I left work early just so I would have plenty of time when I got home. Plenty of time to let my excitement build. I was anxious, just like I am every other Monday. When I got home, my dad gave me a pathetic look that said "Hm, you left work early."
Nobody had the TV occupied. Good. I had my tape cued up and I was ready to rock and roll as I was watching the 7:30pm showing of Everybody Loves Raymond. Apparently the theme of the week was "Firsts." One night they showed the first time Debra made something good. The first time since Robert's marriage since he found "the one� and the girl ended up being obsessed with frogs. On Monday, it was the first episode ever. Everybody in the show was 9 years younger and had different acting styles and even different characters. They grew into their characters with slight changes made to them every year. They changed. They grew as actors.
Ray Barone is who I have always seen as myself. I believe that he and I have many similarities, except he's so much funnier, obviously. During the show, they talk about how girls dream about getting married ever since they are 12 years old. Through Everybody Loves Raymond, I dreamed about getting married. I was married to the show. I had a time and a place that I needed to watch the show, and I have always been there.
It started out as just another TV show that my sisters and I would watch. Back when I was living upstairs, and having to watch TV with my sisters. Then my dad would watch the show with us. He laughed a lot...and as always, everything is better when there's a bigger audience (unless it's embarrassing, then you'll have to wait a couple years for it to be funny). Instead of watching it with my sisters, Dad started watching it upstairs in his room when he exercised on his exercise bike. We would have it turned up loud and our laughter would always get even louder.
Then I used my CD player I got for Christmas to make an audio tape of the show, since it was on the one channel on television that can also be heard on the radio. At 11:35pm, I would always turn the station on to listen to David Letterman while I read Calvin & Hobbes books over the side of my bed with a bowl of Cheddar Goldfish.
Ray Romano, who plays the title character always, had several funny lines in each episode. I developed some of his personality when I was younger and even repeated some of the lines, which I still do occasionally. With all of the lines and situations, I began to learn a lot. I learned about relationships and family. Using humor to cope with every day stresses created by family, life is so much easier. But still, the Barone family can solve their problems in half an hour.
But no matter what stresses I had during any week, there was always Monday night. Monday night would be the official awesome start to any week. There was King of Queens and Becker...Becker is a sarcastic character who was played by Ted Danson...an awesome actor in a great sitcom. That must be, like, my second favorite TV show. There were some great Monday nights back then.
Monday night was my escape from the real world. I've never been a perfect student, or even a good student sometimes, so grades have always been a huge stress. Not going into detail about anything else, Monday night was always there. The Barone family was always there for me, whether or not I was seeing a rerun.
When I got the basement, nobody could bother me. I sat in my brown chair with my left foot tucked under my right knee, and I watched the 2 hours of Monday night on CBS. Then, at 11:35pm, after reading, listening to music, doing homework, or anything, I would turn on Jay Leno and watch Headlines after his monologues.
Some weeks, Monday nights were the only time I laughed.
~~
The hour they had that played before the final episode showed some good clips of episodes and many clips of the writer's room mixed with interview-style words from the cast. It was well directed, and professional, and dramatic. It started with behind-the-scenes of the filming of the last episode...with several members of the cast getting sick and delaying filming of the final scene.
The hour of memories mixed with how some of the ideas originated ended with the cast walking out from the Everybody Loves Raymond set...through the door that lead to the basement of the house. Ray Romano came first and the rest of the cast members walked out after, and each gave him a hug. He was holding back tears, trying not to let their hugs get to him. Patricia Heaton (Debra) could not do the same, she cried. And she was wiping her tears in front of the last audience she will see on that set.
A montage of behind-the-scenes showed much emotion and I could feel the end coming, but all of the images stuck in my mind. My throat hurt and it ended just before Mom called everybody to dinner. I sat in the chair I set up to be right next to the VCR and stay put awaiting my final episode.
Diana started laughing, and I looked at her, "What?"
"You're crying!"
"I am not."
She laughed even harder.
~~
The final episode had Raymond going into an operation and everybody waited for him to come out, even though Robert didn't want to be there, of course. He's the jealous brother, and didn't know why everybody had to be there for Raymond's operation. Then the doctor came out and said, to Debra, that Raymond wasn't waking up after being put to sleep. Debra was scared, and with friggin awesome acting, she called Robert over (after talking about Robert being the same blood type), and Robert looked worried with friggin awesome acting. This scene showed how much they all really cared about Ray, and each other. Then a doctor came out and said that Ray was fine.
For a couple second, I was pissed off at the show. I was balling, so scared and in love with the way everyone was acting to the situation. That's what the final episode was all about...what everybody really felt about each other.
Of course, Marie didn't see or hear about any of what happened during Raymond's operation. And neither did Ray. So when Frank was almost forced into telling Marie, she ran over to Ray's house and jumped into bed with him as he and Debra were kissing. Marie, so worried and angry that nobody told her, didn't want to let her boy go ever again, and held onto him in his bed...which provided a hilarious site and Ray screaming "My nightmares are coming true!"
Then Ray found out what happened, and heard how everybody reacted. Amy admitted that Robert stopped the car on the way home from the hospital when a song came on. The song being a memorable one from a past episode.
After the family left, Ray thought about how much Debra really loved Ray. This episode showed that they really can't ever get a divorce. I mean, they go through all of these fights that every couple has in every episode, and yet being SO funny, why has Debra stuck with him all this time? She can't live without him.
How would you like to know how people would react if they heard you were...dead? God forbid anyone die.
But that's what the episode was about. It wasn't an hour long like "Friends" did. It wasn't a flashback episode like they used to do. It was just a half hour of another Barone family episode...but suffice. It was beautiful and emotional. Ray stood almost crying thinking about how people really do love him.
The episode ended with everybody talking at the table in the Barone family house. And it began to slowly fade out. My eyes burned the darker it got. The family, the characters, the actors, and the stories were leaving me.
I stayed up with Dad after watching a CSI episode on DVD, waiting for Ray Romano to come on Letterman. Ten years ago...to the week, Romano said, everything started for him. Ray Romano appeared on Letterman, impressing him so much that they started the sitcom.
The sitcom of our times.
"Everybody Loves Raymond" has been an era of my life, and I'm not sure yet what it'll feel like without the family.
All I know already is that it took me until 1am to really let it...sink in. My eyes hurt so bad all night, and I just let go. I was lonely, even though I'll always have the Barone family. I'll have their episodes on DVD. I'll have the magazines and pictures. I'll have the books and the CDs.
They'll always be a part of me.
I wouldn't doubt that I am the biggest fan, but I am sure that at one point I was the shows youngest fan.
I've needed to write this entry for a while.
*signing off*
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