On a sunny Saturday afternoon last month in Los Angeles, excited fans opted for a dark studio at CBS Television City where a reunion with the beloved Barone family of “Everybody Loves Raymond” would take place. Devotees of the Emmy-winning comedy gathered for a live taping of a 90-minute 30th anniversary special, airing Monday on CBS.
“This is a bucket list type thing,” said longtime fan Kim Brazier, who flew in from Gulfport, Mississippi. “I only watch 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. I have it on repeat. I watch it when I'm getting ready in the morning and it's like my lullaby when I go to bed.”
The popular sitcom, which ran for nine seasons between 1996 and 2005, was known for its hilarious depiction of family dynamics. Ray Romano played sports journalist Ray Barone, married to Debra (Patricia Heaton). The couple raised three young children while navigating marital disputes, awkward parenting times, and the constant meddling of Ray's parents, Marie and Frank (Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle), who lived across the street from Ray's jealous and downtrodden brother, police officer Robert (Brad Garrett).
Inside the reunion, the atmosphere brimmed with nostalgia as Romano and the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, presented the live-from-living-room taping they once brought to millions of homes each week. The set was meticulously recreated for the occasion, including the Barone sofa, which Romano now owns and had transported from his home for the occasion.
Cast members were brought out one by one throughout the afternoon, and each remained on stage as the panel grew, including Rosenthal's wife, Monica Horan, who played Amy, Robert's former love interest.
Ray Romano and Phil Rosenthal taking the stage for the 30th anniversary reunion, which was taped before a live studio audience, just like the series.
(Matthew Taplinger/CBS)
The group reminisced about how they worked together and shared their favorite episodes, accompanied by clips on the surrounding screens that included a series of outtakes of funny lines improvised by Romano and Garrett making their castmates laugh. As each segment played, Rosenthal and the cast watched, completely absorbed with smiles on their faces, while the audience remained rapt, revisiting these precious moments.
A week and a half later, in a Zoom interview with Rosenthal and Romano, the latter reflected on his return to the set. “It was emotional and surreal. At first it seemed very strange to be back, as if we were going back in time,” says Romano. “And after we were joking and comfortable for a while, it felt like we were never leaving.”
Like the reunion, the original series was filmed in front of a live studio audience, a conscious choice to capture the energy of the room. “We had me, a comedian, and comedy writers, and we wanted to hear the laughs,” Romano says.
And the laughter was abundant. Rosenthal told the crowd at the taping that the cast often had to pause after punchlines to let the laughter die down. Sometimes, he said, the laughter lasted so long that it had to be cut from the episodes. The only time the audience wasn't in trouble was when Romano literally needed them. He once opened his hand during a scene where he was cutting cheese; Romano went to the hospital to get stitched up and then returned to finish the episode.
From the stage, Romano told the show's origin story, dating back to his 1995 comedy debut on the “Late Show With David Letterman.” His five-minute routine focused on raising his young children and losing sight of adult humor. He noted that the last joke he had written was from when his twin sons were babies (a bit about jingling car keys to make them laugh), which he physically demonstrated during the appearance. After the “Late Show” crowd laughed, he took it a step further. “I'm glad you laughed at that,” he said. “If you hadn't, I would have had to go down there and rub my nose on your bellies.”
The cast of “Everybody Loves Raymond” during the recording of the final episode of the series, which aired in May 2005.
(Richard Cartright/CBS/AP)
Meanwhile, Rosenthal, then a writer on the ABC comedy “Coach,” was at home with Horan watching Romano's set. It immediately resonated with the couple. “It made me laugh a lot,” he says. “We had just had a child and the material was eminently relatable.”
Two weeks later, when Letterman's production company offered Romano a development deal, he met with Rosenthal and the two began shaping the comedy, blending their sensibilities. Rosenthal says the resulting show became a hybrid of his background in comedy with Romano's sensibility that everything must be rooted in truth. “It had to seem real and honest,” says Rosenthal. “And you don't do anything just for laughs. We had a rule in the writers' room: 'Could this happen?' Are we stretching credibility to the point of breaking the bond of identification with the audience?
They developed the show around their own lives, modeling Barone's children after Romano's and incorporating material from his Letterman routine. Robert's character was based on Romano's real-life brother, a New York City police officer whose bitter joke when Romano won an award – “Everybody Loves Raymond” – became both the show's title and a line of dialogue his fictional counterpart uttered in the pilot.
Rosenthal also contributed his own familial inspiration, basing Ray's TV mother largely on his mother, with aspects of Romano's. In the anniversary special, he told the audience with a wink that his mother had always insisted that the character was “a stretch.”
Phil Rosenthal, left, and Ray Romano in the re-enactment of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” (Sonja Flemming/CBS)
Brad Garrett, left, played Ray's brother and Patricia Heaton, played Debra, Ray's wife on the series. (Sonja Flemming/CBS)
When it came time to cast, approximately 20 women auditioned to play Ray's wife, but Heaton made it, with a bold choice that set her apart. She was the only actress to kiss Romano during the audition, while the rest simply imitated him. However, it wasn't until the reunion that Heaton learned on stage that she was the only one who had done it.
The reunion also revealed that Garrett's casting as Robert was a surprise to Romano. His real brother is shorter than him, while Garrett is 6-foot-8, prompting Romano to joke that they had cast two brothers at once.
Rosenthal noted that to avoid the appearance of nepotism, he never suggested his wife for the role of Amy. Rather, it was a writer on the show who submitted his name.
The reunion also honored Boyle and Roberts, who died in 2006 and 2016, respectively. The recording coincided with what would have been Boyle's 90th birthday, and his wife, Lorraine, was in the audience. Romano shared that Boyle was nothing like his grumpy character Frank. During the first rehearsal, Boyle gave the nervous Romano some advice: “It's like water. Let it flow.”
Roberts, meanwhile, was the show's matriarch on and off screen, known for making pots of soup in her dressing room and taking care of the cast. Horan remembered Roberts as professional and protective, pointing out whenever someone unintentionally blocked Horan's light in a shot.
Frank and Marie, played by Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, were remembered during the reunion special. The recording coincided with what would have been Boyle's 90th birthday.
(Robert Voets/CBS)
Later that afternoon came another touching moment when Madylin Sweeten and her younger brother Sullivan Sweeten, who played Ray and Debra's children, Ally and Michael Barone, joined the panel. Madylin was 5 years old when the show started, while Sullivan was 16 months old. His twin brother, Sawyer, who also appeared on the show as Michael's twin, Geoffrey, He died by suicide in 2015.just before turning 20 years old.
Speaking about his late brother, Sullivan said he tries to stay positive by reflecting on his best moments with Sawyer, and shared that most of them happened on the set of the show. Madylin said she and Sullivan work with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and noted that most of those who seek help survive.
Madylin, now 34 years old and a mother, reflected on her growth in a hit series. At the time, she was too young to fully understand its importance, and reveals that she remembers being upset one year when she couldn't participate in a school play because she had to be on set. As scenes of Barone's children played on stage, she wiped away tears as she saw Sawyer as a child.
It was easy to see what made the cast feel like a real family. Their chemistry once again filled the studio and their connection endures.
“Imagine spending nine years with people and then staying in touch,” Rosenthal says. “Phil and I see each other all the time,” Romano adds, before Rosenthal chimes in: “Our families vacation together.” They shared that they had lunch with the show's writers earlier that day.
The affection among the cast is only matched by the devotion of the fans who filled the studio. Throughout the taping, the audience erupted in laughter, cheers and applause, a testament to how deeply the show remains embedded in people's lives. Even 20 years after it ended, everyone still loves Raymond.
“It was the ultimate honor,” Rosenthal says of the enthusiastic fans who attended the reunion. “We can die happy to have done something of lasting value.”
When asked why they never considered rebooting, Romano made it clear. “This was our legacy, this was our baby and we wanted to treat it right,” he says. “We wanted to go out on a high note and come out on top, and that's what we did.”
