'Everybody Loves Raymond' Executive Producer Reflects On Friendship, Show Dynamics

MANHASSET, NY — Just days before an exhibit devoted entirely to "Everybody Loves Raymond" is set to open on Long Island, Executive Producer and Ray Romano’s Manager Rory Rosegarten shared his experience of working on the iconic show.

“It was a dream,” Rosegarten said. “I got to be part of something that you can't explain to anybody. You could try, but you have to live it to know what it is. I am very thankful for that.”

The show took place in Lynbrook, Long Island, and is celebrating its 30th anniversary since premiering in 1995. It aired from 1995 to 2005.

The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame will open its brand new exclusive exhibit —"Everybody Loves Raymond: Celebrating 30 Years" — on November 28.

Rosegarten has been Romano’s manager for over 40 years, and for 10 years before the show premiered.

“We have a very special relationship,” he said. “I happen to really love him. He's like a brother to me.”

The show was pitched by Ray Romano and showrunner Philip Rosenthal, and it featured storylines based on their lives, along with the writers’ real experiences.

“Phil and Ray are amazing, the writers were incredible, and the actors were unreal,” he said. “It was just capturing lightning in a bottle for nine years. It was extraordinary. Ray worked with the writers and had input, and I think it had a big effect on the overall show because he’s very creative and funny. He has great input and great instincts.”

The show gained success, and Rosegarten said he believes it’s because the fans were able to relate to the characters and family dynamics.

“The show’s family is ‘everybody’s family,’” he said. “It was real and not contrived. It felt like you were watching almost any family dynamic and people related to it.”

He said the show was filmed in front of a live audience and “the fans really related to the Barone family and the show as a whole.”

The show debuted on Friday nights at 8:30 p.m., and initially, wasn't performing as well as hoped, he said — so the president of the network promised it would be moved. "And it was then moved to Mondays — and became a number one show. And we really didn’t look back," he said.

Rosegarten added: “It’s about an average family that goes through the good and bad, scary, funny, all the relatable things,” he added. "Ordinary people can watch it and go, ‘me too,’ and that’s what made it different from many others.”

Although the show was set on Long Island, it was filmed in California, so Rosegarten commuted every Wednesday to Friday for about 28 weeks a year for nine years.

Husband and father to two, Rosegarten said his wife held down the fort for him. “I couldn't have done it without my wife.”

He poured so much dedication into the show, but didn’t miss big holidays like Valentine’s Day or special family events.

“I would fly to go to a parent-teacher conference because it mattered to my kids,” he said.

His family never moved to California, but Romano’s did, after a few years. Rosegarten said while it was difficult at times, his family loved the show. His son, daughter, and wife were all background actors in some of the episodes.

“Ray’s as much a family man as I am,” he said. “We’re both New Yorkers and were away from our families.”

From the people working in the office to the writers to the actors, Rosegarten said it was a team effort to make the show a hit — and it showed.

“It was such an extraordinary group of people,” he said. “It was like going to camp every day. Ray and Phil set such a great tone at the show that it trickled down. They wanted everyone to go home at 6 p.m. and be with their families.”

He also said he would do it all over again if he could — this was his dream. He said show business is going through a bit of a transition right now, but “it always finds its way, so if it’s something that you want to do, go for it.”

The CBS show ran for nine seasons, and Romano, Rosenthal, and CBS talked about when it would end, as they wanted it to end on their own terms.

Rosegarten said Rosenthal told them, "‘You want to get off the stage before someone tells you to.’”

And, he said, “Once it ended, it was weird for me because on Friday I was an executive producer, and Saturday I wasn’t."

He said the first day on set, nobody really knew each other, but by the last, it was smooth as silk. He said the last day was prolonged a week or so because Patricia Heaton, who plays Debra, lost her voice.

“Everybody was crying,” he said. “It was a joyously sad day. It was sad to see it end, but it ended on a good note. Ended with quality.”

Although the show ended 20 years ago, Rosegarten said the experience is still such an important part of his life.

“It was a joyous time of my life,” he said. “I'm incredibly proud of my small association with the show. I was involved in something where it's a pinch-me moment all the time.”

Rosegarten received an Emmy for the show and said when he looks at it, he feels like it happened yesterday. “I’m a lucky guy.”

Even at the 20-year reunion, he said it felt like a family getting back together.

Rosegarten said he staged a lot of the props on the show, and has about 150 of them. He was in talks with the organizers of the upcoming exhibit on Long Island — and some of the props will be on display.

“The exhibit is on Long Island, where it should be,” he said. "The Barones lived on Long Island and he wrote for a local newspaper on Long Island. It’s only fitting.”

Fans can help make a show rise to the top — and Rosegarten said, indeed, all involved owe the show's stratospheric success to the fans.

“The fans mean everything to us,” he said. “When you look at the work we did, from Ray and Phil to the actors to everyone A to Z, we all loved the fans. Back then. Even to this day. We have tremendous pride in the show. It is so special.”

Rosegarten is still Romano's manager, and said after the show ended, Romano wanted to play a totally different role than Ray Barone. Romano is currently voice acting for "Ice Age: Boiling Point."

“I admire him, and this has been one of the true professional pleasures of my life,” Rosegarten said. “I never take it for granted. It was an extraordinary, talented group of people to work with.”