Everybody Loves Raymond: I Love You

Everybody Loves Raymond: I Love You
CBS
September 20, 1996
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Everybody may love Raymond, but he and his parents have trouble saying, "I love you."  Debra wants him to be more romantic, but he goes to his father for advice and it of course goes badly.  At this point, I'd say that there is some chemistry between Romano and Heaton, despite them sharing a mid-'90s haircut, but the writing for them is not yet supporting their relationship.

Co-creator Philip Rosenthal wrote this episode, too.  Paul Lazarus would direct two more episodes.  I mostly know Maggie Wheeler from These Friends of Mine, the first season of the Ellen sitcom, but she actually made more appearances on ELR as Linda Gruenfelder, a dozen counting this episode.  Tom McGowan would be her husband Bernie sixteen times after this.  Susan Varon would be Suzy seven times more.  And Madylin Sweeten's little brothers Sawyer and Sullivan play the renamed and recast twins, Geoffrey and Michael.