Wow - cant believe this forum has been here - I never knew. Anyway, finally somebody to ask or contemplate with....how were the back doors used all the time? If you notice all the pics, there are no sidewalks around to the back of either house. I always thought they should have made them live next door instead of across the street. Anyway...just a silly observation I wondered if anyone else ever thought about.

You raise a good point because they do live across the street from each other. I guess it's something I never thought about. Welcome to the board, although I will say that it's like pulling teeth to get any responses around here.

One thing I can think of is that the front door is very formal and so as to being family you just enter through the back.

If someone just walked in through your front door your first thought might be "who the hell is that?" But if someone walked through your back door your instinct would be that you would know them.

Also, these back doors were attached to the kitchen, a more traditional Italian gathering place than the living room.

Thanks for responding - I just always thought it odd, not that they used the back door, but the logistics of it lol. Just silly stuff :)

One thing I can think of is that the front door is very formal and so as to being family you just enter through the back.

If someone just walked in through your front door your first thought might be "who the hell is that?" But if someone walked through your back door your instinct would be that you would know them.

Also, these back doors were attached to the kitchen, a more traditional Italian gathering place than the living room.

Excellent point on it being an Italian thing. That makes so much sense because of their love for food and all. And awesome food at that!

It's probably just one of those sitcom things, where you accept it but don't question it! I mean, like most other sitcoms, the exterior shots didn't really match the setup of the houses either.

Frank and Marie's living room, for example, has a fire place inside, in the same spot that a window appears on the exterior. :)

Marie and Frank used the back doors to Ray and Debra's house and Ray and Debra used the back doors to Frank and Marie's house.