Everybody Loves Raymond wasn’t the first TV series to feature two overbearing, meddling parents, but it was the one that turned them into comedy’s secret weapon.

The parents were Marie Barone, played by Doris Roberts, and Frank Barone, played by Peter Boyle. The duo was hilarious and fiercely loyal to Raymond— although one could argue they were sometimes a little too loyal, often excessively so.

After Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, the TV world crowned a more family-focused dynamic from New York as its champs. Although the show is called Everybody Loves Raymond, Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle were two big reasons for its success.

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According to a 1998 interview with the Detroit Free Press, Seinfeld walked so Everybody Loves Raymond could run, and the series was even inspired by Seinfeld, making it all the sweeter.

"I have to confess I never watched Seinfeld," Peter Boyle said. "I realize there is a Seinfeld connection, but it’s lost on me… But the thing we do get when people talk about the show is: 'You remind me of my father.' 'You remind me of my mother.' It really strikes a chord."

Doris Roberts agreed with her on-screen husband: There was an affection underneath the banter and battling of the Barones. On the outside, they were dysfunctional, but on the inside, they loved each other. That’s what audiences everywhere connected with, and that’s why the parents were so important.

"I think I’m everybody’s mother in a sense," Roberts said. "The basic thing for me is that it stems from love. Even though what she does is intrusive, even though it becomes obnoxious, it’s based on love."

Phil Rosenthal, the sitcom creator, knew that playing into the appeal of a family that was hard on each other, out of love, would resonate with the masses.

He drew from his own experience and from watching older family sitcoms, such as Seinfeld and The Honeymooners. In fact, Rosenthal said the parents on Everybody Loves Raymond were loosely based on his own.

"Their humor comes from these very old-fashioned wife-and-husband jokes that are from another time," Rosenthal said. "Those jokes never left my family, and yet they left television, it seems. So now, when you see them, they seem so hysterical—almost fresh."

Ray’s mom and dad were essential to the comedy. They offered a nostalgic glimpse of the past and a mirror to families across America—flawed yet familiar. That’s why audiences loved them.