Ray Romano and the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond reunite for a 30th anniversary special
Has it really been 30 years since viewers first met Long Island sports writer Ray Barone and his wacky family? Time does indeed fly, and this week CBS is delivering a nostalgic gift with a new 90-minute special, Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion.
The celebration will be hosted by star Ray Romano and series creator Phil Rosenthal, and will also feature cast members Patricia Heaton (who played Ray’s often-exasperated wife, Debra), Brad Garrett (Ray’s brother, Robert) and Monica Horan (Robert’s wife, Amy). Also on hand will be siblings Madylin and Sullivan Sweeten; Madylin played Ray and Debra’s daughter, Ally, while Sullivan and brother Sawyer (who died in 2015 at age 19) played the Barones’ twin sons, Geoffrey and Michael.
“Twenty years since the show’s finale episode, audiences are invited back to the recreated Barone living room for an unforgettable evening with America’s favourite family,” declares the CBS release for the special, which will include “candid conversations” with the cast in addition to never-before-seen outtakes and commentary.
Prior to filming the special, Romano, Heaton and Rosenthal reunited for an interview with Entertainment Tonight, with Heaton admitting that it wasn’t until after the show ended that she really came to appreciate just how special it was.
“When you’re in it, and you’re doing it, you’re just trying to create a good show, and that’s what you focus on,” Heaton said.
“And you wonder, do they like it? Are people watching? You don’t know if it’s good or not. And then as soon as you’re done with one, you don’t even have time, because the next one is next week,” added Romano.
“And you’re not thinking legacy or anything like that,” Heaton affirmed.
As Rosenthal observed, the reason that Everybody Loves Raymond was so relatable to viewers was because the comedy was mined from real life. “Ninety per cent of what you saw on the show happened to me or Ray or to one of the other writers,” Rosenthal revealed, while also giving full credit to the actors for the show’s success. “Writer plus actor equals character,” he said. “And we had the best actors in the world. Truly.”
According to Romano, he hadn’t made it a habit to catch reruns, but admitted he did inadvertently happen upon an episode a few years back, and was surprised by his reaction. “I realized it was affecting me differently,” he said. “I was able to step back and enjoy it, and appreciate it, and I said, ‘I’m gonna watch them all. And I’m going to grade them.’ I’m very anal.”
And he did, watching every single episode, giving each one a grade out of a hundred. “Nothing’s perfect, nothing got a hundred,” he admitted, revealing the highest score he awarded was a 96.
Romano was also conscious of how much the success of Everybody Loves Raymond changed his life, putting him on an acting path he hadn’t been previously. “I mean, I was just a standup — I mean, I love doing standup, I still do — but the show became what it became, I was this actor who was very green. I got fired five months before from News Radio. And now, I’m still getting out there and experimenting with acting.”
In fact, Romano has ventured from comedy to drama in recent years, appearing in films such as Somewhere in Queens and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. Meanwhile, Rosenthal — whose role on Raymond was behind the scenes — has become a TV star in his own right, carving out a whole new career as host of his food-based Netflix travelogue Somebody Feed Phil.
Sadly absent from the festivities are Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, who played Ray and Robert’s parents, Frank and Marie Barone. As viewers are well aware, the pairing of the two resulted in pure comedy gold, and the special will feature a touching tribute to the late actors and their fan-favourite characters (Boyle died in 2006 at age 71, Roberts in 2016 at 90).
“They are as big a part of the show as anybody,” Romano observed. “Professionally, we miss them. People talk about a reboot, and the immediate answer is no way, because you can’t. They’re such a major part of the dynamic of everything.”
Garrett seconded that during a recent interview with People. Emphasizing how responsible Boyle and Roberts were in the show’s success, he insisted that any discussions of potentially rebooting the show were rendered moot after their deaths. ”There is no show without the parents,” Garrett said. ”They were the catalyst, and to do anything that would resemble that wouldn’t be right to the audiences or to the loyal fan base. And it was about those two families, and you can’t get around that.”Added Garrett, ”I know [the reboot] won’t happen, but 30 years later, I got very lucky to get on that bus. I’m very grateful.”
Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion airs Monday, November 24, on Global & CBS