Everybody Loves Raymond: Season 09 (2004)

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In the tradition of such past sitcom classics as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Seinfeld, the producers of the popular, multi-Emmy-winning CBS comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond decided to quit while they were ahead, bringing the series to an end during its ninth season on the air. Thus, with its 209th episode, telecast May 16, 2005, Raymond shuffled off its mortal coil and ascended to syndicated-rerun heaven. In place during the series' valedictory season are its by-now familiar regulars: sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano), his PR-exec wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), their ever-growing three children, Ray's overbearing parents (and next-door neighbors), Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), and Ray's neurotic policeman brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), who somewhat incredibly has managed to stay married to his second wife, Amy (Monica Horan), for two whole years. As for the plot developments, things get off to a roaring start when Frank and Marie move out of their home and into a retirement condo -- only to be booted out by the condo's owners due to their obstreperous behavior. Magnanimously, Robert and Amy invite Frank and Marie to move in with them, thus neatly reversing the living arrangements that existed during the series' past eight seasons. As for Raymond, he continues to deal with such matters as Debra's mercurial temper, the academic travails of his daughter, Ally (Madylin Sweeten), and the unwelcome intrusions of his divorced in-laws, Warren (Robert Culp) and Lois (Katherine Helmond). In other words, it's the mixture as before, with few surprises but lots of laughs. And in an unusual move (especially for 21st century sitcoms), the Everybody Loves Raymond finale does not run a "very special" 60 minutes, but instead remains a neat, precise, and economical half-hour of hilarity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi