History Headscratchers / EverybodyLovesRaymond

* In "Frank's Tribute," why is Marie so nonchalant after Frank suggests quitting the lodge but reacts with horror when the prospect of the lodge shutting down in "Debra at the Lodge" comes up? Sure, she doesn't want Frank in the house more, but the same situation would be true from "Frank's Tribute" as well.

* In "Frank's Tribute," why is Marie so nonchalant when Frank suggests quitting the lodge when the prospect of the lodge shutting down in "Debra at the Lodge" comes up? Sure, she doesn't want Frank in the house more, but the same situation would be true from "Frank's Tribute" as well.

* Also from "The Disciplinarian," why does Marie take it better upon learning that Ray was a juvenile delinquent in this episode than she did in "Pants on Fire?"

* Why does "The Disciplinarian" establish Ray as the same old pushover afraid to take a stand with his kids because he'll think it means they don't like him when he's shown to be rather competent at doling out punishments to the twins back in "No Thanks," and in fact, he is presented as being better at punishments than Debra is?

* Why does "The Disciplinarian" establish Ray as the same old pushover afraid to take a stand with his kids because he'll think it means they don't like him when he's shown to be rather competent at doling out punishments to the twins back in "No Thanks," and in fact is presented as being better at punishments than Debra is?

* Why does "The Disciplinarian" treat Ray like the same old pushover afraid to take a stand with his kids because he'll think it means they don't like him when he's shown to be rather competent at doling out punishments to the twins back in "No Thanks," and in fact is presented as being better at punishments than Debra is?

* Why does Debra scream so hard at Ray in "The Plan" about how he doesn't buy groceries when we literally see him buying groceries earlier in the season with the episode "Grandpa Steals?"

* Did anyone else stop and think about just how lax the immigration system is portrayed in the episode "Stefania Arrives"? Midway through the episode, Stefania and Marco (Stefania's father) decide seemingly on a whim that they're going to stay in the United States instead of returning to their home country of Italy. By the end of the episode, Marco owns a business there (after he purchases Nemo's pizza). In real life, the immigration process is lengthy, even if the goal is just to get a green card, which Marco would need to legally make any kind of money in his new home. Furthermore, barring a turn for the worse back in the old country which would make it unsafe to return, it's not realistic that one would just "decide" to stay in a country they originally planned to visit. I'm sure that Stefania and Marco had a ton of loose ends back in Italy they would've needed to tie up before thinking about moving to another country thousands of miles away.

* Did anyone else stop and think about just how lax the immigration system is portrayed in the episode "Stefania Arrives"? Midway through the episode, Stefania and Marco (Stefania's father) decide seemingly on a whim that they're going to stay in the United States instead of returning to their home country of Italy. By the end of the episode, Marco owns a business there (after he purchases Nemo's pizza). In real life, the immigration process is lengthy, even if the goal is just to get a green card, which Marco would need to legally make any kind of money in his new home. Furthermore, barring a turn for the worse back in the old country in which it would be unsafe to return, it's not realistic that one would just "decide" to stay in a country they originally planned to visit. I'm sure that Stefania and Marco had a ton of loose ends they would've needed to tie up back in Italy before thinking about moving to another country thousands of miles away. This seems to be an example of {{Artistic License}} and/or {{Rule of Funny}}, as Robert was considering breaking up with Stefania before he knew she and her father were planning on staying, making the job of dumping her that much harder.

* Did anyone else stop and think about just how lax the immigration system is portrayed in the episode "Stefania Arrives"? Midway through the episode, Stefania and Marco (Stefania's father) decide seemingly on a whim that they're going to stay in the United States instead of returning to their home country of Italy. By the end of the episode, Marco owns a business there (after he purchases Nemo's pizza). In real life, the immigration process is lengthy, even if the goal is just to get a green card, which Marco would need to legally make any kind of money in his new home. Furthermore, barring a turn for the worse back in the old country in which it would be unsafe to return, it's not realistic that one would just "decide" to stay in a country they originally planned to visit. I'm sure that Stefania and Marco had a ton of loose ends they would've needed to tie up back in Italy before thinking about moving to another country thousands of miles away. This seems to be an example of {{Artistic License}}.

* Did anyone else stop and think about just how lax the immigration system is portrayed in the episode "Stefania Arrives"? Midway through the episode, Stefania and Marco (Stefania's father) decide seemingly on a whim that they're going to stay in the United States instead of returning to their home country of Italy. By the end of the episode, Marco owns a business there (after he purchases Nemo's pizza). In real life, the immigration process is lengthy, even if the goal is just to get a green card, which Marco would need to legally make any kind of money in his new home. Furthermore, barring a turn for the worse back in the old country in which it would be unsafe to return, it's not realistic that one would just "decide" to stay in a country they originally planned to visit. I'm sure that Stefania and Marco had a ton of loose ends they would've needed to tie up back in Italy before thinking about moving to another country thousands of miles away. Perhaps this is an example of {{Artistic License}}.

** Uncle Mel is Frank's brother.

* What was Uncle Mel's relationship to the Barones? He has to be blood related as it is stated that he was never married, but the show doesn't imply that he is Marie or Frank's brother. It is also doubtful that he is Marie or Frank's uncle, given that both the elder Barones' parents were Italian immigrants. I know he wasn't meant to be a major character and Phil Leeds passed away early on in the series, but it is still strange to introduce this random family member into the series without any exposition.

** Actually it is pretty TruthInTelevision. Even if they could technically afford to move, there are more complications to moving than just the financial aspect. The kids go to school in the neighborhood, and Debra is heavily involved with the school/church. Ray also has a good career with the newspaper which seems to be close to their house. And even if they would never admit it, there probably are some advantages to having Marie and Frank across the street (free food, free babysitting, a ride home for the kids if needed, etc.) It is probably just that it is easier to live with the inconvenience than it would be to uproot their lives and start over.

** ActorExistenceFailure, maybe?

** Maybe I am wrong on this one, but I enjoyed the show more with this view. The realism was the joke, the unfair truth that even when you're right you lost (which made the times Marie, Amy and Debra were shut up so awesome) Marie was my biggest reason for thinking that way, she would almost always "win" an argument even when it was obvious to the viewers AND the cast that she was flat out wrong. That went with a lot of the female cast, to me they were portrayed as "crazy" not as "right". The old "you can't win against women jokes" and also even more the "Raymond can't win against almost anyone joke". Debra ''was'' moody because of her PMS, she ''did'' take too long and got them late (even if she didn't got stuck she still was gonna take a few minutes fixing her hair even when she was fine the way she was), she really was bothering Ray talking loudly on the phone in the basement when he was trying to work even when she could had done it anywhere else around the house as he madly pointed out, Amy is a hypocrite for complaining about the Barone seniors when her parents impose they're views on everyone when they're around, and Marie is rarely right about anything, but Ray, Robert and Frank figure it's best just to let them win because they: are scare, see it's pointless, etc. an example is when Frank agrees with everything Marie says just to not get her on his case, then she takes it up a notch and says agreeing with her is Frank's place to which he gets mad and says what's really on his mind.

** Uh, they're reenacting it because that's the group Frank was involved with - the group reenacts numerous battles from different wars. They never said it was the anniversary of the battle or that it took place in Long Island; they said it was the anniversary of their first reenactment of it. This is a case of {{Wiki/TvTropes}}.Orgusersareidiotswhothinkquestioningperfectlylogicalthingsmakesthemgoodcriticalthinkers.

** Actually it is pretty TruthInTelevision. Even if they could technically afford to move, there are more complications to moving than just the financial aspect. The kids go to school in the neighborhood, and Debra is heavily involved with the school/church. Ray also has a good career with the newspaper which seems to be close to their house. And even if they would never admit it, there probably are some advantages to having Marie and Frank across the street (free food, free babysitting, a ride home for the kids if needed, etc.) It is probably just that it is easier to live with the inconvenience than uprooting their lives.

* This troper always took issue with the fundamentally flawed premise of the show - if Debra and Ray feel such tension, stress, hatred, anxiety, misery, and depression living next door to Marie and Frank, why not just move away? It was said in an earlier season they were saving up to move away from them, but no mention or serious consideration is ever given to this line of thought again, even though it's demonstrated at multiple times over the course of the show's history that Ray and Debra are not only pretty well off financially, they can throw around huge sums of money ranging into the four digits if they feel like, such as handing Robert a $1000 check as a gift in "Robert Needs Money." Bottom line, why don't they just move? It would probably make their lives so much happier, or is it that Ray still needs to be perpetually mommied and as he notes of Debra, deep down she likes the complaining and wants to complain?

*** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint THAT'S NOT BETTER.]]

** I dunno, Robert ''was'' eating bologna and orange juice, after all. If that's not hurting, I don't know what is.

*** For as passive-aggressive as Marie gets, the show also goes out of its way to highlight [[JerkassHasAPoint there is valid criticism in her remarks]] - that Debra can't cook and doesn't keep a perfectly neat house, so that just further implies it is petty pride or vanity on her part, when her whole reason for moving in despite Ray's explicit objections was to be near his parents so they could help out.

** I think the implication was that Robert wasn't hurting nearly as much as he led Ray and Debra to believe, and that he was basically treating the $1,000 gift as "play money." The stupider thing about this episode was the idea that a lieutenant on the NYPD would be getting paid an hourly wage and forced into a part-time role. With his rank, exemplary record, and years of service, Robert would have undoubtedly been earning a handsome salary at that point. Even more ludicrous is the idea that NYPD would even think of laying off any cops in the wake of 9/11.

* "Robert Needs Money": How can Robert go to Las Vegas? He was given $1,000. Unless he stays in a crappy motel, he's looking at ''at least'' $800 to stay at one of the touristy hotels for a few days, and that's not even counting the air fare to and from. Even if he somehow got a round trip plane ticket for $200, that leaves him barely any money to actually ''do'' anything on the trip.

* In "A Date for Peter," why are Ray and Debra talking and acting as if Peter's new girlfriend would be joining the Barone family? If they were to get married she would have a tangential relation to Robert as the spouse of his wife's brother, but it isn't as if she would be related to anybody else in the Barone family. It's even implied that Amy's family isn't crazy about the Barones anyway and tend to stay out of their company unless it's necessary, so the idea of Peter's girlfriend/wife having an effect on the Barones is quite ludicrous.