Everybody Loves Raymond could return for a Friends: The Reunion-style one-off episode, possibly in 2026 to celebrate three decades since the first episode aired, creator Phil Rosenthal told NME.
Starring Ray Romano as put-upon Italian-American dad Raymond Barone, the series ran for 210 episodes between 1996 and 2005 before being remade for multiple international markets. In the UK, it aired in the popular weekday breakfast slot on Channel 4.
A number of key cast members – including Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, who played Raymond’s crotchety parents – have since died. Some of the remaining cast appeared together for various interviews over the years, most recently in 2020 for the 14th Annual IMF Virtual Comedy Celebration, but never for a full-length reunion production.
“This year we’ve been off the air for 20 years,” said Rosenthal. “It’s a good time to do a reunion special, the way Friends did a reunion special [in 2021]. It wasn’t a reboot of Friends. It was: here they are now – talking about what it was like then… We can do that next year when we’ll have premiered 30 years ago. We’re talking to production companies right now. We want to do it.”
Romano has spoken many times about his reluctance to do a full reboot or sequel to the show – as other ‘90s sitcoms such as Frasier have done recently – and Rosenthal agrees with him: “Time has passed. People have passed away, so a reboot isn’t going to feel the same. It never does,” he said. “There’s so much money to be had if you keep going. We felt like we had enough money. We’d done well enough to live comfortably. Why keep going? We’re gonna actually hurt the legacy of the show.”
A sitdown special featuring classic clips, tales from the set and new interviews would be agreeable to all, Rosenthal suggests. “We’ll all have fun stories because that’s where all the material for Raymond came from – from stuff that happened to us. If you worked for me, your job was to go home, get in a fight with your wife and come back in and tell me about it…”
Rosenthal, also a best-selling author and host of hit Netflix travel show Somebody Feed Phil, will tell some of these stories when his An Evening With Phil Rosenthal Of Somebody Feed Phil tour comes to the UK in April. He’ll appear in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and at London’s The Palladium, but is most excited to play Brighton “because it is by the sea and it’s a place I haven’t been to”, he says.
“It’s a boring cliche but most people around the world not only want the same things, but they are also very sweet and nice…” Rosenthal adds. “You don’t see that on the news, which is why I think a show like Somebody Feed Phil is necessary… showing the great stuff in the world, the great people in the world, the normal, regular, everyday people that don’t make the news because why they didn’t kill somebody.”
Phil Rosenthal will appear at:
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2 – The Palladium, London
3 – Brighton Dome, Brighton
4 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham
8 – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
9 – Manchester Academy, Manchester
10 – Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle
12 – O2 Academy, Glasgow
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