Tee Vee : Heaton also manages to hold her own in an impressively talented cast. One of the dangers of being a sitcom wife to the stand-up comedian star is that your co-star tends to run away with the scenes and leave you saying things like "Oh, Tim!" or "Oh, Paul!" Heaton, on the other hand manages to make Ray Romano look even better without sacrificing her own character. Heaton's tart, no-nonsense Debra managed to add depth to Romano's Everyman character and evoke shades of Mom. 

Joyce Millman: Patricia Heaton owns this category. As the cranky, over-extended Debra on "Everybody Loves Raymond," Heaton is exploding a family sitcom trend. On shows like "Family Ties," "Growing Pains," "Home Improvement" and "The Hughleys," the husband/father gets to do all the funny stuff, while the wife/mom hovers around as a vague sassy-but-nurturing presence.

Heaton, on the other hand, is as commanding as Mary Tyler Moore's Laura Petrie and Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo; she has impeccable timing, she isn't afraid to play her character as a woman who frequently makes a mess of things and she gets to do as much funny stuff as co-star Romano. Plus, Heaton managed all this while wrapped in blankets or photographed from the shoulders up to hide her real-life pregnancy.