The Letter

The Letter
Debra and Ray in "The Letter"
Season	2
Episode	11
Air Date	December 8, 1997 (USA) September 28, 2004 (Canada)
Cast	Ray Romano Patricia Heaton Brad Garrett Doris Roberts Peter Boyle Madylin Sweeten Sawyer Sweeten Sullivan Sweeten Maggie Wheeler Andy Kindler Jon Manfrellotti Monica Horan Kristen Trucksess Nora Dunn
Director(s)	Gary Halvorson
Writer(s)	Kathy Ann Stumpe
Preceded by	High School
Followed by	All I Want for Christmas

The Letter is the 11^th episode of Season 2, and is episode 33 of the full 210 episodes for the entire series. In this episode, Debra's Tupperware party is ruined when Marie intrudes upon it. Fed up with her meddling, Debra writes a nasty letter to Marie, and Ray tries to put a stop to it.

Episode Information

• Episode Title: The Letter
• Episode Number: Season 2, Episode 11 (#33 of 210)
• Air Date: December 8, 1997
• Episode description (from DVD): "Marie ruins Debra's Tupperware party."
• 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
• Guest Stars:
  • Maggie Wheeler as Linda
  • Andy Kindler as Andy
  • Jon Manfrellotti as Gianni
  • Monica Horan as Amy
  • Kristen Trucksess as Gayle
  • Nora Dunn as Helen
• Crew:
  • Gary Halvorson - Director
  • Kathy Ann Stumpe - Writer
• Preceded by: "High School"
• Followed by: "All I Want for Christmas"

Synopsis

When Marie crashes and ruins her Tupperware party, Debra decides that she's had just about enough of her mother-in-law's constant interference. She takes pen to paper and writes a letter to Marie, telling her to stop intruding into her life. Horrified by the problems that this letter might trigger, Ray does everything in his power to intercept the offending document.

Running Gags

• In this episode, Frank utters one of his famous taglines: "Jeezaloo".

• This is also the first episode where Ray jokingly mentions that Debra has a drinking problem. This "drinking problem" pops up a few times throughout the series' 9 seasons.

Trivia

• Robert's dog Shamsky makes an appearance in this episode.

• This is the first episode in which the audience sees Marie's locked drawer in the kitchen where she keeps all her special and important items.

• Why would Debra send a letter to Marie, telling her how she makes her feel, when she was the one who told Raymond that she never would tell his parents how she felt about them in the episode In-Laws?

• This episode's lunch special is turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, and green beans.

• Linda's husband Bernie is mentioned but not seen in this episode.

Production Notes

• Original airings start crediting Property Master Rhonda Schneider correctly, while today's reruns still credit her as Rhonda Snyder until T-Ball. As for original airings, the staff were struggling on how to display her credit at this point in the season.

Quotes

• Andy: "Actually, I could use some new ice trays. My cubes smell."

• Frank: "What in hell's bathroom was that?"

• Frank: Fight? I thought those two guys were gonna skip out of the ring and go antiquing!

• Frank: (reading the letter) "You probably don't even realize when you're being overbearing, critical, and intrusive." Is this a petition? Where do I sign?

• Gianni: Hey, Mrs. Barone, I don't know what you put in this dip, but I'll tell ya, if you weren't married—
• Frank: Take her. I'll throw in the dip!

• Debra: But see, when you say that, I take it as you thinking you're better than me.
• Marie: Oh, Debra dear, but you don't have to be better than me!

• Debra: Listen, Marie, I just want to apologize if that letter upset you. When I wrote it, I was very angry.
• Ray: And drunk!

External links

• "The Letter" at IMDb.com