Phil Rosenthal is the Creator and Executive Producer of the hit CBS comedy, Everybody Loves Raymond, which ran for nine seasons, from 1996 through 2005. The series won the Emmy for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 2003 and 2005, and was nominated in this category seven times. Rosenthal was nominated for an "Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series" Emmy in 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Phil published his first book, You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom in October 2006. Click here for more info about Phil's book.
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"Everybody Loves Raymond"? ... ASK PHIL!
Added July 23rd, 2010
Barbara from Palm Desert, CA
Q: One of my favorite characters on the show is Amy....I read she is your wife in real life. Is she similar to Amy's personality in real life? I saw her do an interview on the Raymond DVD's...she seems so sweet!
Phil Answers: Yes. She seems sweet. (She just said, "Philip, you can’t just write that—people don't get your sense of humor on the website.")
Added June 21st, 2010
Dillon D. from New Fairfield, CA
Q: How did Patricia Heaton get away with being pregnant a couple of times during the series? How did you hide it so that it wouldn't affect her character?
Phil Answers: Our joke was that early on, you could have Patty hold a bowl in front of herself, then later, place her behind the couch, then later, have a steamship come onstage.
Added May 14th, 2010
Brent P. from Elyria, OH
Q: Did you have any cameos on the show?
Phil Answers: Nope. I kept myself out of the show because I loved it and didn't want to ruin it.
Added April 29th, 2010
Thomas from Albany, NY
Q: Which episode do you think had the most takes? Were there any episodes that were constantly messed up because the actors were laughing too much?
Phil Answers: Almost every episode had lines we had to do over because of laughing. (you can see some of these outtakes on the DVDs). I don't remember which show needed the most takes—we usually ran each scene twice, sometimes 3 times, and once in a blue moon, a couple of more times if we weren't getting it.
Added March 8th, 2010
Michael J. from Sugar City, IN
Q: How did you decide how Robert's personality would be different from that of Raymond's? Older kids tend to be more successful and it is usually the younger kids who are always in their older sibling's shadow. I noticed this was opposite with the Barone brothers.
Phil Answers: It was easy. Ray told me that his actual brother behaved that way.
Added January 5th, 2010
Alan from Honolulu, HI
Q: I know that Jon Manfrelloti regularly appeared as "Gianni" but also appeared earlier in the series' run as the Cable Guy and that Kevin James appeared both as "Kevin" and later as "Doug" (from a crossover from "King of Queens"). Also I think it was Ray Romano's real-life daughter who appeared as "Molly," Ally's best friend, but who was also the flower girl in a wedding show flashback. Were there any other actors who appeared as different characters during the show's run?
Phil Answers: I think the flower girl was Ally Romano too (younger). Can’t think of any other times we had characters double up—I think you got them.
Added December 9th, 2009
Rob from Milford, MA
Q: Is it true that the person who plays Robert's wife, Amy, is actually your wife?
Phil Answers: I just checked with her, and she is, for now.
Added November 16th, 2009
Alex from Blackwell, OK
Q: I noticed on the first episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that his twins names were different then the rest of the episodes. Why was that?
Phil Answers: We wanted to use the names of his real twin boys in the pilot, and then when the series was going, Ray realized it might be confusing and annoying to his boys to have the same names as the TV twins.
Added June 26th, 2009
Paul C. from New York, NY
Q: Which one of the cast reminded you most of their character they played on Everybody Loves Raymond, and would you ever have had the courage to tell them?
Phil Answers: That’s easy, Raymond. And we told him all the time, “What you just said is dumber than what your character would say.”
Added April 17th, 2009
Paul from Malden, MA
Q: I LOVE Everybody Loves Raymond! It's my favorite show and I have every season on DVD. I have seen every episode about 4 times. I was just wondering why did the show have to end at season 9?
Phil Answers: Thank you. Season 9 is when we officially ran out of ideas. 210 is a lot to do of anything. We loved doing the show, but wanted to leave before we became lousy.
Added March 18th, 2009
Nancy from Columbus, OH
Q: I really, really miss 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. Although I know Peter has passed away (what a great actor - I really liked him!), is there any way the show will ever be brought back?
Phil Answers: Thank you, we miss it too, but I worry that “reunion” shows are rarely satisfying. Thank goodness for reruns.
Added February 24th, 2009
Tim T. from American Fork, UT
Q: Over the years, my wife and I have adored the show and the characters and of course the actors. Peter, thanks for the laughs. We miss you. I was wanting to know where all the actors are now, what there doing and about other work that they may be doing?
Phil Answers: They are all so busy—for me to follow everyone, I have to Google them. I do know Ray has just filmed a great pilot for TNT called “Men of a Certain Age”. It should be on next year.
Added January 9th, 2009
Chris C. from Studio City, CA
Q: Is Ray’s real-life brother named Robert? And is he super tall and have a deep voice like Brad Garrett?
Phil Answers: His brother,Richard, now a retired, decorated police officer, is actually shorter than Raymond and I thought that was funny—the older brother who is jealous of Ray and is shorter than him—has to literally look up to him. And then, when were auditioning actors for that part, this talking tree walked in the room…
Added December 24th, 2008
Robert C. from Mansfield, MA
Q: Phil, I noticed on the show no one ever mentioned Amy's job. What was Amy's job? Did she have a job?
Phil Answers: I think we mentioned early on that Amy was Debra’s friend from work—and that was a PR firm that handled sports teams. I just asked the actress that played Amy, and in her mind, she was in the Human Resources department.
Added October 16th, 2008
Bill "Waldo" C. from Tulsa, OK
Q: Is Raymond seen all over the world, or just in the United States?
Phil Answers: We’re currently playing in 177 countries and right now, I’m going to Moscow to help them launch a Russian version of the show, in Russian, with Russian actors. I ‘m thinking of calling it, “Everybody Loves Rasputin”.
Added August 19th, 2008
Christy D. from Bronx, NY
Q: Do you have one very favorite episode?
Phil Answers: Lots of favorites I’m afraid. I do love “How They Met”.
Added July 2nd, 2008
Corey D. from Duluth, MN
Q: I have heard that Ray’s real family members have made occasional cameo appearances on the show. Is that true or just a rumor?
Phil Answers: True. Ray’s real brother, Richard—who Robert is based on, is in several episodes—“Golf For It”, “The Toaster”, “The Checkbook”. Ray’s kids have all been in various episodes, as have mine—we basically put everyone we know into as many episodes as we could. Ray’s real life father, Albert, is one of Frank’s lodge buddies and appears in all those episodes along with my dad, Max. We cast them together because we figured they deserve each other.
Added June 5th, 2008
Don from Las Vegas, NV
Q: When you were originally casting the show, were there any other big name actors or actresses that were under consideration?
Phil Answers: While we were casting our regulars, we did get a call from Scott Baio. He said, “I understand you’re casting a show called “Everybody Loves Raymond”. I’m interested in the part of Raymond”. I had to tell Scott that Raymond already came with the show, but for nine years, whenever Ray gave me any trouble, I’d warn him that I had Scott Baio standing by.
Added May 9th, 2008
Lizette D. from Manalapan, NJ
Q: Are many of the Raymond stories based on true-life events? Or are they more or less made up by writers?
Phil Answers: I would say that 90% of every story you’ve seen on the show actually happened to me, Ray, or one of the other writers. I had read that the great Carl Reiner ran “The Dick Van Dyke Show” by asking his writers: “What happened at your house this week?” And I thought this would be a good way to write this show about a family today. One of the best compliments we would get was, “You were listening outside our window last night.” We didn’t have to—it just turned out that what was happening in your house was happening in ours too. ( Although Ray still enjoys listening outside peoples’ windows).
Added April 17th, 2008
Frank O. from Philadelphia, PA
Q: In the episode where Ray catches the kitchen on fire, was that real fire or some kind of special effects? It looks very real, and I was wondering if it was more dangerous than a regular show.
Phil Answers: Real fire. Real fear on Ray’s face
Added April 3rd, 2008
Cheryl from Santa Monica, CA
Q: I was very sorry to hear about the loss of Peter Boyle. Frank is my favorite character. Was Peter Boyle a funny man off stage? Or was he more serious like in a lot of his movies?
Phil Answers: Peter Boyle was an absolute joy on and offstage. Nothing like Frank Barone—a true liberal in fact. We all still miss him terribly, but we’re grateful for the reruns—we can always visit him that way.
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