On a sunny Saturday afternoon final month in Los Angeles, excited followers opted for a darkish studio at CBS Tv Metropolis the place a reunion with the beloved Barone household of “All people Loves Raymond” would happen. Devotees of the Emmy-winning sitcom gathered for a reside taping of a 90-minute thirtieth anniversary particular, airing Monday on CBS.
“This can be a bucket list-type factor,” mentioned longtime fan Kim Brazier, who flew in from Gulfport, Miss. “I solely watch ‘All people Loves Raymond.’ I’ve it on repeat. I watch it once I’m preparing within the morning, and it’s form of my lullaby once I go to mattress.”
The favored sitcom, which ran for 9 seasons from 1996 to 2005, was recognized for its hilarious depiction of household dynamics. Ray Romano starred as sportswriter Ray Barone, married to Debra (Patricia Heaton). The couple raised three younger youngsters whereas navigating marital squabbles, awkward parenting moments and fixed meddling from Ray’s mother and father, Marie and Frank (Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle), who lived throughout the road with Ray’s jealous, downtrodden police officer brother Robert (Brad Garrett).
Contained in the reunion, the ambiance brimmed with nostalgia as Romano and the present’s creator, Phil Rosenthal, hosted the reside taping from the lounge they as soon as introduced into thousands and thousands of households every week. The set was meticulously recreated for the event, together with the Barone sofa, which Romano now owns and had transported from his house for the event.
Solid members have been introduced out one after the other all through the afternoon, every remaining on stage because the panel grew, together with Rosenthal’s spouse, Monica Horan, who performed Robert’s longtime love curiosity, Amy.
Ray Romano and Phil Rosenthal strolling to the stage for the thirtieth anniversary reunion, which was taped earlier than a reside studio viewers, similar to the collection.
(Matthew Taplinger / CBS)
The group reminisced about working with each other and shared their favourite episodes, accompanied by clips on surrounding screens that included a reel of outtakes of humorous traces improvised by Romano and Garrett cracking up their fellow castmates. As every phase performed, Rosenthal and the solid watched, absolutely absorbed with smiles throughout their faces, whereas the viewers sat rapt, revisiting these cherished moments.
Per week and a half later, in a Zoom interview with Rosenthal and Romano, the latter mirrored on returning to the set. “It was emotional and surreal. At first it felt so unusual to be again, like we went again in time,” Romano says. “After which after we have been joking and cozy for some time, it felt like we by no means left.”
Identical to the reunion, the unique collection was filmed in entrance of a reside studio viewers, a aware option to seize the vitality within the room. “We had me, a comic, and comedy writers, and we needed to listen to the laughs,” Romano says.
And the laughs have been plentiful. Rosenthal advised the gang on the taping that the solid typically needed to pause after punchlines to let laughter die down. Often, he mentioned, the laughter went on so lengthy it needed to be edited out of episodes. The one time the viewers wasn’t in stitches was when Romano actually wanted them. He as soon as sliced open his hand throughout a scene the place he was slicing cheese; Romano went to the hospital to be sewn up after which returned to complete the episode.
From the stage, Romano recounted the present’s origin story, which dates again to his 1995 stand-up comedy debut on the “Late Present With David Letterman.” His five-minute routine centered on parenting his toddlers and dropping his perspective on adult-oriented humor. He famous that the final joke he’d written dated again to when his twin sons have been infants — a bit about jingling his automotive keys to make them snort — which he bodily demonstrated in the course of the look. After the “Late Present” crowd laughed, he pushed the bit one step additional. “I’m glad you laughed at that,” he mentioned. “If you happen to didn’t, I might’ve needed to come down there and rub my nostril in your bellies.”
The solid of “All people Loves Raymond” in the course of the taping of the finale episode of the collection, which aired in Could 2005.
(Richard Cartright / CBS / AP)
In the meantime, Rosenthal, then a author on ABC’s sitcom “Coach,” was at house with Horan watching Romano’s set. It instantly resonated with the couple. “It made me snort so exhausting,” he says. “We had simply had a child, and the fabric was eminently relatable.”
Two weeks later, when Letterman’s manufacturing firm supplied Romano a improvement deal, he met with Rosenthal, and the 2 started shaping the sitcom, mixing their sensibilities. Rosenthal says the ensuing present grew to become a hybrid of his sitcom expertise with Romano’s sensibility that every little thing have to be rooted in fact. “It needed to really feel actual and sincere,” Rosenthal says. “And also you don’t do something simply to get amusing. We had a rule within the writers room: ‘May this occur?’ Are we stretching credibility to this point that we break the bond of relatability with the viewers?”
They developed the present round their very own lives, modeling the Barone youngsters after Romano’s, and incorporating materials from his Letterman routine. The character of Robert was based mostly on Romano’s real-life brother, a New York Metropolis police officer whose bitter quip when Romano received an award — “All people loves Raymond” — grew to become each the present’s title and a line of dialogue his fictional counterpart delivered within the pilot.
Rosenthal contributed his family inspiration too, basing Ray’s TV mother largely on his mom, with facets of Romano’s. On the anniversary particular, he advised the viewers with a wink that his mom had at all times insisted the character was “an exaggeration.”
Phil Rosenthal, left, and Ray Romano on the recreated set of “All people Loves Raymond.” (Sonja Flemming / CBS)
Brad Garrett, left, performed Ray’s brother and Patricia Heaton, performed Debra, Ray’s spouse within the collection. (Sonja Flemming / CBS)
When it got here time for casting, roughly 20 ladies auditioned to play Ray’s spouse, however Heaton nailed it, with a daring alternative setting her aside. She was the one actor who really kissed Romano in the course of the audition, whereas the remaining simply mimed it. It wasn’t till the reunion, nevertheless, that Heaton discovered onstage that she was the one one who’d finished so.
The reunion additionally revealed that Garrett’s casting as Robert was a shock to Romano. His actual brother is shorter than he’s, whereas Garrett is 6 toes 8, prompting Romano to joke that two brothers had been solid directly.
Rosenthal famous that to keep away from the looks of nepotism, he by no means steered his spouse for the position of Amy. Relatively, it was a author on the present who had put her identify ahead.
The reunion additionally honored Boyle and Roberts, who died in 2006 and 2016, respectively. The taping coincided with what would have been Boyle’s ninetieth birthday, and his spouse, Lorraine, was within the viewers. Romano shared that Boyle was nothing like his grumpy character Frank. Through the first rehearsal, Boyle gave the nervous Romano recommendation: “It’s similar to water. Simply let it move.”
Roberts, in the meantime, was the present’s matriarch on- and off-screen, recognized for making pots of soup in her dressing room and looking for the solid. Horan recalled Roberts as skilled and protecting, stating each time anybody was unwittingly blocking Horan’s mild in a shot.
Frank and Marie, performed by Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, have been remembered in the course of the reunion particular. The taping coincided with what would have been Boyle’s ninetieth birthday.
(Robert Voets / CBS)
Later within the afternoon got here one other poignant second when Madylin Sweeten and youthful brother Sullivan Sweeten, who performed Ray and Debra’s youngsters, Ally and Michael Barone, joined the panel. Madylin was 5 when the present started, whereas Sullivan was 16 months previous. His twin brother, Sawyer, who additionally appeared on the present as Michael’s twin, Geoffrey, died by suicide in 2015, simply earlier than his twentieth birthday.
Talking about his late brother, Sullivan mentioned that he tries to remain constructive by reflecting on his finest moments with Sawyer, sharing that almost all of them occurred on the set of the present. Madylin mentioned that she and Sullivan work with the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Hotline, noting that almost all who search assist do survive.
Now 34 and a mother herself, Madylin mirrored on rising up on successful collection. On the time, she was too younger to totally grasp its significance, revealing that she remembers being upset one yr when she couldn’t take part in a college play as a result of she needed to be on set. As scenes of the Barone youngsters performed above the stage, she wiped away tears on the sight of Sawyer as a toddler.
It was straightforward to see what made the solid really feel like an actual household. Their chemistry stuffed the studio as soon as once more, and their connection endures.
“Think about spending 9 years with folks after which staying in contact,” Rosenthal says. “Phil and I see one another on a regular basis,” Romano provides, earlier than Rosenthal chimes in: “Our households trip collectively.” They shared that they’d had lunch with the present’s writers earlier that day.
The love among the many solid is matched solely by the devotion of the followers who stuffed the studio. All through the taping, the viewers erupted in laughter, cheers and applause, a testomony to how deeply the present stays embedded in folks’s lives. Even 20 years after its finale, all people nonetheless loves Raymond.
“It was the last word honor,” Rosenthal says of the enthusiastic followers who confirmed up for the reunion. “We are able to die glad that we made one thing of lasting worth.”
Requested why they’ve by no means thought-about a reboot, Romano is evident. “This was our legacy, this was our child, and we needed to deal with it proper,” he says. “We needed to go away on a excessive be aware and exit on high, and that’s what we did.”
