Everyone Loves Raymond

Funny I almost called this blog What About Raymond as that is what I often refer to it as. Perhaps that goes back to the movie What About Bob which I will have to write about someday when I see it again as that is a GREAT movie.

Everybody Loves Raymond was a very popular hot show on CBS in the late nineties through much of the last decade. Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton led a stellar cast that included the late Peter Boyle as Ray's father.

Something about this show works. Recently I have discovered that on Sunday nights when I have got the kids to bed and my wife is exhausted from her " time off " is sleeping soundly that on TVLAND Raymond is on for 5 episodes. And I watch. Each week. I might well have seen many of the episodes before but do not recall. This show makes me laugh.

My son tells me that I do not laugh out loud much. I chuckle but laughing out loud is not my common theme. This show at times makes me laugh out loud. Last night as I laughed in bed as my son watched ESPN in the living room I was so loud my son came in and asked what I was watching. Clearly I need to laugh out loud more.

Some shows work. Seinfeld makes me laugh as well. They are different shows certainly but in the end they both do the same thing---make me laugh out loud. Perhaps we should set up a scale of laughter for middle aged men who do not laugh enough.

This show would set the bar pretty high.

The Middle

Last fall when ABC launched their new fall lineup this Wednesday night show did not get the pre press that Modern Family did. We enjoy Modern Family in our house but in terms of being relatable The Middle is the tops. A week does not go by that in watching this show my wife and I do not have one of those " We have been here before looks" in watching a scenario that is depicted on the show. My oldest son who at 14 will parade into the kitchen barely speaking above a grunt and advise that we have nothing good to eat the minute we run out of unhealthy cereals and pizza rolls could easily be the young man on this show.

Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fan fits this role very well and the rest of the cast fits as well. The youngest son Brick ( the oldest is named Axl, so much for Wally and the Beav) is a very strange child that serves to make us feel bad for laughing at him but laugh we do. How many children across America after watching him now repeat things to themselves under their breath.

If they are what they should be whispering is " Funny" as in this show is " Funny"