Ray Romano has revealed why the Everybody Love Raymond: 30ths Anniversary Reunion was never intended to spark a revival of the classic sitcom.
Ray Romano has confirmed the Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion will not lead to a revival.
The 67-year-old actor – who was reunited with co-stars Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Monica Horan, and Madilyn and Sullivan Sweeten on the special CBS show – and the sitcom’s creator Phil Rosenthal have reiterated that the classic series can never be brought back.
Ray told fans early in the programme: “Let’s get one thing out of the way — this is a reunion.”
Phil added that it’s “not a reboot”, while photos of late castmates Peter Boyle, Doris Roberts and Sawyer Sweeten appeared on screen.
Ray explained: “We’re never going to do one, because we’re missing three cast members, three family members.
“We’d never try to do the show without them.”
Boyle – who played Ray’s on-screen dad Frank Barone – died aged 71 in 2006 from multiple myeloma and heart disease, while the TV family’s matriarch Roberts (Marie Barone) died aged 90 a decade later.
Child star Sawyer Sweeten, who played Geoffrey Barone – one of Ray’s twin sons on the show – tragically took his own life in 2015 aged 19.
Phil insisted it “wouldn’t be the same”, and that everyone involved is happy the legacy lives on in reruns.
He said: “We have too much respect for the show itself and for the beautiful audience.
“And thankfully, the show is still on every day, all over the world.”
During the special, a woman in the audience revealed she actually learned English by watching Everybody Loves Raymond while she was growing up in the Philippines.
Phil quipped: “You learned how to speak English from Ray Romano? So were your first English words ‘Ohhh nooo?’ “
Brad Garrett – who played Ray’s brother Robert on the show – previously joined Phil and Ray in dismissing the idea of a reboot.
He told PEOPLE magazine: “There won’t be. And I’m just saying that because that’s something that Ray and Phil [Rosenthal] have always said.
“There is no show without the parents. They were the catalyst, and to do anything that would resemble that wouldn’t be right to the audiences or to the loyal fan base.
“And it was about two families, and you can’t get around that.”`
Ray Romano confirms Everybody Loves Raymond will ‘never’ return for revival or spinoff
