Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Robert Barone (Brad Garrett)

Most of the jokes are aimed at how Robert is never able to find success and how his love life never picks up. Robert was conceived out of wedlock; one episode features Robert's discovery of that. Standing at 6' 8 1/2", he is the tallest Barone. It may be noted that he has a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it (commonly known as the "Crazy Chin" habit), and this habit is often the center of many jokes. Robert is a caring uncle and still deeply cares for little brother Raymond, no matter how much jealousy he has.

After divorcing his first wife Joanne, Robert became a workaholic and was acknowledged by the NYPD for never being absent one day of his career. Robert was an exceptional cop, once stopping an armed robbery at Nemo's Pizza while Ray hid under a table; in another episode he is gored in the backside by a bull, forcing him to move back into his parents' house for several episodes. Robert's work partner is an African-American woman named Judy; she memorably introduced him to the dance club scene in one episode. Robert's diverse skills as a police officer even got him an interview with the FBI; However, his mother interfered in the interview process, and he was passed over for the position (though the FBI interviewer admitted that she had little to do with the actual denial.) He soon pursued early retirement to become an alarms salesman after a traumatic injury, but thanks to Ray's help, he returned to the NYPD as a Captain.

Robert dated Debra's best friend Amy MacDougall for several years and they have broken up several times. When Robert went with the Barones to a family trip in Italy, he had a small connection to an Italian girl named Stefania, who later immigrated to America, leading to one of his break-ups with Amy. Another occurred when Amy discovered Robert had been considering getting back together with his ex-wife. After a bad date with yet another woman, Robert ran into Amy in a bar and they soon got back together and married in 2003. In 2004 they purchased Frank and Marie's home, but they had to welcome Marie and Frank back in when they were kicked out of a retirement community in New Jersey.

Robert is also very jealous of his brother Raymond, who was favored by their mother, and also earned great success in life, becoming a sportswriter and winning many awards. Though they have this sibling rivalry and Robert's jealousy can confound matters, Ray and Robert are easily each other's closest friend. Even though his father, Frank, favors him over Raymond, he would prefer to be favored by his rejecting mother, Marie. There are times when Frank and Robert enjoy each others company, especially when they join together to make fun of Raymond.