Everybody Loves Raymond: Ray Romano And Phil Rosenthal Preview CBS Reunion And Explain Why They'd Never Do A Revival

It may not arrive courtesy of the Fruit of the Month Club, but CBS is delivering a long-awaited gift to "Everybody Loves Raymond" fans. 

On Nov. 24 (at 8/7c), the beloved sitcom will return to its former Monday-night perch for a 30th anniversary celebration, reuniting series creator Phil Rosenthal with stars Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton (Debra), Brad Garrett (Robert), Monica Horan (Amy), and siblings Madylin (Ally) and Sullivan (Michael) Sweeten. The special arrives 20 years after the series finale and invites audiences back to the meticulously recreated Barone living room for a very special evening with one of America's favorite families.

Getting to this moment wasn't easy. As Rosenthal tells TVLine, he'd been trying to mount a reunion for more than a decade, only to hit roadblocks at every turn — until a change in network leadership finally opened the door. Below, he and Romano tee up the 90-minute special — which pays tribute to the late Sawyer Sweeten (Geoffrey), Doris Roberts (Marie) and Peter Boyle (Frank) — and reflect on the comedy's enduring legacy. 

TVLINE | Take me back to the first conversation about doing this special. Who called whom, and what convinced you both it was worth revisiting the show in this way?
ROSENTHAL | I've been trying to get this done for 10 years. 
ROMANO | He told me about it, and I said, "I'm game." Then he took it to CBS and... go ahead Phil.
ROSENTHAL | I'd see other shows doing reunions and think, "We have funny stories, we have nice remembrances, we want to do it."
ROMANO | Also, people were asking about reboots and we agreed that we would never do a reboot...
ROSENTHAL | So we'll do a reunion! We like reunions! But 10 years ago, CBS wasn't into it. Five years ago, they weren't into it. This year, new people are there, and they were into it. So here we go.

TVLINE | This is being billed as the 30th anniversary, even though the show premiered in 1996 — so technically, this is your 29th anniversary. What's the story there?
ROMANO | I told you he's a troublemaker! [Laughs]
ROSENTHAL | We can say it's the 30th anniversary of Ray and I meeting.
ROMANO | Yeah, we rounded up.
ROSENTHAL | It's technically the 30th anniversary since the show got going. But we filmed the pilot in the spring of '96, and we were on the fall of '96. But you and I met certainly in '95, right?
ROMANO | Yes. The upfronts of the following year was when they announced that we were going to be on the air, and the upfronts are in May.
ROSENTHAL | Yes, May of '96, and we're on in the fall of '96. We filmed the pilot, probably in February or March of '96, but we met before then and had to write the pilot, so you could technically say the show was born in '95.

TVLINE | CBS recreated the original "Everybody Loves Raymond" set for the reunion. Tell me how it felt walking onto that set again for the first time in 20 years.
ROMANO | First of all, the work they did to rebuild it was amazing. The only thing that was original was the couch, which I took home with me [in 2005] and gave back to them for this [special]. The same set designer, Donna Stamps, built this one, and you couldn't tell the difference. If you told me this was the exact set, I would believe it. It was emotional, I'll say that. A flood of emotions. I got a little teary-eyed. I don't know if it came out on film...
ROSENTHAL | You wuss!
ROMANO | I'm going to have them digitally remove it. [Laughs]
ROSENTHAL | It was like "The Twilight Zone." During and after the taping, you get a little bit used to being back on set. Maybe an hour or so [after we taped it], I'm talking to Ray and Brad and Patty, and I went, "Whoa!" Just for a minute, I thought it was 30 years ago, talking to you guys in between scenes of a taping...
ROMANO | ...and giving notes, yeah.
ROSENTHAL | That's crazy!
ROMANO | It was that feeling of, "This is so surreal and strange." And then it felt surreal because it didn't feel surreal, right?
ROSENTHAL | That's right. Like you're literally back in time.

TVLINE | Was there a specific prop or photo that really hit you?
ROMANO | They put the fake Turkey out. There was ginger ale in the fridge...
ROSENTHAL | The famous canister was on the coffee table. The big fork and spoon, I think, were on the table... it was wild. But you know what? It was really the accumulation of everything — the fact that they went through the trouble to get as much original detail into that set and recreate the entire kitchen and living room. That was extraordinary. That's what did it.

TVLINE | Ray, during a round of press last year, you said that you recently revisited all nine seasons for the first time. What struck you now, seeing the show all these years later, through fresh eyes?
ROMANO | What struck me the most was the acting. I mean, I knew it was good back then, but now I wasn't as critical. I'm not saying I didn't remember every show — I did — but I didn't remember what was going to happen next, and I saw little things that I appreciated more: the nuances of each actor, and how good they were. I think I just appreciated them — the cast and the writing, of course — more. Back then, it was hard for me to not be critical of myself. What's funny is I would see myself without a shirt on in an episode... 
ROSENTHAL | Oh, everybody loved that!
ROMANO | Then! Back then, I would see myself without a shirt on, and I would be like, "What the hell am I doing showing this to the world?" When I watched it now, I was like, "Oh my god, I was in shape back then!" [Laughs]
ROSENTHAL | "I wish I looked like that!"
ROMANO | I do! I go, "Look! I don't have boobs back then!"
ROSENTHAL | I'll tell you, what struck me watching clips [for this special] was the commitment of every actor to play it completely straight, as if it was a drama. That's what made it so funny. Commitment is everything. We're not asking for a laugh. We are freaking out about the Fruit of the Month Club as if it's something terrible, right? And I can say that about every single actor in every single scene. They played it as if it was real life-and-death stakes.

TVLINE | Being back on set must have stirred memories of Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle. Was their presence felt?
ROMANO | Yeah. We knew we had to do something special for them — to honor them and Sawyer Sweeten, who's no longer with us — and we did that. We said we want to make it a special moment, because the show without— Listen, we were never going to do a reboot anyway, but there's no way we would consider doing something like this without [honoring] them. It's such an element. It's like missing your pitcher and your catcher. But we made sure to express how much they meant, and everybody talked about them, and we showed a compilation of all three of them. We knew how big they were to the show, and we knew a reunion has to have that in there, because otherwise it feels like it's missing a big part, so we did the best we could.

TVLINE | Sitcoms often juggle A-, B- and C-stories. "Raymond" always focused on one. Was that simplicity a creative rule from the start?
ROSENTHAL | Yes. I thought, if a story is worth telling, it's worth telling for the 21 minutes that we have.
ROMANO | Right. But we didn't purposely say, "We can't do that because that's a B-story." It just wasn't the dynamic of the world we were in.
ROSENTHAL | And we could do an A-story with everyone relating to it because they were in close proximity. It was very easy to have the parents weigh in on Ray and Debra's problem. First of all, they're intrusive, right? And if it was a problem with them, of course it was going to bleed over across the street, so it was easy to do.

TVLINE | Many long-running sitcoms seem to grow meaner as they age — almost like the characters start actively disliking each other...
ROSENTHAL | That's interesting. You might be onto something — some backstage thing that creeps into the show itself. [Laughs]

TVLINE | Possibly! But with "Raymond," I don't think you guys ever lost sight of the fact that this was a family in which everyone cared deeply for each other. Was it ever a struggle to keep the humor rooted in love instead of contempt?
ROSENTHAL | That's a great question.
ROMANO | It was never a struggle because of our personal relationships. I mean, none of that ever happened. I mean, even when — look, let's be honest — when [you get to] Season 7, Season 8, you can't deny that it's also a business, and people want to get paid and all of that. Those same things that happen on every show happened to us. But it never bled into our personal relationships, so none of that was ever put on screen, where you could see a difference in our relationship on screen.
ROSENTHAL | It was a lovely, family feeling.
ROMANO | Yeah, and as our show grew, we were more open to letting the characters show the affection they had for each other — me and Robert and whatnot, you know? We were more open. It's funny, because we showed both sides: We saw us get aggressive with each other, but we also saw moments where we were nice to each other, and it all culminated in the finale, of course, when we think that we're going to lose Raymond. Poor Raymond... [Laughs]

TVLINE | Most episodes stemmed from everyday arguments — the toaster, the suitcase, whether or not to remove the plastic cover from the couch. If you were to pick just one episode that you think best captures what "Raymond" was about, is there one that sticks out in your mind?
ROMANO | Phil, you must have one...
ROSENTHAL | Well, you just mentioned the finale. I think it's a good finale because it does do that. I know there are other episodes. The baggage episode is... well, it was amazing when Tucker Cawley came in the room and said that he'd had this argument with his wife about who was going to move this suitcase. It was such a great husband-and-wife story. "How is it Season 7, and we didn't think of this yet?"
ROMANO | That's an episode that a lot of married couples can identify with, and then Marie, we think she's at such odds with her arch enemy Debra, yet we see how she reaches out and tries to help her. Then, of course, we undercut it with another perfect example of men and women, with Frank looking at the fork and spoon at the end going, "When did we get those?" 
ROSENTHAL | It's one of my favorite lines ever in the show. 

TVLINE | There's a timelessness to "Everybody Loves Raymond" that other shows of its era didn't necessarily possess. Did you realize at the time that you were making something that would stay relatable?
ROSENTHAL | No, that you can't predict. You don't know how it will be remembered. But I can honestly say we designed it to try to be timeless. You want to be timeless, not timely. You want to talk about, not the topical jokes — no jokes about whoever is president now, no jokes about fashions of the times. Sure, fashion is going to creep in just because of what they're wearing, or the hairstyle or whatever. But beyond that, what are we talking about? Husband-and-wife problems, father-and-son problems, brother-and-brother problems, dad-with-the-kids problems — universal things that are timeless. Relationships and character.  
ROMANO | If you don't include the the technology of the present time, I think everything we covered is relatable now. I mean, the only way you can tell it's from back then is no one has a cell phone, no one's on social media... that kind of stuff.
ROSENTHAL | You know, the only time we did something technological that would date it? I remember...
ROMANO | Well, we did stuff with the VCR.
ROSENTHAL | You videotaped over your wedding. That wouldn't happen today.

TVLINE | But you'd still find husbands and wives arguing over the new vacuum cleaner.
ROSENTHAL | Yes. You know, maybe in 10 more years, it'll be the new robot!
ROMANO | There's the joke, when they return the toaster, and I say to them, "It said, 'Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad.'" And Peter says, "It spoke?" We would have a toaster that speaks now!
ROSENTHAL | Yes, and it would say, "Your toast is ready." [Laughs]

"Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Celebration" airs Monday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. on CBS (and streams on Paramount+). Will you be tuning in for the Barone family reunion?