Following his appearance on David Letterman, the producer of the Letterman show, Rob Burnett, reached out to Romano about creating a show based on his life, family, and humor. Not long after that, the show was pitched to CBS, the casting was finished, and Everybody Loves Raymond was airing on TV. However, even though Romano impressed Burnett with his comedy, low self-esteem follows Romano’s character, Ray Barone, into the show. Whereas his brother Robert (Brad Garrett) often mutters the title of the show under his breath, the main character who “everybody loves” doesn’t share the same high regard for himself. In that way, the title doesn’t necessarily match the character.
Romano continued in the Larry King interview: “It was a title that…invites hatred. Who is this guy? Let’s see how I love him. I was worried about that.” When it comes to writing and characterization, it’s best to show the audience why they should love a character through behavior, actions, and personality, rather than simply telling the audience to connect with this character. When you boil it down, it comes down to the all-important balance between showing and telling. Ideally, it’s best to do both — without showing, there’s no proof to back up what you tell the audience about a character, and things can get confusing for an audience without a certain degree of exposition.
Where Did ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Come From?
However, telling the audience that “everybody loves Raymond” in the title is potentially asking for pushback. No one likes being told what to do, and thinking that a character is used to everyone loving him could place assumptions in a viewer’s mind before even seeing the show. Ray Barone doesn’t agree with the title most of the time, but a new audience member wouldn’t know that and might wrongfully assign arrogance to the character. Titles can be tricky to choose, and this one began as a placeholder for the show that stuck around until finalization. Despite Romano disliking the title, he told King, “I’m learning to live with it now.”
The cast interview shed light on a lot of details regarding the show, including the origin of the phrase “everybody loves Raymond.” Romano stated, “[The title] came from a sarcastic comment my brother made, who is a police officer. And he said, ‘Look what I do for a living, and look at Raymond. Yeah, everybody loves Raymond.’” The sarcasm of Romano’s brother Richard Romano, a retired NYPD sergeant, laid the groundwork not just for the title of the show but for many of the main themes and premises. Rather than just being a one-off comparison, a jab between brothers, the phrase was changed to be Robert’s jealous and morose catchphrase. The sibling rivalry was highlighted for the show, and from there, Robert’s character began to flourish into something completely different from his inspiration.
