‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Turns 25

September 13, 1996 marked the debut of one of the best comedy series in television history.

Everybody Loves Raymond, from David Letterman’s World Wide Pants, was a CBS sitcom about a grown man, sportswriter Ray Barone, with his wife, Debra, their daughter and twin sons, and his other family—neighbors—consisting of policeman brother Robert, intrusive mother Marie, and blunt father Frank.

The series ran nine seasons, having ended in 2005, and it won 15 Emmys from 69 nominations. It won Outstanding Comedy Series for its seventh and ninth seasons, in 2003 and 2005; Lead Actor for Ray Romano, in 2002; Lead Actress for Patricia Heaton, in 2000 and 2001; Supporting Actor for Brad Garrett, in 2002, 2003, and 2005; and Supporting Actress for Doris Roberts, in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. It also won for Writing for what I think is its best episode, “Baggage,” in 2003. (Costar Peter Boyle never won for the series. He did win the 1995–96 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” also an Emmy winner for Writing, for Fox’s The X–Files.)

A summary of some standout episodes: 

• “I Love You” (Season 01 Episode 02; 09.20.1996)—Debra asks Ray why he doesn’t tend to speak those three important words. Ray makes the mistake of involving his parents.

• “Robert’s Date” (Season 03 Episode 15; 02.01.1999)—Robert joins his partner for a night out for dancing. Trying hard to fit in, Robert goes overboard.

• “Bad Moon Rising” (Season 04 Episode 22; 05.08.2000)—Debra suffers from PMS. Ray has no clue how to respond. (Patricia Heaton’s performance won her her first Emmy.)

•  “Baggage” (Season 07 Episode 22; 05.03.2003)—After returning from a vacation, one piece of luggage remains, unattended, as Ray and Debra battle each other.

• “The Finale” (Season 09 Episode 16; 05.16.2005)—Ray, with his adenoids needing to come out, goes in for routine surgery. There is a complication.

More recommended episodes (for a balance of three episodes per season; the provided links for each season lead to episode descriptions): 

Season #01 • “Pilot” (S01 E01; 09.13.1996) and “Turkey or Fish” (S01 E10; 11.22.1996) 

Season #02 • “High School” (S02 E10; 11.24.1997), “The Letter” (S02 E11; 12.08.1997), and “The Checkbook” (S02 E16; 02.02.1998) 

Season #03 • “The Toaster” (S03 E12; 12.14.1998) and “Frank’s Tribute” (S03 E16; 02.08.1999)

Season #04 • “The Sister” (S04 E06; 10.25.1999) and “Bully on the Bus” (S04 E13; 01.17.2000)

Season #05 • “Italy” (S05 E01 and S05 E02; 10.02.2000), “Wallpaper” (S05E03; 10.09.2000), and “The Canister” (S05 E19; 04.09.2001)

Season #06 • “Marie’s Sculpture” (S06 E05; 10.22.2001), “Lucky Suit” (S06 E16; 02.04.2002), and “The Breakup Tape” (S06 E18; 03.04.2002)

Season #07 • “Meeting the Parents” (S07 E17; 02.05.2003) and “Robert’s Wedding” (S07 E24; 05.19.2003)

Season #08 • “Fun with Debra” (S08 E01; 09.22.2003), “Thank You Notes” (S08 E02; 09.29.2003), and “Misery Loves Company” (S08 E04; 10.13.2003)

Season #09 • “The Power of No” (S09 E14; 05.02.2005) and “Pat’s Secret” (S09 E15; 05.09.2005)

I will close with video highlights from Everybody Loves Raymond. They are from the “standout episodes” but, fair warning, some content—especially when I tried to find video on YouTube for “The Finale”—was rather limiting.

Sears, Kmart, and Mark A. Cohen

It recently came to my attention that Sears closed what was the last remaining department store in my home state Michigan.

The news of the closure came in July. 

The closure, if I correctly recall, was in August.

This store was located in Westland, the state’s 10th largest city (a population just under 100,000) approximately 15 miles west of Detroit.

I turned 50 last month. I grew up shopping at department stores for clothing. So, the decline in department stores is personally sad to me. I feel for the stores’s employees—especially those who had careers working in them. (I briefly worked at both stores.) Many of them were able to have middle-class incomes, with benefits, and with pensions. Some, depending on the timeline of their lifetime, are still alive and getting to experience them. And getting to experience fears of losing them.

In politics, the topic of realignment comes up. Realigning changes in such things like voting patterns. Realigning periods favorable for one of the U.S.’s two major political parties. But there is also realignment in life. How life has realigned here in the U.S. How people’s livelihoods have been realigning—which, of course, speaks to the declining middle class. The topic of realignment also applies to how we use television. And, given this week’s blog topic, it includes how we shop.

Kmart bought Sears. This goes back to 2004. There are people who thought it was the other way. Eddie Lampert, who made the purchase, was trying to give the impression he would be the savior. (Report: Kmart to acquire Sears in $11 billion deal.) But, I think the stores—and then you can add other well-recognized names also in dire shape—were not able and/or willing to adapt to a realignment in life in the U.S. And they—especially Sears and Kmart—are on the way to their graves. (Side note: In May, I received a letter from Sears informing me I must use my Sears department store credit card by June 30—or the account would become closed. I went ahead and let that deadline pass.) 

Last Friday [September 3, 2021], Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLDQ) closed the day at $0.41 per share. Combined existing stores, effective August 25, 2021, are just under 50. Nationwide. (Sources: How Many Sears Stores Are Left? and How Many Kmart Stores Are Left?) From one video—and you can find plenty of them on YouTube—not only did Sears close all its department stores in Michigan but in all of the midwest. (From How Many Sears Stores Are Left? one listed location is in Illinois; but, it may not be a department store.) Well, the midwest consists of Top 10 populous states Illinois (which ranks No. 6), Ohio (No. 7), and Michigan (No. 10). Approximately 53 to 54 percent of the nation’s people live in a Top 10 state. The last remaining Michigan Kmart store is in the city of Marshall, which is near I–69, which one may access if, say, traveling from Michigan to go south into neighboring Indiana. It is more than 50 miles and approximately 100 miles west of Ann Arbor and Detroit.

Below are videos which feature Mark A. Cohen. He had experience serving as Chairman/CEO of Sears Canada Inc. He was also Chief Marketing Officer and president of Softlines of Sears Roebuck & Co. Cohen is now a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business since 2006. He is also its current director of Retail Studies. In these videos—which were published to YouTube on 04.28.2017, 10.15.2018, 01.08.2019, and 12.28.2020—Cohen comments not only on the outlooks for Sears and Kmart, and for department stores and malls, but he also articulates how and why.

Edward Asner (1929–2021)

Seven-time Emmy-winning television star Edward Asner, born November 15, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri, died this past Sunday [August 29, 2021].

I considered Edward Asner one of the best actors in the history, thus far, of television. But, there was a lot to him in addition to being a terrifically skilled and talented actor.

Asner was a man with significant accomplishments.

He studied Journalism.

He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1951 to 1953.

He worked assembly for General Motors.

He not only became a very successful actor but was also the 21st president of the Screen Actors Guild between 1981 to 1985.

Asner is, of course, known for his iconic Lou Grant character—first with supporting series star Mary Tyler Moore on CBS’s groundbreaking comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) but also with parlaying the success of that pivotal role into the series lead on spinoff drama Lou Grant (1977–1982). For both series, Asner combined winning five Emmys, in 1971, 1972, 1975, 1978, and 1980. He won two more for the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, in 1976, and Roots, in 1977.

Asner, when he was starring on Lou Grant and was also serving as SAG president, was embroiled in controversy. He was no fan of then-new U.S. president Ronald Reagan—who had also been president of the Screen Actors Guild—for Reagan being anti-union, yes, but for also because Asner opposed U.S. policy in Central America. This was considered the catalyst for the end of Lou Grant, in 1982, and after five seasons, despite its ratings (according to Wikipedia, it was in the Top 10 its final month) being healthy enough for renewal for a sixth season.

Prior to his death, Edward Asner was the last surviving original cast member of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. With some cast changes along the way (including 1974 and 1975 spinoffs for costars Valerie Harper, in Rhoda, and Cloris Leachman, in Phyllis), joining MTM in 1973 was Betty White. Now at age 99, and born January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, the seven-time Emmy-winning White is now the last surviving cast member of not only NBC’s The Golden Girls (1985–1992) but also among the core main-cast regulars of Mary Tyler Moore. (Some may argue that point given John Amos, who left the series for the 1974 premiere of CBS’s Good Times, was on the first three seasons, and Lisa Gerritsen, who played Phyllis’s teen-daughter Bess during the first five seasons and with the entirety of that spinoff, are both alive at ages 81 and 64. But, their MTM appearances were more along the lines of recurring players.)

I found some interesting reading relating to the late Edward Asner. 

Here they are:

Asner Calls ‘Lou Grant’ Censored | By Eleanor Blau | New York Times | 05.18.1982

TV: ‘Lou Grant’ farewell | By Richard T. Jameson | Originally published in The Weekly | 07.07.1982

The following videos are: The Mary Tyler Moore Show “The Lou and Edie Story” (Season 04 Episode 04; 10.06.1973; an Emmy winner for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for Treva Silverman) with a profound script and performance by Edward Asner as Lou finds his marriage may be reaching its end; the actor discussing that episode; Lou Grant “Judge” (Season 01 Episode 09; 11.15.1977; with an Emmy-winning guest performance by Barnard Hughes) which has Lou determined to get an elderly judge off the bench; the actor discussing the 1982 cancellation of the series; and a video compilation of Edward Asner as a guest on David Letterman’s NBC and CBS late-night talk series.

‘Power to the People!’

Black Agenda Report co-founder Glen Ford died July 28, 2021, at age 71, from cancer. 

His daughter, Nia, wrote a piece for the publication, published August 4, about her father and why he lived: Ford was committed to “the liberation of Black people—all oppressed people across the globe.” 

This is an insightful read. 

Link: 

Power to the People!

The Big 5–0!

I have arrived.

The date of this blog topic entry marks my 50th birthday.

I will be finding out how I feel.

Discussing Nina Turner’s Loss

This week’s blog topic are video discussions on last week’s Ohio #11 Democratic primary loss of Nina Turner to party-establishment-preferred Shontel Brown.

The first video is from Sabby Sabs featuring the host, Sabrina Salvati, with her guests, Misty Winston and Meg MacPherson. 

The second video is from a new addition to “Recommendations.” Actually, it is a replacement for The Vanguard, which I no longer think needs to be recommended, and it is Punch Up Pod. The hosts are Patrick Cote and Leila Charles Leigh. She is an actress, writer, and producer. He is known in part for his Twitter handle @PatTheBerner. He was also memorable with the use of his 2016 Twitter parody account Peter Douche (which made fun of Hillary Clinton adviser Peter Daou).

Each of these videos run more than one hour in duration. So, I will caution readers about that. The discussions are interesting. 

More Recommendations Updates

The list of “Recommendations” is now up to 40 with the video [YouTube] and digital [Website] forms of MintPress News. According to its website, “MintPress News is an independent watchdog journalism organization [which] provides issue-based original reporting, in-depth investigations, and thoughtful analysis of the most pressing topics facing our nation.” Among those at MintPress News are senior staff writer Alan Macleod and contributors Elizabeth Vos and Whitney Webb.

‘Biden Approval Drops to 50%, Lowest for Him to Date’

• H I G H L I G H T S •

“The new rating is from a July 6–21 Gallup poll, which also finds that 45% of U.S. adults disapprove of [Joe] Biden's performance and 5% do not have an opinion.

“Currently, 90% of Democrats, 12% of Republicans and 48% of independents approve of the job Biden is doing. His ratings among Democrats and independents are the lowest to date among those groups. The new poll marks the first time [Biden] has less-than majority approval among independents.”

Biden Approval Drops to 50%, Lowest for Him to Date

This report shows indication that the Democrats, who have the presidency of the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate, are heading toward further erosion of support. Earlier in 2021, at least one polling source had Joe Biden reaching 60 percent. Frankly, the Democrats are, at the least, on a trajectory to lose the U.S. House with the 2022 midterm elections.