THE ONLY WORTHWHILE NETWORK COMEDY:

Not everybody loves 'Raymond': Sitcom's repetition of '50s cliches has gotten old (Matthew Gilbert, 4/12/2004, Boston Globe)

"Everybody Loves Raymond" isn't the worst show on TV. That's about the highest praise I can muster for CBS's Monday sitcom hit, whose massive success continues to mystify me.

How can it be that inventive comedies get the guillotine every season, while this banal rehash of 1950s gender cliches continues to rival "Friends" as TV's most-watched sitcom? How can it be that "Everybody Loves Raymond" is not only a ratings blockbuster but a multiple Emmy winner, while the original likes of "Scrubs" scuffle for scraps of attention? [...]

[T]he show does almost nothing to update the battle of the sexes, stubbornly dooming it to a time when it was a man's world and wives were trapped. The hackneyed plots hark back, way back -- Debra gets sick and her bumbling hubby must care for the kids; Ray invests in a go-kart track despite her disapproval; wacky things happen to Debra's engagement ring. It's like stumbling onto TV Land, a cable channel devoted to TV shows of yesteryear. And the idea that in-laws are endlessly hysterical might have hit its peak in the 1960s, with "The Mothers-In-Law," starring Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden.

Accepting the Emmy for best comedy last year, "Raymond" executive producer Phil Rosenthal proudly described his struggle to hold onto his show's old-fashioned orientation when CBS urged him to make it hip. "I want to thank all you hipsters in the audience for supporting us all these years," he said with heavy irony. "We do it for you." And it is true that producers like Rosenthal need to resist the entertainment industry's relentless push to capture the younger viewers who are so popular with advertisers. But at the same time, "adult" -- "Seinfeld," for example -- doesn't have to mean unyieldingly retro and bland.

As they recycle Barone behaviors, the "Raymond" episodes blur together. Most sitcoms repeat themselves; by definition, sitcom characters don't grow, which is part of what makes them funny. But the repetitions on "Raymond" are particularly irritating -- from Debra and Marie's duels to the sibling rivalry between Raymond and his giant older brother, Robert (Brad Garrett).

The show's character dynamics were timeworn eight years ago; now they're just annoying. Perhaps Romano is aware of the creative strains, since he has yet to commit to another season, saying only that the show will probably return, but with less than a full season of episodes.

The success of "Raymond" has inspired a number of throwback family comedies, such as the other Monday CBS comedies "Yes Dear" and "Still Standing," which bear the same mark of mediocrity. These shows aren't so much creative responses to "Raymond" as businesslike attempts to duplicate its demographic ratings success. They're far from the worst that TV has to offer; that distinction goes to reality shows such as "The Swan" and "I Want a Famous Face." But they're the kind of shows that resist breaking ground, that give viewers a safe retreat from new views of ourselves and our world.

Here are two thoughts that would never occur to Mr. Gilbert in a million years: (1) many couples may see much that's familiar from their own lives in Ray and Debra; (2) others may aspire towards such a life.

MORE:
-"DON'T GET MAD AT ME, RAY DID IT TOO"
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Posted by Orrin Judd at April 12, 2004 9:10 AM