The last few years have seen a number of classic sitcoms get revivals – but Everybody Loves Raymond won’t be one of them. Creator/star Ray Romano says the show will never return. On this week’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Romano threw cold water on the idea, “As far as a reboot, well, it’s now out of the question because unfortunately the parents are gone: Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts.” Boyle and Roberts, who played Ray Barone’s overbearing parents in the series, passed away in 2006 and 2016, respectively.
Even if the show’s ensemble was still complete, Romano did not seem keen on the concept of the sitcom reboot in general, saying that “They’re never as good. We want to leave with our legacy with what it is.” Results seem to bear that out; revivals of Mad About You and Murphy Brown were short-lived, and reviews for Paramount+’s revival of Frasier have been mixed. Only The Conners, which was forced to reinvent itself after the dismissal of star Roseanne Barr, has maintained any sort of longevity.
Interestingly, Everybody Loves Raymond was not an immediate ratings success, but by its third season, the show had become one of the top ten shows on television. Romano and series creator Phil Rosenthal made the decision to end the series in 2004, after nine seasons. However, it lives on endlessly in reruns, and in its many international remakes.
What Is ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ About?
Inspired by Ray Romano’s life experiences and his stand-up comedy, Everybody Loves Raymond premiered in 1996 on CBS. It starred Romano as Ray Barone, a Long Island sportswriter. Patricia Heaton co-starred as his long-suffering wife, Debra; Boyle and Roberts played his parents (who lived across the street); and Brad Garrett played his sad-sack brother, Robert; Monica Horan joined the ensemble as Amy, Robert’s girlfriend and eventual wife.
Even with an Everybody Loves Raymond revival off the table, Romano is staying busy. His feature directorial debut, Somewhere in Queens (which he also starred in), premiered last year, and he made several appearances as himself on Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical Peacock series Bupkis. He is next slated to star in the Netflix dark comedy series No Good Deed, alongside fellow ’90s sitcom star Lisa Kudrow.
Everybody Loves Raymond can currently be streamed on Peacock. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
