Despite the ratings success of Everybody Loves Raymond, the show’s creator, Phil Rosenthal, revealed that the series almost got a spin-off, which ended up being canceled for a rather unusual reason.
Rosenthal spoke about the topic during a recent episode of Dinner’s on Me, a podcast hosted by actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. According to him, it took nearly 10 years to land a second TV show, even with the success of Everybody Loves Raymond.
“I tried to make another sitcom after Raymond. They didn’t want it. I thought that was my purpose in life. Raymond was [on the air for] 9 years. I thought: ‘I think I was put here to make sitcoms’,” said Rosenthal
“No one wanted it, not even the spin-off of Raymond, they didn’t want it,” he said, before being asked what it would have been about: “[About] Robert and my wife, Monica.” Robert was played by Brad Garrett, while Rosenthal’s wife, Monica Horan, played Robert’s eventual wife, Amy MacDougall.
“They were established on the show. And not only that, but her family was also established on the show. Fred Willard, Georgia Engel, Chris Elliot, they were in 30 episodes of the show. They were proven,” Rosenthal explained.
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Rosenthal then revealed the unusual reason why the Raymond spin-off didn’t move forward. “Do you know why they said they wouldn’t give us more than a pilot? Everyone was over 40. They said the business had changed over the nine years of Raymond,” he said.
Rosenthal later created the series I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, which became Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. But in November last year, he admitted he worked hard to create something special for the 30th anniversary of Raymond.
“I tried a 20-year reunion and I tried a 25-year reunion, but I can only say that the newer leadership at CBS was into it, and that’s why we’re here today,” Rosenthal told People magazine. “Yes, we had trouble making it, but we always wanted to do it. And this one finally happened,” added Ray Romano, who created the comedy that Raymond is based on.
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Photo and video: Reprodução / TV / YouTube @DinnersOnMePod. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
