The 5 best episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond was arguably the most successful sitcom of its time during its broadcast on ABC from 1996 to 2005. Based on the comedy by Ray Romano, the show focused on the daily lives of the extended family of New York sportswriter Ray Barone (Roman).

Ray and his wife Deborah (Patricia Heaton) raise their three children together and live across the street from the often intrusive and defiant parents of Ray, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts). Ray’s brother Robert (Brad Garrett) also lives with his parents before marrying during the later seasons of the show.

During its final season, the show had viewers visit its website to rate Top Everybody Loves Raymond episodes, and these were broadcast in syndication. Among the best fan-featured episodes are “Bad Moon Rising,” “The Can Opener,” “The Canister,” “Lucky Suit,” “Baggage,” and “Marie’s Sculpture.”

Here are 5 other great episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond in no particular order:

1) “Debra Makes Something Good” (Season 4, Episode 18): This was a very entertaining episode where Debra goes against the grain and discovers the ability to make a great dish. The whole family, especially Marie, gets nervous.

2) “Raybert” (Season 6, Episode 10): When Robert pretends to be Ray to seduce a beautiful woman, he and Ray decide they are a great team (Roberts appearance, Rays mystique). However, when the woman shows up at Ray’s house, Debra is not amused.

3) “The Shower” (Season 7, Episode 21): Debra is frustrated with Marie’s intrusion into Amy’s wedding party. After having too many drinks, Debra falls asleep in her car with the keys in the ignition. A police officer bumps into her and takes her to jail. Things get interesting when the whole family joins Debra to plead her case.

4) “Liars” (Season 8, Episode 7): Ray’s little white lie to Marie about why they missed the evening together gets out of hand when Debra steps in to help him move on. Eventually, Ray and Debra begin to clash as they begin to use their deception on each other.

5) “How They Met” (Season 3, Episode 26): A flashback episode, this is definitely one of the best episodes of the show. Ray and Debra return to their first meeting at Debra’s apartment when Ray hands over a futon and asks Debra out on a date. What follows is a series of setbacks and misadventures that set the tone for their relationship together on the show.