Following the end of the 1998 Monday Night Football season Everybody Loves Raymond was competing with, CBS chose to air the sports-themed "Ping Pong" in order to attract the football series' male demographic.
[1] Upon its original airing, "Ping Pong" attracted 11.6% of 980,000 American homes, making it the fourteenth most-viewed program of the week.
[2] According to Screen Rant, "Ping Pong" "is one of the most iconic of the entire series, as it finds Ray and Frank pitted against each other in a vicious battle.
"[3] However, the source criticized Ray's insult to Robert, "zero serving zero - you experimented in camp," for its homophobic nature.
[4] For acting in "Ping Pong" and "Driving Frank," Peter Boyle was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.