NEW YORK - Nine years ago this month, "Everybody Loves Raymond" was announced as part of CBS' new fall lineup. But at the upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall, its star, then little-known standup Ray Romano, cracked up the gathering of ad buyers when he stepped on stage to bid them farewell.
"This is going to be my last year on the show," he announced. "We said it all in the pilot."
Not quite. After that hilarious pilot, Romano and his talented troupe came up with another 209 episodes that cracked up America.
Only then, with Monday's finale, would "Everybody Loves Raymond" say goodbye for real - still on top, and, for many fans, still too soon.
After an uncertain start in 1996 on Friday night, the series caught fire with its move a few months later to Monday, where it became a viewing ritual for millions.
Clearly, the audience found its simple concept not only funny but relatable: Here was a Long Island husband and father who had never quite grown up who lived a life of bickering with his wife (played by Patricia Heaton), his meddling parents across the street (Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle), and his sad-sack brother (Brad Garrett).
The "Raymond" pilot set the tone from which the show never varied. When Ray bought his parents a Fruit of the Month Club subscription, his good turn inevitably backfired. His agitated parents demanded: How could he do this to them? All the pressure of eating a year's worth of fruit! And besides, was this "club" some kind of cult?
The departure of the show - TV's only top 10 comedy - follows by a year the exits of other beloved, long-running comedies: "Friends," "Frasier" and "Sex and the City."
With no recent sitcoms making a splash (only CBS' "Two and a Half Men" is in the top 20), "Raymond's" goodbye had viewers wondering (and not for the first time): Is the sitcom dead?
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