they took a risk with the fly episode is right, it was weird but it worked, it was hilarious. That's the great thing about ELR writers, they weren't afraid to be out there with plots and apparently were actually based on things that actually happened to the writers.

The show never jumped for me. It goes down as one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. As for jumping the shark, the writers probably took a risk with the episode where Ray witnesses Robert's girlfriend eating a fly. A bizarre plot, but the episode was hysterical.

The children were on more often in the beginning. But as the show progressed and the kids got older, they had less roles on the show. In fact, many episodes did not have the kids on at all. It may have had something to do with the adult themes of some of the plots and laws limiting work time for child actors.

I don't care how many Emmys she's won; her acting range is limited to whining, complaining, and nagging. And she's not funny. Every time she makes a remark, I cringe, not laugh. Maybe a better actress could have made something of this part, but Patricia Heaton is not a good actress.

The later shows when the kids occasionally had a few lines were painful to watch. Those kids, especially the twins, were awful. They obviously had no natural talent and received poor acting lessons. Those boys really make you appreciate kids like Jerry Mathers and others who made it look so easy.

If you are going to criticize an actor at least get her name right. It's Patricia Heaton. Ray and Phil saw about 200 women for the part of Debra and chose Heaton. I think she is very funny and I guess the people that gave her two emmys must not know talent either, huh?

This show is consistently funny, but I think Raymond and Debra would be divorced by now. Also, Ray doesn't really seem to be a sportswriter. He doesn't seem to do anything at all. And the kids are just plot devices, thank goodnes.

I like this show a lot. Marie and Frank are so sharp and funny. Frank can be pretty mean at times, but I still can't help laughing. I don't know why Debra dislikes her mother-in-law so much; I'd love to have a MIL who's happy to clean, cook, and watch the kids. But Debra gets mad about it!

I enjoy both Ray's and Robert's unique style of humor. They work very well together.

The only character I can't stand is Debra. She whines, cries, nags relentlessly. She blames Ray for things over which he has no control. My family watches every week, and we all say to ourselves, how can he stand her?

The charactor is badly written and badly cast Patricia Keaton cannot act, and she is not funny--she's no Carol Burnett. I don't know who's in the current crop of comic actresses (Tina Fey?), but he should have searched a little harder to find a wife.

Ray has said that he does most of the writing on the scripts; so obviously everything we're seeing on the show is exactly the way he wants it. I'm just wondering if he wishes he had found someone else with more talent.

The episode that stands out in my mind and still induces nausea is when Ray has to sleep in the same bed as his brother Robert only to discover Robert sleeping naked. Must get the Pepto Bismol.

Reading some of these reviews is making my head spin. The men say "Debra is annoying", the women say "Debra is great for putting up with Ray". I mean c'mon - that's basically the whole point of the show. There is a huge difference between a character who is intentionally annoying because it's part of their character and one who is annoying because they're an unbelievable terrible actor. Pretty much everyone on this show fit the former category until the introduction of Amy - who was possibly the worst actress in mainstream sitcom history.

I never watched this show until it went into syndication. My wife loves this show and has watched just about every single episode.

However, I'd have to say it's a "Day One" jumper for me. Being an avid sports fan, I just never bought into the premise of "Ray Barone as sportswriter" and I just can't get past that enough to enjoy it. The two sports-themed cameos that I can remember (Marv Albert and Terry Bradshaw) were just so contrived, they were laughable. And Romano just never sold his character to me as being a writer...for someone who was supposedly a pretty well-known, in-demand sportswriter, he certainly seemed to have an awful lot of spare time on his hands!

Personally, I don't feel it ever really jumped but I do have a question. Why is it that so many posters concerning this show and many others that make comments like the show was "terrible","sucked", "horrible" ectera and generally trash the show would take time out of their day to actually post on a forum of a show they can't seem to stand? And on top of that, these people seemed to have watched every episode during the entire eight year run of the show! Normal people would typically stop watching a show they didn't like, much less one they hated....

It has to be one of the best comedy shows ever. I was so enthralled by the excellent writing, imagination and excellent cast that i bought all the seasons. Holy crap!
The cast are my heroes. I know they had some bloopers, which are hilarious, but I am amazed how they kept a straight face most of the time. I don't think I could ever hold it together that well. I have trodden the boards in amateur dramatics but I'd be in tears laughing with an ELR script. Well, it would take a lot of takes!

Now I have to compare ELR with another great American comedy series called Soap from the late 70's/early 80's, which is now available on DVD, and I'll watch it again and compare it to ELR.
My wife, son and daughter also love the show and I often come home and see DVDs of ELR lying around on the coffee table and they're screaming with laughter. I was sad to hear that Peter Boyle passed away in 2006, just before I started to watch the show. Well, he has left a great legacy!