‘Everybody Loves Raymond’s Doris Roberts on the Episode That Got the Longest Laugh: ‘They Just Couldn’t Stop Laughing’
If you’re an Everybody Loves Raymond fan, you might think every episode is inordinately funny.
However, show star Doris Roberts claimed there was one episode out of its over 200 that she knows received the longest recorded laugh she ever witnessed on the set.
Doris Roberts’ favorite ‘Raymond’ episodes
When asked if she had an all-time favorite episode, Doris Roberts couldn’t stop at just one.
The first one she chose centered on Marie’s relationship with her son, Ray, played of course by actor Ray Romano.
“I loved “Ray’s Diary,” Roberts told the Television Academy Foundation. “I thought that had many levels of tenderness and pathos and sensitivity and humor. I loved that one very much, very much.”
And her second choice? Roberts in her interview said, “I loved the one with Peter [Boyle], cleaning cold cream off my face.”
That episode was “Frank’s Tribute,” in which brothers Ray and Robert are tasked with creating a tribute video to their father for his lodge and fail miserably. By the end of the episode, Marie won’t let Frank go to bed without talking about why he’s so upset. She finally gives up, puts cold cream on her face, and goes to bed. Then, suddenly and tenderly, Frank wipes the cream off her face and embraces her.
The episode that got the longest laugh on ‘Raymond,’ according to Roberts
The episode in question featured Ray’s parents Frank and Marie accidentally driving backwards through Ray and Debra’s home into their living room.
Frank refuses to pay for the damage and has to be cajoled into reporting it to his car insurance company. Even Marie in the episode doesn’t see what the big deal is, despite the destruction she and her husband have caused.
“That was very fun,” Roberts recalled. “It was quite a force, because it broke down that whole wall.”
Asked about the audience’s reaction to having an actual car crash onto the set, the former Remington Steele star said without hesitation, “It’s the longest laugh we ever had. They just couldn’t stop laughing. Then slowly, I got out of the car with this innocent look on my face. They went crazy. Then I blamed it on [Peter Boyle], that he didn’t have the brakes fixed.”
Roberts died in 2016
The actor died in 2016 at age 90. The Everybody Loves Raymond cast remembered her spirit, talent, and friendship at that time.
Romano recalled his show colleague in a statement that year telling ET, “Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me. She never stopped. Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a green young comic trying to make it as an actor, she did everything with such a grand love for life and people and I will miss her dearly.”
Roberts, who won five Emmy Awards throughout her career, was remembered by her on-screen daughter-in-law Patricia Heaton as “a consummate professional from whom I learned so much.”
