Ray Romano, Phil Rosenthal Discuss Emotional ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Reunion and Their Favorite Thanksgiving Episodes

Phil Rosenthal has tried to sell CBS on an Everybody Loves Raymond reunion special in the past, but the network never bit — until this year.

“I thought we should do a 20-year reunion, but CBS didn’t want it. Twenty-five years? Nope,” Rosenthal told The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday, a day after the network aired a 90-minute reunion special — featuring series creator Rosenthal and stars Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Monica Horan, Madylin Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten — marking the show’s (almost) 30th anniversary. He credits CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach with getting the special on the air: “Amy was not only supportive, she was really into it. It shows that it just takes one person to make a difference in these kinds of things.”

As for the slight fudging of the 30th anniversary date — Everybody Loves Raymond premiered in September 1996, Rosenthal isn’t worried about it. “I have two answers for that,” he said. “One is they wanted it now, so who cares? The other is, Ray and I met 30 years ago, and I wrote the pilot 30 years ago. So in essence the show was born 30 years ago.”

Romano and Rosenthal spoke to THR in separate interviews Tuesday to discuss what didn’t make the final edit of the special, unexpectedly emotional moments and their favorite Thanksgiving episodes of the show.

The reunion really did feel like old friends getting together again. Do you all still see each other frequently?

RAY ROMANO Phil and I see each other all the time. Our families are close — we go to movie night at his house, and we’ve gone on vacations together. Brad I see not as much, but I see him. I’ll go to Vegas [where Garrett lives] and play poker, and we go out to dinner every now and then. Patty I see the least, since she moved to Nashville. But we still correspond every now and then and go out to lunch a couple times a year.

Phil, do you still see the other writers from the show?

PHIL ROSENTHAL We try to have lunch or dinner every couple of months at least, all of us. … This was like going to high school, college and some of grad school over nine years [of making the series]. They’re lifelong friends. People ask me do I miss doing the show, and I do miss doing it because of all the friends there. We feel like the show ran its course — we did 210 episodes — so I don’t miss it [in that way]but I do miss my friends. That writers room was the happiest place on Earth. It was getting paid to laugh all day.

Were there things from the taping that didn’t make it into the final edit that you wish you had?

ROSENTHAL I’m sure there are, but once you start editing and cutting stuff, you don’t miss it. I don’t know why that is, but it happens on every single show I’ve ever done. I think we kept the best stuff.

ROMANO We were trying to get two hours, which would be an hour and 20 minutes or so [without commercials]. Some of the compilations we had to cut down, the gag reel had to be cut down. My wife [Anna] did a half-hour interview, and they showed her for three seconds. My father and Phil’s father did guest spots together a few times, and they weren’t actors but they were always hysterical. We showed that during the live taping but had to cut it down. But you also don’t want to go too long. We could have used another 10 minutes.

There were several emotional moments where you and everyone else on stage teared up a little. Did any of that come at you unexpectedly?

ROMANO I didn’t expect that I would tear up — I don’t know if it was noticeable — talking about Peter Boyle and the piece of advice he gave me when we were filming the pilot. That caught me off guard.

ROSENTHAL The first one — I was on stage with Ray and Patty. We had just seen a clip, and I got emotional because I realized how lucky I was and how great they were. Not just the two of them, but all of our cast, our guest actors, and all our writers and crew.

What was it like stepping onto the re-created set?

ROSENTHAL That set was so good, I think people probably thought it had just been sitting there forever. The moment our show was done, they took it down and took it apart, and then used it for parts on other sets. But they re-created it down to the refrigerator magnets. It was a very surreal and beautiful kind of Twilight Zone.

ROMANO There was a little bit of a time travel feeling. Then it got weird because it didn’t feel weird anymore. We all felt like we never left. It was a bit of a mind-blowing thing. We’re all older; our kids grew up on set. It brought back memories — it was sweet and it was nice, but also a little bittersweet.

Ray, one of the funnier moments for me in the special was watching your kids do impressions of you. Do they ever do that when you’re around?

ROMANO Guys, do you want to do it? I’m driving with the three boys.

GREG ROMANO (Ray’s son) I had to think about it for a second. I had to go a little deeper than my actual voice.

ROMANO They don’t do it in front of me. My daughter [Ally] isn’t here, but the stuff she said, she’s said to my face many times. She’s like my wife — she tells it like it is when I’m being a pain in the butt.

Since we’re closing in on the holiday, do you have a favorite Thanksgiving episode from the show?

ROSENTHAL Thanksgiving was such a good holiday to do an episode about, because it’s so family oriented. Everyone relates, for better or worse. They’re either dreading it or it’s a celebration. The one with tofu turkey [season three’s “No Fat”] was really good, and [season eight’s “The Bird”]where they go to Amy’s [Horan] parents’ house and bird flies into the window and Amy’s mother kills it. Even the first one we did [“Fish or Turkey” from season one]where Ray puts the fish Debra wants to make in the dishwasher. I like that one.”

ROMANO I think pound for pound, the tofu turkey one was the favorite.

Interviews edited and condensed.