ray romano plays ray barone, a sports writer in lynbrook, new york. patricia heaton plays his wife, debra. ray and deborah have a fun set of neighbors: ray's parents. robert, ray's "loser" brother, is a police officer, and is very unlucky in love. by the end of season seven, however, he marries a woman named amy. the show aired from september 13, 1996 to may 16, 2005.