Just because things don't start out well doesn't mean they should be abandoned. Some of the best stuff in life takes time to develop. Sure, your tomato plant might not spring forth with a bountiful crop overnight, but that doesn't mean you should ditch all hope.

Anything worthwhile deserves to be nurtured, and television is no different.

Some of TV's greatest sitcoms were clunkers out of the gate. That's because, like anything, the more time that's given to developing a show, the more chance it has at being good. 

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Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the most successful series of all time, was no different. In a 2024 Associated Press interview, Ray Romano spoke about how the show struggled in its early stages:

"If I'm being brutally honest, I was filled with doubt all the time. I don't know if I'm acting well, and I know I'm not in the first season. I can look back and see I'm stiff. Were trying to kind of nail down the tone. And so it's a little bumpy in the beginning."

Luckily for Romano and sitcom fans alike, he wasn't alone. The series creators did a great job of filling out a cast and crew that played to his strengths. He was surrounded by writers and actors who elevated what he brought to the table.

"Listen," said Romano, "when you're creating a sitcom, you've got to get lucky. And we got lucky that we found Peter, we found Doris Roberts and even Brad Garrett. You know, we didn't write that role. Brad brought this persona that was nowhere in our minds when we were creating the show. So, we got lucky there. All those things had to fall in place for it to be successful."