Very few sitcoms have the endurance to last nine seasons. Everybody Loves Raymond shares their long-running tenure with comedy heavyweight shows such as Friends, Frasier, & Cheers. Not even Seinfeld lasted nine seasons… it fell short, ending after eight. That says a lot for this show; I guess everyone does love Raymond.
All 26-episodes of the complete third season of Everybody Loves Raymond are included in this set. The episodes are all very entertaining; from “The Invitation” all the way to “How They Met”. If you haven’t had that chance to check out this show, now is your chance. So, what is this show about? I will let Warner Bros. give you a little synopsis… “Standup comedian Ray Romano stars as Ray Barone, a successful sportswriter who deals with his brother and parents, who happen to live across the street. Patricia Heaton (“The Goodbye Girl”), Peter Boyle (“While You Were Sleeping”), Doris Roberts (“Remington Steele”), and Brad Garrett (“Gleason”) round out the stellar cast.”.
Audio
This disc sports a pretty basic Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. And what much more do you need? This discs audio is just fine for the content, with clear dialog, and a suitable laugh track. There is no real need for an active soundstage, so a 5.1 mix was not really needed here.
Video
Season three of Everybody Loves Raymond is presented in its originally broadcast 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. The picture quality is very good, providing clean and accurate colors, and having very little transfer debris. There are some digital issues with the transfer, specifically some choppy imaging due to frame rate drops. But there is not too much to complain about here.
Special Features
Two audio commentaries are provided on this set, the first of which appears on the episode “The Toaster” with Ray Romano and Phil Rosenthal. The second track with Romano and Rosenthal appears on the last episode of the season entitled “How They met”. I expected both of these tracks to come across as more funny then they did, but they were still mildly entertaining. I would say give them a quick spin, but you might not want to sit through the full commentaries.
Next up, we have 20 minutes of very entertaining Deleted Scenes, and a very funny Blooper Reel that runs approx. 11 minutes. Lastly, this set includes a 80 minute Museum of Television & Radio Panel Discussion with Series Creator and Cast. This discussion is a little long for what it is, but it is still entertaining and worth checking out.
Final Thoughts
Everybody Loves Raymond is a great sitcom that should be enjoyed by all. This DVD set for season three is good, but nothing too amazing. You get decent audio and video quality, and a number of worth while extras. If you haven’t already done so, check out this show today… you wont be sorry.
