Behind the scenes facts about Everybody Loves Raymond including how much of the sitcom was based on Ray Romano’s real life, which memorable Everybody Loves Raymond cast member originally said they were too busy to star and which countries have adapted Phil Rosenthal’s script to make their own versions of the Barone family.
Behind the scenes facts about Everybody Loves Raymond including how much of the sitcom was based on Ray Romano’s real life, which memorable Everybody Loves Raymond cast member originally said they were too busy to star and which countries have adapted Phil Rosenthal’s script to make their own versions of the Barone family.
Everybody Loves Raymond first began on US television in September 1996 and lasted for a memorable 9 seasons until May 2005. Audiences fell in love with Ray Barone and his family so much that the full 210 are still broadcast daily across the world today. Created by Phil Rosenthal and starring Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond is a true-to-life situational comedy following Ray (Romano) and his wife Debra (Patricia Heaton) as they settle into a domesticated, suburban lifestyle with their daughter and two twin boys. After the birth of their twins, the couple chose to move back to Ray’s hometown in Long Island, New York and purchase the house right across the street from his parents Frank (Peter Boyle) and Marie (Doris Roberts). Their close proximity creates an open door policy between the Barone families meaning that Ray cannot go a moment without a visit from his parents and his pessimistic older brother Robert (Brad Garrett),
So if you’re a big Romano fan and you’ve binge-watched the show since the 1990s you may think that you know everything that there is to know about Everybody Loves Raymond. However, here are 15 little known facts about the Barone family that you may not have seen before and ones that you can use to impress fellow Raymond fans.
1. Michael and Geoffrey Barone Weren’t The Original Names For The Twins
In real life Ray Romano is father to twin boys and a girl. Geoffrey and Michael, Ray’s twin boys in Everybody Loves Raymond were originally called Geoffrey and Matthew in the pilot episode. The twins were played by Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten who are actually the brothers of Madylin Sweeten, their onscreen sister Ally. Ally is also the real name of Ray Romano’s daughter. She appeared on the show herself as Molly, the character Ally’s friend. Yes, Peggy’s daughter!
Everybody Loves Raymond isn’t the only time that Alexandra Romano has starred alongside her Father, the pair worked together again in the film Ice Age: Continental Drift that came out in 2012. Alexandra played Meghan a teen mammoth, whereas Ray Romano is well known for playing main character Manny (also a mammoth) since 2002.
2. Everybody Loves Raymond Was Commissioned After 5 Minutes
During the 1990s, American comics were successfully turning their stand up acts into sitcoms such as Roseanne (Roseanne Barr). When Ray Romano, a stand up comedian for 12 years by this point, did a 5 minute set on The Late Show with David Letterman in 1995, lawyers began working on a sitcom deal behind the scenes before the set had finished.
3. Phil Rosenthal Was Hired From His Frasier Speculative Script
Everybody Loves Raymond’s showrunner Phil Rosenthal was considered for the role after sending a speculative script for a Frasier episode into David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants. It’s said that the only involvement Letterman had in the show’s production was a meeting to sign Rosenthal’s contract where he told him, “Don’t Embarrass Us!”
4. Ray Romano Really Has A Brother Called Robert
Ray Romano does indeed have a brother called Robert. In real life however Romano states that he actually modelled Robert Barone’s character on another sibling, Richard. Ray’s brother Richard Romano is also responsible for coming up with the name ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ after saying it when Romano brought home a stand up comedy award.
Phil Rosenthal also incorporated his own family and experiences into Everybody Loves Raymond basing the characters of Marie Barone and Debra Barone off his own Mother and Wife. Monica Horan who plays Robert Barone’s on and off again girlfriend Amy McDougall in Everybody Loves Raymond is actually the wife of showrunner Phil Rosenthal. Horan first met Rosenthal when she worked as an Executive Producer on Raymond whilst at University. She first starred as Amy in Season 1 Episode 14 and went on to appear in 66 episodes later marrying into the Barone family itself. How can you forget Robert and Amy’s first dance?
5. Robert Barone Was Initially Imagined As Danny DeVito
Now that is something we would love to have seen! Actor Brad Garrett who played Robert Barone has stated that the channel CBS originally wanted his character to be a small, bulldog type man modelled on Danny DeVito. Garrett on the other hand is a much taller man than DeVito and his height ends up becoming a recurring joke between the two onscreen brothers.
Interestingly, Brad Garrett was the only actor to audition without Ray Romano in the room.
