Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Eighth Season

A recurring theme throughout Everybody Loves Raymond's eighth season might be, "No good deed goes unpunished." In "Misery Loves Company," annoyingly happy newlyweds Robert (Brad Garrett) and Amy (Monica Horan) offer unwanted marriage advice to Raymond (Ray Romano) and Debra (Patricia Heaton) and even to the Barone clan's oldlyweds Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), until they're told just what marriage really is (“You plow through”). In “The Ingrate,” Raymond pays tribute to Debra in his newspaper column after forgetting to acknowledge her in a speech, only to raise the ire of a resentful Marie. In “Debra at the Lodge,” Debra volunteers at Frank's lodge, only to become an object of lust for the randy elderly members (this season, Debra begins to blossom as a suburban goddess in the grand Laura Petrie tradition). After eight seasons, viewers know these characters like their own family members. So much of each episode's comedy is built upon our anticipation of how they will react to each other, as when Marie catches Raymond and Debra in an escalating series of lies or when the Barones share Thanksgiving with Amy's more uptight family, who, she observes at one point, “wouldn't yell if they were on fire." Compiling all 23 episodes from the penultimate 2003-04 season, DVD extras include eight audio commentaries, a Museum of Television & Radio panel discussion with series creator Phil Rosenthal and writers, deleted scenes, and bloopers. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)