By Andrew Grossman| Variety Magazine

If "Everybody Loves Raymond" was a presidential candidate, pundits would extol its long coattails.

The CBS sitcom not only returned the Eye to its Monday night glory of yesteryear, but also nursed, "Kings of Queens," which would go on to finally  give the network a toehold Wednesday nights.

In 200 episodes through nine seasons, "Raymond" has in some ways proved as successful as NBC's Must See TV powerhouse programming block that ruled Thursday for 20 years. NBC scored larger audiences, but the Peacock failed to develop successful 'hammock' shows in the timeslots following "Friends", "Seinfeld" and "Will and Grace".

"That door has not revolved at CBS on Monday night," says Stacey Lynn Koerner, exec VP at Initiative, a New-York based media buyer.

When "Murphy Brown" faded, CBS had nothing in its pocket for Mondays, and programmed the mediocre "Cybill" in the vital 9pm slot. The network says it has no such problems now because the Charlie Sheen-Jon Cryer 9:30pm sitcom "Two and a Half Men" has held on to 90% of "Raymond"'s audience and is clearly heir apparent, according to CBS topper, Les Mooves.

"The 9pm slot needed a clean hitter," recalls Mooves of CBS' woes in the mid-1990's. "From day one, 'Raymond' beat 'Ally McBeal' pretty soundly."

Building a hit sitcom block on Mondays gave the Eye a base for its comeback even as other nights still needed help. "One dominant night covers a multitude of sins," Mooves says.

"Raymond" almost never made it to Mondays. The sitcom showed little juice in its fall 1996 debut on Fridays at 8:30, finishing third in its timeslot behind ABC's "Boy Meets World" and NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries." But the network saw promise in the series because it tested well with viewers, says David Poltrack, CBS' exec VP of research and planning.

With little to lose, CBS gave "Raymond" a shot on Mondays at 8:30.

"When Raymond went on the air, we were so far in last place, we couldn't see the people in front of us," jokes Mooves, who concedes that he never predicted the series would take off as it did. "That was the good thing about being in last place. We had a lot of shows whose ratings were terrible...You might as go with what you believe in."

"Raymond" finished 30th that season, and CBS moved it to 9. While NBC trumpeted urban angst comedies, CBS prospered by surrounding "Raymond" with family-type programming keyed to the same prescription.

"What we have got in these shows is the attractive strong-willed wife, and the lunkheaded husband. We've seen that formula for a long time," says R.D. Heldenfels, television writer for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal.

"There is nobody who doesn't see themselves in that show," Mooves says about the series' universal themes of discord, compromise and affection in American family that harks all the way back to "The Honeymooners."

Shows such as "King of Queens", "Still Standing" and "Yes Dear" met with varying levels of critical approval, but they kept Mondays a CBS powerhouse partly by appealing to women looking for an alternative to ABC's "Monday Night Football." "Raymond" skews almost 2-to-1 female.

"Raymond's" coattails spawned "Kings of Queens," which debuted in 1998 at 8:30. "Queens" began respectably and finally improved enough for CBS to spin it off to Wednesdays last fall.

"Sometimes you take another show and it may not have immediate appeal," says Tim Brooks, co-author of a series of directories chronicling primetime television, and senior VP of research at Lifetime Television. "By strategically placing it where people become familiar with it ultimately they may come to appreciate it."

Unlike NBC's Thursday night line-up, which featured powerful shows in every hour, "Raymond" did all the heavy lifting on Mondays until "CSI: Miami" debuted in 2002-2003.

"Raymond is a half-hour show but it is actually driving viewing patterns for the full two-hour (8-10pm) block," says Poltrack, who noted that when "Raymond's" ratings jumped 15% in the 1998-99 season, the block's grew by 7%.

When "Raymond" began to slip two years ago - dipping by 7%, the block skidded by 14%, a trend that continued last season. Despite the erosion, Poltrack argues that CBS was better off overall because of CBS' gains on Wednesdays with "Kings of Queens".

Can CBS keep the momentum alive Mondays after "Raymond" bids adieu in May? "They have a reason to be concerned," Koerner says. It's very hard to find a show that does numbers like that."