Everybody Loves Raymond: Season 04  (1999)

Theatrical Release Information:
Everybody Loves Raymond: Season 04

Not much has changed personnel-wise as Everybody Loves Raymond enters its fourth season. Sportswriter Ray Barone (Ray Romano), his PR-exec wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and their three children still live in New York. Their next-door neighbors are still Ray's obstreperous parents, Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts). And still living with his folks is Ray's neurotic policeman brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), who has for the umpteenth time broken up with his girlfriend Amy (Monica Horan) because of his inability to make a firm commitment. In the season opener, Debra toys with the idea of getting an "enhancement" after ruefully witnessing Ray's excited reaction to her friend's newly enlarged breasts. Later installments deal with a tussle over the family will; a very surprising visit by Debra's hippy-dippy sister Jennifer (Ashley Crow); another eventful Thanksgiving dinner as Debra tries a new approach to fending off Marie's not-so-veiled insults; the academic problems of Ray and Debra's son Michael (Sullivan Sweeten) -- who hasn't even gotten out of pre-school yet(!); Robert's chronic inability to propose to girlfriend Amy (Monica Horan), leading her to surmise (briefly!) that he might be gay; and the "forced" renewal of Ray and Debra's wedding vows after discovering that Ray has accidentally used their wedding tape to record the Super Bowl. The season ends with another crisis in the vacillating relationship between Robert and Amy, as Robert's ex-wife Joanne (Suzie Plakson) pops up out of nowhere. Though Everybody Loves Raymond dropped slightly in the overall TV ratings during season four, the series remained CBS' Monday-night linchpin -- and as a bonus, co-star Patricia Heaton won an Emmy this season as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide