The Invasion

The Invasion
Robert is caught eating corn dogs before dinner in "The Invasion"
Season	3
Episode	1
Air Date	September 21, 1998 (USA) October 7, 2004 (Canada)
Cast	Ray Romano Patricia Heaton Brad Garrett Doris Roberts Peter Boyle Madylin Sweeten Sawyer Sweeten Sullivan Sweeten
Director(s)	Will Mackenzie
Writer(s)	Ellen Sandler
Preceded by	The Wedding: Part 2
Followed by	Driving Frank

The Invasion is the first episode of Season 3, and is episode 48 of the full 210 episodes for the entire series. In this episode, Ray and Debra's house is being fumigated, so they stay with Frank and Marie for a few days.

Episode Information

• Episode Title: The Invasion
• Episode Number: Season 3, Episode 1 (#48 of 210)
• Air Date: September 21, 1998
• Episode description (from DVD): "While their house is being fumigated, Ray and Debra stay with Frank and Marie."
• Cast:
  • Ray Romano as Ray
  • Patricia Heaton as Debra
  • Brad Garrett as Robert
  • Doris Roberts as Marie
  • Peter Boyle as Frank
  • Madylin Sweeten as Ally
  • Sawyer Sweeten as Geoffrey
  • Sullivan Sweeten as Michael
• Crew:
  • Will Mackenzie - Director
  • Ellen Sandler - Writer
• Preceded by: "The Wedding: Part 2"
• Followed by: "Driving Frank"

Synopsis

Ray and Debra are having their house fumigated for termites. They plan to stay at a hotel, but Marie insists they stay at her house across the street.

Right off the bat, things start to get awkward. When Debra unintentionally "interferes" in Marie's everyday activities, Marie complains to Ray. So then, Debra decides to purposely interfere just to annoy her. And after a confrontation with Robert, Ray gets into the act. Now, nobody can wait for the fumigation to be done.

Running Gags

• Frank blurts out a variation of his famous tag-line "holy crap."

• Even though they are not in their own house, Ray walks in and refers to Debra by some funny nickname. This time it was "Bubble Wrap".

Trivia

• This is only one of the few times in the series that the viewer gets to see Ray's old bedroom.

• Music was used quite a bit throughout the series. This is the first episode that uses Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony (better known as "Ode to Joy") as the show's opening theme. This opening would be used for the next few seasons.

Production Notes

• Co-Executive Producers Ellen Sandler and Cindy Chupack are now credited separately.
• Lew Schneider moves up to Supervising Producer, joining Jeremy Stevens.
• Steve Skrovan and Tucker Cawley join Ray Romano as Producers.
• Stewart A. Lyons has retired from the show. Lisa Helfrich Jackson takes over as the one who produces, whose former job as Coordinating Producer is taken over by Ken Ornstein, who becomes the new Unit Production Manager.
• Holli Gailen moves up from Associate Producer to Co-Producer.
• Aaron Shure becomes a Story Editor, joining Tom Caltabiano.
• Randy Suhr takes over for Veronica Gonzalez-Rubio as First Assistant Director.
• Elena Santaballa takes over for Judith Moore as Second Assistant Director.
• Lisa Miller, the one in charge of Casting, got married and changed her legal name to Lisa Miller Katz.
• Property Master Rhonda Schneider's credit squeezes in.
• Ellen Halpin takes over for Coby Turner as Script Supervisor.
• Lorraine Shaw moves up from Production Coordinator to Production Supervisor.
• Erin Anderson, Tally Barr, Aaron Korsh, and Carmen Vargas take over for Michael Duddie, Amy Crow Gardea, Julie Sherman, and Susan Van Allen as members of the Production Staff. However, Van Allen will continue to write episodes.
• Satie Gossett joins the Production Staff for this episode only.

Quotes

• Robert: "Yeah, and Ray, who flushed this morning while I was conditioning?"

External links

• "The Invasion" at IMDb.com