10 Worst Episodes Of Everybody Loves Raymond, According To IMDb

"Everybody Loves Raymond" is a great show about a really, really bad family — or at least one that has a very hard time enjoying each other's company. For the most part, the turn-of-the-century biographical sitcom that revitalized the CBS lineup is excellent at mining the Barones' cantankerousness for first-rate comedy and even some honest-to-goodness pathos. But any show with 200-plus episodes will have rough patches, and, sure enough, there are times on "Raymond" when the sourness overwhelms the fun. 

While several of the best episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond" are self-aware send-ups of the belligerent ensemble dynamic that defines the lives of Ray (Ray Romano, who was worried about the show's title), Debra (Patricia Heaton), and company, many of the series' low points seem to be marred by that same dynamic. As you'll see below, the lowest-rated "Raymond" episodes on IMDb almost all share an off-the-charts level of unpleasantness and exhausting character behavior. There are very few reviews of individual episodes on IMDb to clue us in on why these are so disliked by users, so we'll mostly look at the episodes themselves to consider what might have rubbed viewers the wrong way. In most cases, it's not hard to guess.

The tenth-lowest-rated episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" on IMDb is "Ally's F," the fifth installment of the show's ninth and final season. In a rare instance of an episode centering its main plot on one of Ray and Debra's kids, Debra is aghast to discover that the typically high-scoring Ally (Madylin Sweeten) has an F in math on her report card.

To investigate further, she and Ray arrange a meeting with Ally's math teacher, Mr. Putnam (Robert Joy), who makes a bad impression on Ray with his short temper and lack of patience for Ally. Debra continues to believe that Ally needs to apply herself more, only to learn from Amy (Monica Horan, whose planned Robert and Amy spin-off never happened) that Ally has been distracted due to her crush on a boy from her class. Debra tries to reason with Mr. Putnam again, and winds up siding with Ray against the teacher when he continues to be antagonistic.

Coming at a time when some fans felt that the series was running out of steam and scrambling to come up with strong plot ideas, the episode can be a bit of a tough pill to swallow, both due to Mr. Putnam's hostility and to the mixed feelings it may stir. On one hand, Mr. Putnam is undoubtedly way too short-fused for a middle school teacher, but on the other, there's something sympathetic about a normal person outside the Barones' orbit reacting with appropriate exasperation to the family's antics.

Slightly below "Ally's F" in IMDb ratings is "The Contractor," Episode 5 of Season 8. The episode begins with Debra losing patience with the family's old, faulty stove, which Frank (Peter Boyle) recently failed to fix. Visiting the Barones' home after golfing with Ray, Gianni (Jon Manfrellotti) witnesses Debra's plight and offers to install a new stove, so Debra and Ray promptly hire him.

Things soon take a turn, however, as Gianni turns out to be a lazy, incompetent contractor who keeps taking lengthy breaks and watching TV instead of actually replacing the stove. This drives a wedge between Debra and Ray, who refuses to fire his friend no matter how much Debra insists. To make matters worse, Robert (Brad Garrett) and Amy also hire Gianni to fix their sink, and he proves just as useless at that job. Meanwhile, Frank gets in a huff over Ray's decision to hire outside help instead of trusting his skills.

It's not hard to understand why this is a low-rated episode. Fans on Reddit and elsewhere have observed that Gianni's behavior is too aggravating and frustrating to be funny, and that his continuous ripping off of Ray and Debra makes for a pretty grueling watch. And that's not even getting into the intrinsic absurdity of the plot, which requires Gianni to be around for nearly a whole week slacking on a "renovation" that would really only consist of removing the old stove and installing the new one.

The early Season 4 installment "You Bet" is the eighth-lowest-rated episode among IMDb voters. It finds Frank, suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, beginning to act in a kinder, gentler, more fatherly manner toward Ray, even going so far as to ask him about his work. As tends to be the case when someone mellows into sweetness on all seasons of "Everybody Loves Raymond," the whole family is initially suspicious of Frank's intentions, but Ray cautiously accepts his father's newfound gregariousness of spirit. Soon enough, of course, it emerges that Frank really does have ulterior motives: Ever since making bank with an unwitting tip from Ray, he has been using the information provided by his sportswriter son to bet on various games.

The episode's resolution may account for why it's not generally well-liked among fans: To teach his father a lesson, Ray sets Frank up with a fake tip, and then confronts Frank in the living room when he realizes he's about to lose money. Following the surprise win of his team, Frank remains unrepentant and continues to cynically pretend that his affection and interest in Ray's life were genuine. This culminates in an awkward scene in which he sits next to a deeply hurt Ray on the couch and makes small talk for 30 seconds before concluding that's enough for the day. It's a real bummer of an ending, and Frank never really gets any comeuppance for his behavior.

Marco Fogagnolo (David Proval), the new Italian owner of Nemo's Pizza and father to Stefania (Alex Meneses), gets a showcase episode in Season 6's "Odd Man Out." After becoming unlikely friends with Frank, Marco begins to frequent the senior Barones' house to take piano lessons with Marie (Doris Roberts), and the two get along so well that Frank soon becomes jealous — not of Marco, but of Marie.

While this plays out, Ray and Debra disagree about the viability of male-female platonic friendships, with Ray insisting that no married woman should have male friends. At Marie's birthday party, she and Frank give Marco an ultimatum, demanding that he choose which of them he truly wants to be friends with. He chooses Frank — but this leads to another dilemma when Frank and Marie realize that neither want to be saddled with Marco.

With no reviews on IMDb and no overtly abrasive or unpleasant story elements, it's hard to pin down why voters rated "Odd Man Out" so low. Frank's rampant sexism towards Marie during the episode may be a factor, but it's not exactly exclusive to this installment. It just may be that, in addition to a general lack of big laughs throughout, Frank and Marie are particularly hateful toward each other here — in a way that, for some, may cross a line from amusingly catty to actively depressing. This is one of those episodes that makes you wonder why they are even still married.

Not all low-rated "Everybody Loves Raymond" half-hours came early in their seasons; "Working Girl," for instance, is the fifth-to-last episode of Season 3 and the sixth-lowest-rated episode of the show on IMDb. It's the one in which Debra decides to get back into the workforce and parlays her experience with sports PR into a job as a copywriter at a Manhattan marketing firm.

It doesn't take long for Debra to run into trouble in her new life, however: She comes home after a terrible first day and reveals that she has been fired. Ray goes to the firm and talks to Debra's boss, Charlotte (Julie Hagerty), who explains that, after coming up with a campaign centered on a character named "Professor Pete Za," Debra didn't take the team's feedback in stride and doubled down on her pitch instead of adapting it to the client's needs. Ray nonetheless gets Charlotte to hire her again after vouching for Debra and explaining that she has been on edge due to the grind of motherhood — but, when he breaks the news to Debra, she feels insulted that he groveled on her behalf.

Although Debra ends up seeing that Ray was trying to help and thanking him for his effort, some fans are nonetheless bothered by the annoyance and lack of gratitude in her initial reaction. Negative reactions to "Working Girl" on IMDb and elsewhere seem to generally emphasize a dislike of Debra, either in this episode or in general.

Just one episode before "Working Girl" came the one that now immediately succeeds it on the IMDb bottom 10. The 21st episode of Season 3, "The Getaway," follows Ray and Debra as they plan and then carry out a weekend vacation. After struggling to find an affordable option that they're both happy with, they end up going to a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont and arrive determined to make the weekend as romantic as possible and rekindle the spark in their marriage.

Soon enough, their will is tested by the awkwardness of being alone together for the first time in years, the insecurity they feel in comparing themselves to a seemingly happier couple (Rick Hall and Beth Skipp), and Ray's general lack of enthusiasm. Meanwhile, back home, Robert has managed to convince Ray to entrust him with babysitting the kids, but his effort to handle the job responsibly is thwarted by Marie, who doesn't trust Robert's caretaking abilities and drops by to spy on him.

The point of "The Getaway" is that Ray and Debra's vacation isn't all that fun, but that ends up making the episode not very fun for the viewer either, which may be why it has a low rating. It's a little exhausting to watch the show's two protagonists wallow in self-inflicted morosity and mutual resentment yet again during what should be a fun time, especially given Ray's unwillingness to even try to stop moping or show any appreciation for the activities planned by Debra.

One of the worst-rated "Everybody Loves Raymond" episodes is the show's sixth-ever chapter, "Frank, the Writer." Following a cold open in which Ray brings home Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to introduce him to Debra but finds her deep in slumber, the episode's plot begins with Frank learning that an acquaintance was paid $50 for getting a funny story published in Reader's Digest and surmising that he could make that same money easily.

Sure enough, Frank sends in one of his stories, and the magazine publishes it. Upon seeing his words in print, Frank gets excited and decides that writing may be his calling. He buys various writing supplies, styles himself in the manner of a pipe-smoking midcentury novelist, writes several more pieces for "the Digest," and even drafts a column that he thinks might be a good fit for Newsday. Ray, who would rather not risk professional embarrassment by submitting the piece, is left in the awkward position of having to yank his father down from cloud nine.

The existing reviews for "Frank the Writer" on IMDb are actually all positive, but even they acknowledge how awkward and discomfiting it is to watch Frank delude himself into thinking he's now a writer. A possible explanation for why the episode's rating average is so low is that it's made up of a slow, inevitable buildup of melancholy embarrassment, leading exactly where you'd expect. That doesn't make it bad, but it does make it a testing watch.

Another low-rated Season 1 episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" on IMDb is "Captain Nemo." It introduces the Nemo's Pizza basketball team, which has been performing poorly in the local Pizza League under the tutelage of Kevin (Kevin James, who believed the show would be a flop). Following yet another humiliating first half, the team ditches Kevin as captain and elects Robert in his place — largely because of his height, of course. Robert proves to be a natural, and gets the team back on its feet in the second half, but chooses not to play Ray.

Naturally, this leaves Ray feeling resentful. But his moment in the sun arrives when Robert lets the power go to his head. His tyrannical leadership style prompts the team to eject him and make Ray the new captain, but, this being "Everybody Loves Raymond," getting what he wanted doesn't make Ray happy. He is overwhelmed by the responsibilities of captaincy and ends up willingly quitting to spend more time with Debra and the kids.

This is another episode where the cringe factor may be too high to go over well with some viewers; it's grueling to watch Robert boss the team around to the point of misery in the first half, and the second half is basically a belabored roundabout route to Ray's inevitable realization that he'd rather be with his family than stressing out over local basketball. Plus, those hoping to see Robert get karmically humbled might have been frustrated by his spiteful triumph at the end alongside the Wo-Hop Chinese Takeout team.

Funnily enough, the two lowest-rated episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond" on IMDb are both the eighth installments of their respective seasons. The runner-up in the hall of infamy is Season 2's "The Children's Book," in which Debra gets tired of always reading the same stories to Ally and decides to write a new storybook of her own. She asks Ray to lend a hand with his professional writing skills, and, though he's initially reluctant to devote free time to a writing project, the two soon begin a collaboration.

Inevitably, things go south, with Debra and Ray failing to reach an agreement on what the story should look like and what animal should be its main character. A frustrated Debra eventually tears to pieces the sheet of paper on which she was scribbling her idea, but Ray rescues the pieces in question and writes a story out of them; in retaliation, Debra writes a story with Ray's idea. The two stories, both about bunnies, are read to Ally on consecutive nights. And, to Debra's dismay, Ally likes Ray's story better.

It's another "Everybody Loves Raymond" installment mostly made up of Ray and Debra bickering and sniping at each other. And though there are no reviews on IMDb to shed light on its poor reception there, fans on Reddit do seem to be angered by Debra's intense competitiveness, her underestimation of Ray, and her ultimate displeasure at "losing" their informal contest.

The "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode held in the lowest esteem of all by IMDb users is Season 3's "The Article." It's an episode that concerns itself with the extent of Ray's insecurity and self-involvement: His coworker Andy (Andy Kindler), who's hoping to break into writing, gives Ray an article and asks for his feedback.

Ray minces no words in detailing all the areas in which he thinks Andy's work is substandard. Although Andy's feelings are deeply hurt, he goes ahead and submits the article to Sports Illustrated without making any edits — and, lo and behold, it gets accepted. Ray, who has never gotten a "yes" from Sports Illustrated, is left fuming with envy and resentment, failing to understand how Andy could possibly find such success as a writer without even heeding his advice. Ultimately, Ray is vindicated when it turns out that Sports Illustrated rewrote the near-entirety of Andy's piece.

In addition to its ending being a textbook example of the karma-avoidance pattern that permeates several of the episodes on this list, "The Article" is just a cascade of mean-spiritedness: There's Ray's teeth-grinding arrogance, and then there's the relentless teasing to which Ray's family subjects him for being one-upped by Andy, with Frank and Robert spitefully calling him a self-centered crybaby. No one comes out of the episode with a win, and it's easy to imagine that all the accumulated bile might just get to be too much for some viewers.