‘Fighting In-Laws’
Season 5, Episode 9 - Aired November 20, 2000
Debra's parents, Warren (Robert Culp) and Lois (Katherine Helmond), come to town for Thanksgiving.
Quote from Debra
Debra: You know what, Ray? It's a private matter. And my parents, unlike yours, don't feel the need to inflict their lives on everybody else.
Ray: Or, maybe they're a little embarrassed, because as it turns out, they're not so perfect.
Debra: Yeah, or maybe they're just trying to work out their problems before their marriage degenerates into a screaming match like your parents. Arguing about how deep a pan is before it's a pot. "If it's three inches, it's a pot! Everybody knows that, Marie!" "If you can't boil an egg in it, it's not a pot, you jackass!"
Ray: Hey, either way, your perfect little Connecticut "Oh, make sure you cut the crust off my cucumber sandwich"-parents are frauds!
Debra: You listen. If my parents lit an orphanage on fire on Christmas Eve, they wouldn't be as bad as your parents!
Quote from Lois
Marie: Is everything all right, dear?
Lois: Oh, he is just impossible.
Marie: Go on.
Debra: Mom? Are you-
Marie: It's all right, dear. We're talking.
Lois: I am so tired of my opinion counting for nothing! Everything has to be his way! I swear, ever since he retired, it's not like I'm his wife anymore, I'm his employee, and it's all I can do to keep from strangling him.
Marie: I feel so close to you.
Lois: Do you know he makes me iron his jeans? He insists that they have a crease.
Marie: At least he can wear jeans. The last time I got a pair for Frank, it was from the maternity jeans. And I told him they were just stretchy. [Marie and Lois hug]
Debra: Oh, my God.
Quote from Lois
Lois: Oh, yes. You'd like for everyone to see that, wouldn't you?
Warren: What? All of a sudden, discussing our sex life is verboten?
Lois: Ech! That face!
Warren: What face?
Lois: Your language face! Verboten? Oosbach?
Warren: I never make that face!
Lois: You have a face for everything. Here is your how-is-my-hair face. Oh, and my favorite, "We're out of vermouth?"
Quote from Debra
Ray: Hey, your parents seem to be doing okay. It's nice.
Debra: It's not nice. My father just said, "Holy crap."
Ray: What? You always wanted our parents to get along.
Debra: Yeah, but I didn't want my parents to convert. Look at them.
Lois: You were right, Marie. Debra could get this rug a lot cleaner.
Warren: [groans] Oh, Frank, I got to tell you. I overdid it this year. [unbuttons belt]
Frank: You know what you need, pal? A pair of my special stretchy pants.
Quote from Lois
Warren: You are so damn negative. You don't think we need a little help? How about the sex? What about the sex?
Lois: I am not withholding sex from you! I'm tired! Can I ever be tired?! Is that allowed?!
Warren: Well, I'm never too tired. We're both down on this. That's a good quality.
Quote from Ray
Ray: What's going on?
Debra: What happened to you last night? Did you go to over to your parents' to sleep?
Ray: [slaps his forehead] Why didn't I think of that? No, I slept in the damn garage.
Debra: What? You slept in the car?
Ray: [slaps his forehead again] No. I slept on the sled.
Debra: Honey, why?
Ray: I was trapped down there. Your parents were down here yapping and I fell asleep waiting for them to go upstairs.
Quote from Frank
Robert: I don't know. There's something about Debra's mom. She gives me the willies.
Frank: What about the husband? He's the weird one. He got all that lotion on him. He's all slick and moist like a beaver running through the woods.
Quote from Lois
Warren: I need the vermouth to put up with your phoniness. "Oh, we're off to Baden-Baden." "Oh, Robert, how wonderful to see you again." Come on, you know the guy freaks you out.
Lois: You are exactly the same. And these are not the people to tell that you're going to marriage counseling!
Warren: Lois, it's only for a week.
Lois: Oh, yes! Only a week of marriage counseling in New Jersey. It's like getting shot and then hung!
Warren: Hanged.
Quote from Lois
Lois: Well, it's not a full week. So can't we talk about something else? Robert, has your stone passed?
Robert: I will never understand you.
Quote from Marie
Marie: Oh, isn't this nice? Connecticut Grandma and Grandpa and regular Grandma and Grandpa. Who wants Tootsie Pops?