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Everybody Loves Raymond was a sitcom that aired on CBS from the mid-90s to mid-2000s. It followed the Barone family, comprised of Ray, Debra, their three children, Ray’s parents, and his older brother.
The show is well-remembered for the hilarious situations the characters on the show get themselves into. And with the show’s cast of dynamic characters and their close proximity to each other, these challenging situations occur often. But the challenging situations didn’t end when the cameras turned off. Here are 10 behind the scenes facts every Everybody Loves Raymond fan should know.
Children’s Name Change
Ray’s family in the show is based on his real-life family. When the show began airing, Ray had 3 children – a daughter named Alexandra and twins named Gregory and Matthew.
In the pilot episode, the children were named Ally, Gregory, and Matthew mimicking the real-life names of his children. Ray then got nervous about having the names of the children be so close to his so Gregory and Matthew’s names were changed to Michael and Geoffrey while Ally’s name stayed the same.
Ray’s On-Screen Children
In addition to a name change, the twins from the pilot episode were also replaced with a new set of twins.
The new twins happened to be Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten, the real-life siblings to Madylin Sweeten who played their on-screen sister Ally.
Amy’s Brother Swap
Peter MacDougall in Everybody Loves Raymond
Peter wasn’t always Amy’s brother. Originally a character named Russel was supposed to be Amy’s brother. Russel appeared in one episode, meeting Ray in a comic book store. He was portrayed by actor Paul Reubens who is best known for playing PeeWee Herman.
After the actor was arrested on child pornography charges, Ray Romano refused to allow him back on the show. Peter was then introduced in his place. This actor references their meeting in the comic book store, implying that Russel and Peter are one and the same.
Brad Garrett’s Battle With Alcoholism
Brad Garrett, the actor who plays Ray’s brother Robert, revealed that he used to be a high-functioning alcoholic. During the beginning of the first season, Brad was often intoxicated on set.
He decided to make a change for the better fearing for his life and by the time the first season of Everybody Loves Raymond wrapped, he had quit.
Peter Boyle References Other Films
Peter Boyle is a gifted actor with an impressive acting resume. During the Halloween episode “Halloween Candy” the show referencing two of his previous films.
The first reference was a speech spoken by Frank that matched a speech Boyle had in the film Taxi Driver. The second reference was Frank choosing to dress as Frankenstein’s monster for Halloween as he played the monster in the film Young Frankenstein.
Ray Romano Didn’t Like The Title
In the original opening credits of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray introduces his family on a conveyor belt outside of his home. The intro ends with Robert coming by saying “everybody loves Raymond.” While this is a funny bit from the show, the title was actually created by Ray Romano’s real-life brother.
His brother had made the comment in passing and CBS had begun to use it as a working title. Ray never expected this title to be the final title of the show. He disliked it because he felt that it invited criticism. Unfortunately for Romano, the title grew on CBS and it stuck.
Clashing Politics
In recent years, Patricia Heaton has made headlines for some of her controversial statements and beliefs. This actress who identifies as a conservative was always forthcoming about her beliefs. This sometimes led to tension on set as Peter Boyle, the actor who plays Frank, was liberal and outspoken as well.
Although the two would argue on set, they seemed to still be able to maintain a somewhat positive relationship. Heaton even attended his funeral years later.
Real-Life Inspiration
Most people know that the show is heavily influenced by Ray Romano’s life. What people may not know is that most of the fights and situations featured on the shows were taken from the lives of Ray or one of the writers. Philip Rosenthal, the creator, executive producer, and writer on the show would often take the exact wording from fights he had with his wife to use as material.
The writers ultimately decided to end the show because they ran out of ideas and wanted to have a strong ending instead of dragging it out and having the quality of the show decrease. Rosenthal joked that if the series were to continue, the writers wouldn’t have wives left to go home to as they’d have to get into too many fights to create new material.
Pay Dispute
In 2003, Ray Romano saw a huge salary increase that positioned him to be the highest-paid actor on television. He signed a contract of 1.8 million dollars per episode plus residuals.
This did not sit well with the other cast members who were only making $160,000 per episode. Brad Garrett staged a walk-out in response and other actors followed. After two weeks, the rest of the cast were given new salaries and agreed to come back to work.
Bad Mood Audition
Frank Barone and the jar of fat in Everybody Loves Raymond
Frank is known for his grumpy demeanor and bad attitude. On the day of his audition, Peter Boyle had no problem slipping into this role as he was incredibly irritated. He faced a lot of difficulties getting to the audition.
First, he had trouble getting past the gate guards. Then he had trouble finding a parking spot. Finally, he entered the wrong building. When he finally made it into the audition room, he was in a perfectly terrible mood – helping him land the role.
