The series follows the life of Newsday sportswriter Ray Barone as he tries to cope with being with his neurotic family, consisting of wife Debra (Patricia Heaton), parents Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts), brother Robert (Brad Garrett), daughter Ally (Madylin Sweeten), and twin sons Michael (Sullivan Sweeten) and Geoffrey (Sawyer Sweeten).
According to Nielsen Media Research, "The Toaster" tied with the CBS television film Christmas in My Hometown for the 12th most-viewed program of the week of December 16, 1998, garnering 10.8% of 97 million American homes.
[1] Reviewing season three of Raymond, Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk called the episode "quite funny" and filled with "some classic moments.
"[2] It has been named the eighth best episode of Raymond by The Oregonian[3] and is a series favorite for Rosenthal.
"[12] On May 3, 2005, all of the third season of Everybody Loves Raymond was released to DVD; the set not only features "The Toaster," but also an audio commentary track of the episode by Romano and Rosenthal.