By Virginia Rohan | The Record

What's ahead on "Everybody Loves Raymond" this season?

Last week at the Museum of Television & Radio, the show's cast and executive producer provided some inside scoops.

For one, as you might have already been noticing, Patricia Heaton's Debra will get rounder by the week, without explanation.

That's because Heaton is five-months pregnant with her fourth child ("another boy") -- she and her husband, British actor David Hunt, have three sons, ages 5 and under -- but the writers have decided not to make Debra be with child as well.

Last season, Heaton also was pregnant (with 15-month-old Joe), while Debra was not. Once again, the show will try to camouflage Heaton's weight gain with a foundation garment ("not a girdle, but something that holds me up a little bit"), as well as lots of "big shirts and laundry baskets," she says.

The actress -- who's due the last week of January -- plans to take only two weeks off.

Brad Garrett's Robert character, meanwhile, will soon be prominently featured in a "mini-arc" that will have him breaking up with his girlfriend and pursuing more of a swinging bachelor lifestyle.

"Robert is going to move out of his parents' house, which is not a gigantic thing for most people, but in our little world, it's huge," executive producer Phil Rosenthal says. "There will be all kinds of problems and complications and we'll see him dating a little bit. Ray will be living vicariously through Robert."

Initially, Rosenthal says, Robert will move into a garage apartment over the house of "people who are exactly like his parents." But then, he'll move again, into a singles apartment complex with a hot tub.

Robert won't be moving too far away from his claustrophobic Long Island clan, because, Rosenthal notes, "we want him in the show still."

And what about the repercussions for his folks?

With no more boys living under her roof, Marie (Doris Roberts) will get "even closer to Ray and follow him more," Rosenthal says.

Meanwhile, Frank (Peter Boyle) will be happy, because he'll get to turn Robert's bedroom into a large bathroom/lounge for himself.

"I'll have a floating Lazyboy," Boyle says.

Frank will also be creating lots of havoc in this year's Halloween episode (Oct. 26). "Raymond," which aired at 8:30 p.m. Mondays last year, will air a half-hour later this year.

According to Rosenthal, Ray will bring home some multicolored condoms to spice up his sex life, and his dad, mistaking them for wrapped chocolate candies, will hand them out to trick-or-treaters.