Grandpa Steals

classic "Raymond" momentum fuels this well-written Season 7
In the case of many television series that last as long as "Everybody Loves Raymond" did (nine outstanding seasons, to be exact), a considerable slump in the writing and a decrease in passionate acting are to be expected some time after the youthfulness of the first few seasons have passed. With this groundbreaking show, however, Season 7 contains as much momentum as any previous year in its run, and an entertaining crop of episodes are available for fans in this upcoming DVD set.

"Raymond's" seventh season maintains the similar low-key, hilarious formula without going overboard for "better" ratings--an impressive trait that has left the series as one of the classiest contemporary shows you can hope to find. This 2004-2005 year opens with the Barones taking drastic actions to clear up the Debra/Marie feud that left everyone hanging at the end of Season 6. From there, Robert starts dating a girl who seems perfect until the family learns about some of her strange snacking...

Yet another TV-to-DVD release containing edits...
I recently spent over $50 on two sets of ELR season seven (one for my parents, one for myself) and watched the entire season over Thanksgiving, only to discover that the climactic two-part episode of the season - "Robert's Wedding" - has about ten minutes of material cut from it. Anyone who checks the time of the two-part episode will verify this - it runs barely 31 minutes when it should run at least 40-42. How this could have happened is beyond me; even the syndicated version of "Robert's Wedding" contain the portions edited in the DVD release. Some have already referred to the edits in passing, but it's worse than what these make out.

I've done some searches online to see if HBO Video can be contacted about it, but of course, many Google searches have turned up nothing so far. Here's hoping that someone from HBO home video reads this and is the slightest bit concerned with selling a flawed product, but I wouldn't bank on it.

I thought TV to DVD was the...

"Oh my God, she finally killed mom"---Robert
I enjoy watching all the seasons of Raymond. In Season 7, some of the episodes became a little more serious and the fighting a little more heavy ("Pet the Bunny," "Robert Needs Money," "Marie's Vision"), which is why I'm giving it 4 instead of the usual 5 stars I give for this excellent series. The first episode concludes the storyline began in Season 6 where Debra and Marie stop talking that I think was a little overly petty and silly even for them! There are still, as always, excellent episodes here; my favorites being the ones with Amy's parents. Also Robert and Amy finally get hitched, so it is an important season. What was up with the theme song and segment? Yuck! Too much repetition and stupid scenes! Fortunately, it's not shown on every episode.

Disc 1

"The Cult": This episode concludes the "Mother's Day"/"The Bigger Person"/ "The First Time" issue from Season 6 where Debra and Marie stop talking to each other because Marie got bent out of shape...

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