Cast Wants More ‘Raymond,’ Romano’s Not Sure
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) – It was often reported that the cast of “Friends” operated as a democracy, that no decisions were final until they were approved by the entire Central Perk gang. Things appear to be a little bit more autocratic on the set of CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
“If they got to vote, there’d be no question — we’d be doing another season,” says the show’s star Ray Romano.
So while Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Patricia Heaton and Brad Garrett all may desperately want their award-winning series to return for a ninth season, the choice seems not to be in their hands. Romano and executive producer Phil Rosenthal have long discussed the importance of going out on top and following the show’s 2003 Emmy win for outstanding comedy, now would be a perfect time to test that notion.
While Romano may hold some percentage of that absolute power, it’s clear that Rosenthal will have the final say.
“I swear to god I don’t know, I don’t know,” Romano sighs. “I know Phil Rosenthal’s gut feeling is it’s time to go, but he’s even left the door open to see if there’s some stories [left], you know?”
While Romano may be tiring of the sitcom grind, he knows that what he and the cast of “Raymond” have is something special. Since the beginning of the show’s run, Heaton, Garrett and Roberts have earned multiple Emmys and the star won for outstanding lead actor in 2002 (Boyle, the only cast member without a win, has five nominations).
“There’s no denying that you’re doing the same thing, the same character over and over and over again,” Romano says. “You’re doing 196 shows [by the end of this year], but I still appreciate that we have something here that you don’t get a lot. I mean there’s a little magic thing, chemistry and the way it touches a nerve with the audience and this and that — that doesn’t come by frequently.”
In its eighth season, “Raymond” averages more than 18 million viewers per episode, television’s second most watched comedy after the departing “Friends.”
CBS Chairman Les Moonves isn’t anxious to lose his Monday night anchor. Earlier this month he told reporters that he had pretty much offered the “Raymond” team anything they wanted to come back. Romano, in the midst of promoting his big feature splash “Welcome to Mooseport,” confirms Moonves’ largesse, but emphasizes that he doesn’t want money to be a deciding factor.
“The other day he [Moonves] joked around and said he would buy me a golf course if I do it,” Romano says. “Look, put it this way: If we decide not to do it, I’m going to tell my manager that I don’t even want to know the offer, I don’t even want to know what they’re offering because I don’t want to say, ‘OK, I’ll come back for that much.'”
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