Standup comedian Ray Romano stars as Ray Barone, a successful sportswriter living on Long Island with his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), 12 year-old daughter, Ally (Madylin Sweeten) and 8 year-old twin sons, Geoffrey and Michael (Sullivan & Sawyer Sweeten). That’s the good news. The bad news is Ray’s meddling parents, Frank (Peter Doyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), live directly across the street and embrace the motto “Su casa es mi casa,” managing to infiltrate their son’s home to an unparalleled extent. Frank’s favorite expression, “holy crap,” is shouted at regular intervals, and Marie’s cooking and cleaning “advice” is less than appreciated by Debra. And, constantly moving in and out of his parents’ house is Ray’s older brother, Robert (Brad Garrett), a divorced policeman who resents Ray’s successful career and happy family life. When it comes to life with the Barones, the conversation gets as hot – and as rich – as the food.

CRITIQUE

Coming off a successful and funny third season, Season 4 is just as good and perhaps even better as an added focus of the stories now also revolves more around Ray’s kids who are growing up. Ray keeps to his goofy moments as we get hilarious episodes like Debra’s Workouts, in which Ray and Debra are having sex more than usual, and The Tenth Anniversary, in which both find out that Ray taped a super bowl game over their wedding tape. This season is very solid in terms of laughs and fun stories, and all the actors are perfectly in tune with their characters at this point.

THE VIDEO

HBO presents Everybody Loves Raymond in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The video looks very nice in widescreen and since this season began filming in high-definition you can expect better quality than the previous sets. Colors look pretty good and the print is nice, yet there is grain present in several cases as well as a bit of edge enhancement. Overall very nice quality, though. Optional subtitles include English, Spanish and French.

THE AUDIO

HBO presents Everybody Loves Raymond in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. Dialogue sounds pretty much the same like on the previous sets. The sound is presented with enough clarity but not too much definition. Overall though a perfectly fine presentation for a TV show. Also offered are French and Spanish 2.0 stereo dub tracks.

THE EXTRAS

There is audio commentary on four episodes: Boob Job by series creator Phil Rosenthal, Ray Romano and writer Lew Schneider; Robert’s Rodeo by Rosenthal, Romano and Brad Garrett; The Tenth Anniversary by Rosenthal, Romano and writer Aaron Shure; and Bad Moon Rising by Rosenthal, Romano and Patricia Heaton. These tracks are quite good with nice information and good rapport except the Anniversary track is kind of weak.

Deleted scenes are available for 11 episodes and have some good scenes in there, and the blooper reel (12:40) finds the cast flubbing lines and all that fun stuff.

FINAL THOUGHT

The fourth season offers very good and funny programming and some nice extras. Highly recommended to fans and casual viewers.