David Letterman was so impressed with the comic's 1994 appearance on his talk show that he had his production company Worldwide Pants develop a sitcom based on Romano's observational family comedy. "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS, 1996-2005) was tailored to reflect Romano's upbringing and talents. He was cast as a married sportswriter with three children whose pushy mother (Doris Roberts), out-there father (Peter Boyle) and idiosyncratic brother (Brad Garrett) are neighbors, creating myriad complications for the young Barone family with their constant and bizarre intrusions. With relatable true-to-life dialogue, multidimensional characters and wacky, fact-based situations, "Everybody Loves Raymond" was a rare series, a family sitcom that managed to be fresh but not overly edgy. Described by many critics as "'Seinfeld' with kids,” the show lacked its predecessor's zany inhumanity and instead had a touching but skewed focus on relationships. "Everybody Loves Raymond" also steered clear of the grating preciousness all too common in family sitcoms, presenting scenes with children that were engaging and realistic, not saccharine and exploitative. While the network highly touted the sitcom and critics praised it, its Friday night time slot was hardly a ratings grabber.