November 24, 2025 • 47 mins
The Sounds of Film presents a special podcast episode hosted by Tom Needham and featuring Emmy-winning producer and talent manager Rory Rosegarten, an Executive Producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and Ray Romano’s manager.
Rosegarten has represented many performers including Robert Klein and Tom Green, produced the Broadway musical Late Night Comic at age 25, co-executive produced the TNT drama Men of a Certain Age, and won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series for Everybody Loves Raymond. He is also an executive producer of the upcoming Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone.
This episode also highlights LIMEHOF’s new exhibition, Everybody Loves Raymond: Celebrating 30 Years, opening November 28th in Stony Brook. The immersive exhibit features the original 70-foot-wide set created for the show’s 30th anniversary CBS special—on public display for the first time—along with elements from the Paley Museum’s earlier Raymond exhibition. Designed by Kevin O’Callaghan, the experience brings visitors inside the Barone family home with recreated rooms, iconic props such as the fork and spoon and the Christmas toaster, and multimedia clips including rare behind-the-scenes material. The exhibit reflects Rory Rosegarten’s efforts to bring the sitcom’s history to Long Island, where the fictional Barone family lived and where Ray Romano has deep New York roots.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi, this is Tom Needham, and you're listening to the Long
Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame podcast and the
Sounds of Film podcast too. Today, we're honoring one of
television's most beloved sitcoms, Everybody Loves
Raymond, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on November
24th on CBS. To mark this milestone, the Long
(00:23):
Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is opening a new
exhibit Thanksgiving weekend celebrating the show, it's
impact and the extraordinary people who brought it to life.
Joining us today is 2 time Emmy winner Rory Rose Garden,
executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and long time
manager of Ray Romano, Tom Greenand many others.
(00:45):
Rory has spent over 4 decades shaping the careers of some of
comedy's most recognizable voices and today we're going to
explore his journey. Rory, thank you so much for
joining us on the program. Thank you, Tom.
Oh man, you are a Long Island legend.
And before we get into the anniversary show and all that, I
(01:06):
understand that you're you're local and that you had an
interest in showbiz going all the way back to high school.
You did interviews and stuff with very famous people.
Is that correct? Yes, that is correct.
I I used to have a monthly interview column in the
Southerner at Great Neck S Senior High School.
(01:27):
I really thought I was going to be a celebrity interviewer.
That's how I was charting my path.
But you know best laid plans Of mice and men, and here I am.
Well, well, you did it for a little while, right?
Even beyond high. School, yes, I, I actually, I
wrote for the Southerner. I freelance.
(01:47):
I was an intern in freelance forGood Times Magazine, actually
actually doing a, a cover story interview with Dustin Hoffman
for them, among others. I was a guest lecturer at
Columbia University at the Columbia Journalism Convention
on celebrity interviewing technique.
(02:09):
And then I I went to college andafter my first year, I landed an
internship at Playboy magazine in the advertising promotion
department. I went back to school for my
second year and they called me to interview comedian Robert
Klein. They were putting the Playboy
(02:32):
was putting together a special magazine.
The magazine was called Spring Break and it was for all the
kids who were in Florida for spring break.
And it was really a it was a good magazine.
It was like where to eat, what to wear for me.
You know, what do you do if you get a sunburn?
That kind of magazine. And the interview with Robert
was Playboy style 3 photograph interview.
(02:55):
I met him on his birthday, February 8th and went back to
college and for and then that summer, my second summer, I I
landed the internship again. And then he offered me a full
time job and that would have meant leaving college and I went
(03:20):
back to high school to talk to acouple of teachers I had who I
like very much to get their advice.
And basically they said don't bea schmuck, take the job.
You can always go back to school.
So I worked at Playboy and I started working with Robert
Klein. His wife called me.
(03:42):
His wife, Brenda Boozer. Then the opera singer called me
to say he had left his manager and I should give him a call.
And I called him. I started working with him and
one thing led to another. I left Playboy after about nine
months and I opened up The Conversation Company Limited and
here I am. That's amazing.
(04:02):
I'm I'm glad your teachers gave you the right advice.
Oh. They were great.
They were great. They were great teachers too.
What what made you think that you could do, which obviously
you did, but what made you thinkat such an early age that you
could start interviewing major celebrities?
That's rare. Hockey stupidity, you know,
(04:22):
sometimes you just, you believe you can do anything, especially
when you're young, right? And you don't listen to anybody
and you just go for it. And I, I was very, very lucky.
I interviewed amazing people, Jesse Jackson and Lionel Hampton
and and Dustin Hoffman and Gregory Peck, all these
(04:47):
unbelievable people. And they weren't phone
interviews, They were all in person interviews.
I think the celebrities got a kick out of the fact that I was
a kid with a with a brass pair of balls.
Also stupid. And yeah, one thing led to
another. Did any of these interviews that
you did prepare you for the workthat you would do later on?
(05:08):
No, no. You know what it did prepare me
for was dealing with celebrities, I guess.
But I have no formal management training.
I kind of learned as I went. That's incredible.
I want to get into that. One thing I noticed though, when
I've seen you in a few interviews, is that sometimes
you have, I don't know if this is the case right now, but I've
(05:31):
seen you talking and you had signed electric guitars behind
you. What's your interest with
guitars? Well, it's not interest in
guitars. I happen to have behind my desk
all the guitars that KISS used in their last concert at Madison
(05:51):
Square Garden. And in my office I have a couple
of guitars from Bruce Springsteen.
They're all used guitars. They're not just autographed
guitars. And it it makes me happy.
What can I tell? You.
Are you really a music fan? I love music.
Classic rock. Forget it.
My favorite. That's incredible because the
Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame used
(06:13):
to be just a Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
And as you know, 'cause you've been involved with the bringing
of this Everyone or Everybody Loves Raymond show exhibit to,
to the museum. We're expanding to
entertainment. And it, it's, it's great that
you have this interest in music too, before again, we get into
to everything about the show. I understand that you're you're
(06:36):
also working on a movie with theRamones.
Well, I'm working. I'm working on a project.
Joey Ramone's brother, Mickey Lee, has been a friend of mine
for 40 years, and he wrote a book called I Slept With Joey
Ramone, which is a really good book.
And we're turning that book intoa movie, and we're working with
(07:02):
Netflix and we'll see where it goes.
That's incredible as as you probably know, that Ramones are
inductees at the Long Island Music Entertainment Hall of.
Fame. Yes, I do know.
So by the way, do you have any insight into why there's so many
great musicians and comedians and actors and writers who come
(07:23):
from Long Island and we include Queens and Brooklyn?
I, I, I always say that, I mean,you know, you hear about all
these comedians from California,but they all started here for
the most part. I, I don't know, I, I think
there's something about the New York atmosphere and the pace
(07:43):
that lends itself to musicians and comedians and actors.
And a lot of them start here, they really do.
And then they go and find their way.
Well, you found your way. You you talked about getting
into the management business. What's it like to be a manager?
(08:03):
What, what does it take to be a manager?
You said you learned on the job.Well I I think you know I'm
their severest critic and their best friend.
I'm not a blow smoke up your butt guy.
Because if they can't count on me to give my opinion honestly,
(08:26):
then I'm in the wrong business. So I'm very protective of my
clients and I'm also I'm very private about it.
I don't really divulge, you know, and I don't divulge from
one client to another client. It just you can't go to school
(08:50):
to be a manager. You can learn basics, but I
think if you were to go to school, you'd be a lawyer and a
shrink because that's the properpreparation for being a manager.
But I think that it's sort of you and the talent you and your
client shoulder to shoulder versus the world.
(09:10):
You know, that game you used to play when you were a kid, Do you
trust me? Where you would stand behind
somebody and they'd close their eyes and fall backwards and
you'd catch them. Yeah, You're, you're always
playing a game. And do you trust me?
And I pride myself on the back that I'm.
I'm there to catch them regardless of the situation.
And I. Understand that you are unique
too, and that your entire careeryou've always limited yourself
(09:34):
to a small number of clients. Is that correct?
Yeah, the the reason is I never wanted a massive group of
people. I really only work with 10 or
less at any one time because I I'm very involved and you can't
be really involved and roll up your sleeve if you have 40 guys.
(09:56):
There's just so many hours in the day.
So I'd rather work with less guys and be more involved.
Well, that makes sense. So I I guess everybody wants to
know the story about how you metRay Romano.
Well, I was a judge on the K Rock Comedy competition, which
(10:17):
Ray was in, and I saw him and I just thought he was
extraordinary. And that was my first exposure
to Ray. I had judged the competition the
year before and signed Brian Regan out of that competition.
And then this year I signed, youknow, this particular year I
signed Ray. But before I signed Ray, Ray
(10:38):
knew Brian and said, who's this Rory guy, you know?
And I got a nice vote of confidence from Brian and I
started working with Ray and we've been together.
God, it's just endless amounts of time and.
What did you notice about him inthe beginning that that made you
think that this is this is the one and and why did you click so
(11:01):
well together, do you think? Right.
Well, that's multifaceted. First of all, the way that I've
always worked, I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's
the way I've worked. They have to make me laugh
because I've got to work with them and I got to get on the
phone and pitch them and I'm notreally good at lying to anybody.
(11:22):
So I want to feel the passion. And when I saw Ray, I was blown
away. He was so funny, so self
effacing. He had a story to tell about his
family life, his kids. Everything that came out of his
mouth was really, really funny to me.
And when I met him, we just really hit it off really well.
(11:47):
He's a nice guy. He's really a nice guy.
His wife's nice, his kids are nice.
You know when you see Everybody Loves Raymond, basically, that's
Ray. Not not so much in front, but
he's just a really super guy andyou want to surround yourself
(12:09):
with those people. Show business is hard, man, and
you don't want it to be hard when you're in your house.
And when I was in my house with Ray, you know, when we were
doing our thing, we got along famously.
And you know, the, the crazy part is that in all the years I
worked with Ray, we've never hada, had a fight or an argument.
(12:33):
We've disagreed on things, but we've never had a fight.
We've never slammed the phone down on each other.
It's, it's, it's old school and it's, it's, it's really great.
That's amazing. So I understand, like a lot of
people that make it big, that Ray's success was partly due to
(12:54):
some very positive experiences he had on late night programs,
including I, I can't even believe it because it just seems
like so long ago. Johnny Carson and David
Letterman. He had done Carson.
That was a good, that was a great experience.
Ray and I were young guys and the thing was that Ray was a
stand up comedian and, you know,doing The Tonight Show was the
(13:20):
pinnacle. That was the highlight.
And when he got the show, I remember when the, when it was
over, he was sad because like, what do I do now?
I, I, I've done the, I, I, I made it to the pinnacle, you
know, But after he had done the show, right after we were in, I
was in the dressing room with Ray and Johnny walked into the
(13:42):
dressing room with Ed McMahon and toe and Johnny and Johnny
said, well, you got to be happy with that, you know, And I, I, I
was like stunned, you know, I, I, I was starstruck, you know,
it was amazing. This was the, the, the man
himself. And then a little bit after
that, I was friendly with the producer of Letterman, Bob
(14:09):
Morton and and Barry Sand, and they were running that show.
And Ray did the show and he killed.
I mean, it was the set of all time.
And the following Saturday, Rob Burnett, who worked for Dave
(14:30):
Letterman, called Ray directly. He didn't even call me called
Ray because he got his name off the paperwork from him when he
was on the show and talked to him a little bit and said let's
do a show. Dave thinks.
They had said to me that Dave thinks Ray is one of the most
accessible comedians he's seen in a long time.
(14:54):
And next thing we knew, we had adevelopment deal with Worldwide
Pants. That's incredible.
What do you mean by accessible? That Ray as a stand up Ray was
talking about things that peoplecould relate to.
You know, he, he, he was talkingabout his family.
(15:14):
You everybody has a family. He was talking about his kids
and people have kids and he was just very relatable.
And I, I think and he was funny as hell and I think Dave took to
that. That's incredible that that was
a time period, wasn't it, when alot of comedians were being
offered deals with networks? Oh my God, yeah.
(15:36):
They, they, you would, networks would literally fight each other
and they would offer a development deal for a real
money, not a couple of bucks, like real serious money.
And they would try to develop something for you because comedy
was hot. You know, it was the 80s and,
and things were hot and, and they just wanted to be in the
(15:59):
comedy business. Ray has since the the show gone
on to do some serious acting, but at that point, I mean, was
there any doubt at all whether he could act or not?
Yeah, Ray. The doubts were with Ray more
than anybody else. He he actually, the first couple
years of the show, he had an acting coach.
(16:22):
He worked with a guy by the nameof Richard Marion, you know,
just to sort of settle things. But I, I have to give credit to
Ray. He, he's, he's natural at this
and he's really good at it and he takes it really seriously and
he works hard and he's never satisfied.
He can always do it better. He can always do it bigger.
(16:44):
You know, if you got to know Ray, you'd fall in love with him
in in 2 minutes. He's just a one of those really
good guys. He's not an egotistical guy at
all, totally the opposite of that.
And he's a great comedian and hejust fell into this like a duck
to water. That's amazing.
(17:06):
I, I've heard you say before andyou even mentioned it today.
He, he worked really hard and, and I know that you also work
really hard, although you love what you do, that's a real key
ingredient, isn't it, to be ableto make it at this level.
You know, it's also luck, too. I mean, I, I, I, I have to be
(17:26):
fair. I know a lot of guys who work
hard who don't have the opportunity that I've been
fortunate to have. You know, you have to also be in
the right place at the right time.
I've always heard they added, well, you make your own luck.
Well, that's true to a degree. I mean, you do have to work hard
and you have to put in the time.But, you know, it doesn't always
(17:50):
work out the way you plan. And I'm very fortunate that this
opportunity raised its head and I'm very grateful.
Can you tell me about how the show came together?
I know Philip Rosenthal was eventually involved well.
Phil wasn't that. Phil wasn't the first showrunner
(18:13):
we went after. We went after somebody else 1st
and for whatever reason, we couldn't make that work.
And Ray and I and another producer on another executive
producer on the show, Stu Smiley.
And we went to a diner and we met 6 people, I guess.
(18:34):
And we met Phil. And Phil was the Jewish Ray
where Ray was the Italian guy with the family, Phil was the
Jewish guy with the family. And they started talking and
they had a lot in common, but itwas an arranged marriage and,
and we decided to go with Phil. I liked him immediately.
(18:54):
I really did like him. That's not revisionist history.
I, I said I think he's the guy. But I'm one guy, one vote,
nobody. You know, Ray has to.
It's up to Ray. He liked Phil very much.
And we put them together, they agreed to work together, and
Everybody Loves Raymond is born and.
(19:15):
What about your involvement as executive producer?
It's, it's not, you know, taken for granted if someone has a
manager that they will be an executive producer on, on their
TV show. How did how did that come about?
I, I was very fortunate. It was David Letterman's
company, Worldwide Pants, but hecouldn't be an executive
(19:35):
producer. And he decided to let me be one
of the executive producers, which was good in the beginning,
certainly because I was in it. And I, I, I would, you know, I
lived in New York, but I commuted back and forth in LA
and I got to be in the, in the very beginning, Ray didn't
(19:57):
really know Phil and Phil didn'treally know Ray.
So I was sort of a go between while they were cementing their
friendship and their relationship.
And you know, I, I helped Ray sort of guide him as best as I
could. I was young too, but to guide
him as through the process of getting a show started.
(20:20):
And little by little everything started to come together and and
the crew is incredible. The people worked on the show,
just unbelievable. Even the office, everybody was
so nice and so great and it justall came together beautifully.
When you look back, it's such a mystery how a great show
(20:44):
emerges. I mean, so many talented people
try it and it just doesn't work.But this one is one of the most
successful shows of all time. Is there anything you felt like
that you did in the beginning that was very, very important in
terms of its future success? Well, I, I don't want to take
any of the credit for that because it really was sort of a
(21:08):
group effort. It wasn't any one person.
I mean, Phil Rosenball was the showrunner and he was amazing.
And, you know, Ray's a really good guy and he is a very quick
study and he learned very quickly.
I, I, I think it was a matter ofin the very beginning of sort of
(21:29):
getting everybody on the same page and to do the same thing.
But Ray and Phil hit it off so well.
They're friends to this day. They travel, their families
travel together. You know, they, they, they have
a very nice thing. And when I was there I was a
(21:49):
little bit of a liaison with thenetwork, with Cbsi would talk to
Les Moonves all the time. You know, I was Ray's guy.
So anything having to do with Ray, I had a handle for him so
he could go out and do the show.How did it come about that the
show took place on Long Island? That was a creative decision I
(22:10):
think that Phil and Ray made at the time that they were doing.
It takes place in Lynbrook on Fowler Ave. 302 Fowler Ave. in
Lynbrook. Ray was a writer for Newsday.
And it just seemed very, it justold seemed right.
You know, the one thing about Ray and Phil, they wanted to
(22:34):
make a show that was excellent. The the show was the thing, you
know? And then if it's great, it's
great. Ray and Phil worked very hard to
get the show to where it was relatable, it was funny, and the
(22:55):
writers on the show are extraordinary.
It's a murderer's row of writers.
I mean, they're just unbelievable.
And creatively, they all put it together.
Can you give us any sense at all, like at the peak of the
show, when you were in production, what a typical week
would look like? Can you kind of take us through
(23:17):
the process? Well, yeah, we would have a
table read on a Monday, which iswhen that's the first day that
you put someone put the script on his legs.
The the cast sits on the stage and and a round table basically.
And they read the script and then they go right into
rehearsal. The writers go into the writers
(23:38):
room to work on new scripts and that script and make changes and
adjustments. And Ray was pretty extraordinary
because not only was he a great actor, but he would rehearse his
parts on stage with the other actors and then run into the
office, into the writers room and work on the writing and
(24:01):
crafting of the scripts. The writers would each write a
script, but Ray would have inputand say, and they would.
And they all got along just famously.
They were great. All of them were great friends,
very talented guys. Like it's crazy talented and I
(24:22):
think by Ray working with the writers, it made the material
more organic to Ray as opposed to someone writing something and
then handing it to the actor. The actor was part of crafting
the writing, and I think that issort of the secret sauce at.
What point did you realize this is a hit?
(24:42):
This is connecting with people. Well, when we became the number
one show, it was like being withThe Beatles.
That's the only way to describe it.
It was so extraordinary. We never got cocky about it, but
boy, we were all proud. I mean, we knew that we had
something special and great. Everybody, everybody worked hard
(25:06):
on the show. Everybody knew it was special.
The actors are the the greatest in the world.
They were, they're just extraordinary people.
Doris and Peter and Patty and Monica and Brad and the kids.
They were just extraordinary. Ray just opened up like a
flower. He was incredible.
(25:28):
And everybody felt this huge responsibility.
We knew we had our hands on something special and everybody
treated it as such. I, I mentioned that I do a show
called The Sounds of Films, so I'm kind of interested in
soundtrack music and stuff like that.
And the show is unique in the sense that it had, it had
several different musical cues throughout its history.
(25:50):
Yes. Why did that?
Why did that happen? Well, the the the musical
director of the show, it was Rick.
Rick Murata. He's an extraordinary guy, too.
He's, I know I sound Pollyannish, but I really did
love all the people they went to.
Just, it was a coming together of great people and he wrote
(26:14):
this great stuff for Raymond. He was the only one who wrote
music for the show and it's a great soundtrack.
It really is. Wow.
So tell me a little bit about I know you're modest, but you did
win some awards yourself. How, how did that feel?
Do you remember that night? Well, it was amazing actually.
(26:39):
I'm actually sitting in my on myat my desk here looking at the
two Emmys that we, that the showhad won.
It was had a body experience. I, I, I remember when we won the
first one, I, I shared the limo with Ray and he took me home and
I said to him, thank you. I remember saying that's him in
(27:03):
front of my apartment building in LA because I, it was like, I
couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it.
I, I, I, I still look at them with such pride.
They're in my office. If you came to my house, you
wouldn't know what I did for a living.
You know, my wife and I, you know, there's no posters hanging
up or anything like that. But I, I look at them every day
(27:27):
and I, I still can't believe it.Raymond won a bunch of awards or
won a People's Choice award or won Humanity's Prize and won the
I just won a ton of things And, and I was even to this day, 20
years after it was on the air, Istill can't believe it.
(27:50):
You're a real expert about comedy and, and I know everyone
has their preferences, but you said you you like to work with
people that actually make you laugh.
As an expert, can you describe the humor of the show?
Like how? Why does it work?
Yes, I can tell you exactly why it works.
I think. I think it works because it's
(28:16):
real. The one thing about Raymond was
it wasn't contrived. Phil would end the show every
working day the show ended, every went home at 6:00.
His attitude was go home and fight with your wife so we can
talk about it tomorrow and writea show.
The the IT was very real. It was your family, and if it
(28:40):
wasn't your family, it was your aunt and uncle.
But you knew these people. And I think that by knowing the
comedy the way the audience knewit, you know what I used to go
to when I would be at the show, I would look at the audience and
they're elbowing each other and they're laughing.
(29:02):
Not only because it's funny and it's incredibly well written,
but because it happened to them too.
You know, whatever the situationwas, something similar had
happened to the audience. And I think that the thing about
Raymond, which is so great is it's very, very relatable.
(29:22):
And in terms of the kinds of jokes, I mean, Seinfeld was a
huge, you know, comedy as well. And, and he's from Long Island.
How is the comedy different thanEverybody Loves Raymond comedy
now? You can't, you can't compare
them. They're, they're, they're two
different shows, two different comedians, two different points
(29:43):
of view, two different, two different sets of comedy.
I think that the Phil is really funny.
Ray is a great comedian. Or in the early episodes a lot,
you know, not a lot, but there was a lot of Ray's act in the,
in the show. And then it it morphs and
changes and grows. But Ray's really funny.
(30:07):
Ray is a great stand up comedian.
I remember when we first starteddoing the show, everybody knew
Ray from the show. They didn't know he was a
comedian. And in the very beginning, I
remember talking to Ray's agent and saying when Ray goes out on
tour, we have to put in an evening of hilarious stand up
(30:28):
comedy or something because people are going to go, what
does he do? Does he sing?
I don't know. You know, he's a great, great
comedian. Yeah.
At what? Point.
Did you realize or did he tell you that he wanted to start
doing some serious acting? Well, when Raymond ended we, he
(30:51):
had a problem. It's a good problem to have, but
a problem nonetheless because even though Raymond was done on
CBS, they were running it and rerunning it on other networks
and it was a giant hit. So for him to go play a dramatic
role, people loved him, but theygo, we can't play this.
(31:11):
Everybody, you're on Raymond. You, you, you know, he he didn't
have the choice creatively that he wanted.
So after Raymond, he and MichaelRoyce, who is Mike's another
really talented, incredibly talented guy.
They wrote Men of a Certain Age,which started Andre Brauer and
Scott Bakula and Ray as three friends.
(31:35):
And it was a drama. It was a dramedy, but it was a
drama. And that was the beginning of
Ray starting to do things a little bit different than the
stand up comedy show sitcom, actually.
And yeah, so we started doing dramatic work.
(31:58):
And frankly, I'm very proud of Everybody Loves Raymond and I
love that show, but I think he'san even better dramatic actor.
Yeah. He really has received a lot of
praise for his different roles and he's been amazing.
How did it feel for you when when the show did come to an end
(32:19):
eventually? That's a that's a great
question. You know, it was a weird thing
when the show finally came to anend.
It was odd because on Friday I was an executive producer and
Everybody Loves Raymond. On Saturday, I used to be the
(32:40):
executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond.
You know, it, it, it's a it it. The only thing I can equate it
to is the ending of college. I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the people, I enjoyed the experience, I enjoyed all of
it. And it had come to an end.
But the ending was the choice ofthe show, not the choice of the
(33:04):
network, which is always great when that happens.
The the Phil and Ray and the writers had sort of decided
we've, we've run our course. The show would have ended after
eight years if it were up to them, because Phil Rosenthal
(33:26):
said. One of the things I've quoted a
million times since you want to get off the stage before they
say, hey, get off the stage. And, and but he, he, you know,
the agreement was we would do one more season, a shortened
season, the one more season. And we kind of ended it in, in
(33:47):
our terms and, and Phil and Ray were, you know, they had made a,
you know, a boatload of money. And so it wasn't a money
decision. It was a quality decision.
And they didn't ever want something on the air that wasn't
a plus. And they were.
At the point, and they were at the point where you know, you've
(34:10):
done 210 episodes, it's very hard to come up with something
original and new and fresh that you haven't done already.
And they just felt get off the stage before they say, hey, get
off the stage. When the show went off, I
believe Ray went on David Letterman one last time near the
(34:31):
end when Letterman show was ending right?
Yep, and. That that that was a really
special moment, it seemed from the outside.
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Yeah, it was very emotional. You know, Dave is a Dave was
always a great guy to me. Always.
I always got along with him and,and he was a great guy and he
(34:55):
gave us our life. I know that sounds trite, and I
don't mean it in a trite way, but he gave us an opportunity
that became bigger than we couldhave ever dreamed, certainly
bigger than Ray could have ever dreamed as an actor, me as a
manager. And he, it was emotional.
(35:17):
It was emotional. It was very sweet.
And in the on the first episode that Ray had done way back when,
there was a bit between Mel Gibson and David Letterman where
they cut off each other's pants legs and whatever.
And at the last episode, Ray cutoff his pants leg, his own pants
(35:42):
leg, you know, sort of tie a nice bow around it.
You know, the thing about Ray ishe's a, he's very emotional guy.
He he's a very sweet and contrite guy.
And it was, it was emotional. It was emotional.
And Dave was, you know, there was Dave who we gave us
(36:04):
everything, you know, this opportunity.
And there was Ray and it was crazy.
It was crazy and very nice. I know you said he wasn't
available to be executive producer.
Was he involved in any way? Not.
Really, not really, not really. He he's very supportive, very
(36:26):
supportive. But in fairness, he was very
busy with his own show. He did 5 shows a week and he's
very, very busy. Rob Burnett, who is the
executive producer of Dave's show and also a good friend of
ours. And he, he was sort of the
conduit, so to speak, right. We met with Dave a couple times.
(36:49):
We talked to Dave a couple times.
But I think Dave realized that the show was great and it was in
good hands. And if it ain't broke, don't fix
it. Yeah.
Well, we, we talked about music earlier and just talking about
the emotion. I, I don't know if you'd call it
Letterman at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, but but
(37:09):
he showed up and, and gave a nice tribute.
Been interesting after he retired the, the little things
that he decides to do. He has the beard now and, and,
and he's doing very select interview shows and stuff like
that. You know him personally.
I mean, were you surprised at all by some of his choices later
on in life, or does that seem like who he is to you?
(37:31):
No, I, I think first of all, it's very hard to be David
Letterman, right? Because the expectations,
everyone has expectations and thoughts and you know, he's been
on the show for years and years and it's like he, he's earned
the right to do what he wants todo.
And. You know, he, he's, he, he's a,
(37:54):
he's kind of a shy guy. He's not a, he's not out there.
You know, he he's shy and he's he's very sweet.
As I said, he's very sweet to me.
And no, I'm not. I love his choices and they're
quirky and they're very Letterman like.
And you know, he doesn't want todo a lot of interviews and he
(38:15):
doesn't want to do a lot of shows and he shouldn't have to
do a lot of shows. He, you know, he's financially
in good shape and he's, you know, not not doing a show to
pay the mortgage. And I think the choices he's
made are, are interesting. And they're also choices that
only David Letterman could make.I don't know personally if
(38:36):
anyone could do what Dave did. I think only Dave could do what
Dave did. And what about your choices
since Raymond has ended, it seems like you're always doing
interesting things. Well, you know, I love show
business. Look, show business is great and
(38:57):
I love it. I adore it actually.
But it's what I do. It's not what I am.
What I am is I'm Wendy's husbandand Danny and Ryan's dad and
Jason's father-in-law. I have two grandchildren, Kaya
and Brett. And I, you know, I work hard and
I play hard. Show business has afforded me
and a great life. I'm very thankful for that.
(39:21):
And the reason I don't want to retire.
I have this terrible fear of becoming irrelevant.
I don't want to be irrelevant. I like, I like the new gadgets.
I like new comedians. I like new things.
I'm not working as hard as I used to work.
(39:41):
I'm also much older than I used to be, you know, but I have
terrific clients. They're great friends.
We, you know, we, we do it sort of shoulder to shoulder and
enjoy the process. There are days that suck.
There are days that are just really bad days.
(40:02):
But what career doesn't have those?
You know what I mean? Like everybody has that.
I'm no different than anybody else.
So I'm, I'm, I'm thankful and I enjoy it and I'll keep doing it
till they say, hey, get off the stage well.
We're thankful that you're doingit.
Why did you always stay loyal toLong Island?
(40:23):
Some people just move away and no.
No, no. First of all, my father was the
mayor of Great Neck Plaza for years.
So I was sort of one of the first sons of Great Neck, I
guess you'd say. I, I like Long Island a lot.
I never lived anywhere but here.I I like the people.
(40:48):
It's gorgeous. I go to the city a lot, I travel
a lot, but I always like coming home to Long Island.
There's something very special about it.
I, I praise my family here. I've made all my friends here
and I, I just dig it. It's, it's a, it's a great
place. And you were instrumental in
(41:09):
helping the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame
get the Everybody Loves Raymond sets and and museum exhibit to
the museum. What?
Why is this going to be an important thing and and why do
you think people are going to enjoy it?
Well, I first of all, the, the what had happened was with the
(41:30):
30th anniversary, the Paley Museum in the city, they did the
first exhibit of Everybody LovesReagan.
And I was called by Long Island and same Music Hall of Fame
Museum entertainment Hall of Fame.
And I I've never been there, embarrassingly so I had never
(41:54):
been there and I went out there to take a look and I was blown
away. The Billy Joel exhibit was on.
They explained that, you know, Billy was involved and it was
just extraordinary. Kevin O Callahan is the crazy
good creative director. He's nuts.
He's great and, and I just couldn't believe how nice it was
(42:17):
and I didn't want to make the museum's talk to each other yet
until Paley opened. But once Paley was open and
everything was settled and the dust settled, I put Paley in
touch with lime off and and it'scoming in and they're doing such
(42:38):
a good job. They've actually, Kevin flew to
LA when we did the 30th anniversary special, which will
be on the CBS on the 24th. And he took the set back.
He carted it back, you know, andsee Kevin with the set on his
(43:00):
back, they put it in the truck and they took it back and which
they had not done at Bailey. So I think they're doing a very
good job. It's a different kind of
exhibit, but it's really great that it's on Long Island.
I mean, the barones were from Long Island, from Lynbrook.
Ray worked for Newsday. It belongs, it belongs here.
(43:24):
It it belongs here. And, and one of the things which
when the show is on, I used to save the props from the shows
and oh God, I they made fun of me.
It's unbelievable. I mean, why do you need that
junk for? Why do you here's Rory again,
another prop. Well, cut to 30 years later, I
(43:49):
got a trunk. I got a trunk full of props and
they're all going to be at the museum.
So there you go. Things sort of pays off That's.
Awesome. And as some you mentioned, Billy
Joel and you've been to the museum, you know, being involved
with the museum myself, you know, it, it was hard when we
were originally just music and we wanted to expand to
(44:09):
entertainment. It took a while, but you kind of
just described it. I, I think this Everybody Loves
Raymond exhibit is the perfect exhibit for us to kind of, you
know, go into this new area and it's right up there with Billy
Joel. I I think it's going to have a
similar appeal, yeah. And and the other thing which I
(44:31):
I, I with my fingers crossed, I hope the association now with
the Paley and Leimer off is a good one.
And, you know, they don't interfere with each other.
There are two ends of the world,really, because Limehouse and
Stony Brook and, and Paley's in Manhattan.
So people who didn't get to see the exhibit at the Paley will
(44:52):
get to see it in at Stony Brook.And I, I, I hope it's the
beginning of something great. And if I had a little part in
that, I'm happy the, the, the museum is really good and it's
run well. It's a beautiful place and I
think people really will enjoy the exhibit and they get a
(45:13):
chance to sort of relive the olddays, which is also fun.
I mean, the one thing about Raymond, which is pretty
extraordinary to me, because people who never saw it in first
run when it was on CBS, who caught it in reruns, there are
literally people who are seeing the show now for the first time.
It's amazing. And the people now think it's
(45:35):
funny. Like the people 20 years ago
thought it was funny and 30 years ago thought it was funny.
And that is the testament to Phil and to Ray and the writers
and the actors and the crew and the staff.
It's not very often that something's as funny then as it
(45:56):
is now. And Raymond is one of them.
I mean, look at the look at The Honeymooners.
There were 39 episodes. That's it, 39.
And it's just as funny now as itwas then.
Some shows just had it. I can't define it.
Let's just call it it. And I think Raymond has it.
(46:20):
I totally agree and we want to thank you again, Rory, for all
your help in bringing this to the Long Island Music and
Entertainment Hall of Fame. Absolutely my pleasure, my
honor. I'm happy to put smiles on
people's faces and certainly have one on mine.
The museum has been incredible to deal with.
(46:41):
Everyone is extraordinary. Ernie is is fantastic and Kevin
and they're just, they're, they're really nice people and
nice people deserve nice things.And I hope this is the beginning
of great things for them. Well, thank you again, Rory.
And it's a completely different subject, but when the Ramones
(47:04):
thing happens, maybe, maybe we'll have to have you on again
to talk about that. Project, I'll be happy to.
I've been working on that for years, years and years, All
right. So I'll be very happy to come on
for sure. OK.
Thanks again, Rory, and look forward to seeing you in the
future. Thank you.
Hi, this is Tom Needham, and you're listening to the Long
Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame podcast and the
Sounds of Film podcast too. Today, we're honoring one of
television's most beloved sitcoms, Everybody Loves
Raymond, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on November
24th on CBS. To mark this milestone, the Long
(00:23):
Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is opening a new
exhibit Thanksgiving weekend celebrating the show, it's
impact and the extraordinary people who brought it to life.
Joining us today is 2 time Emmy winner Rory Rose Garden,
executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and long time
manager of Ray Romano, Tom Greenand many others.
(00:45):
Rory has spent over 4 decades shaping the careers of some of
comedy's most recognizable voices and today we're going to
explore his journey. Rory, thank you so much for
joining us on the program. Thank you, Tom.
Oh man, you are a Long Island legend.
And before we get into the anniversary show and all that, I
(01:06):
understand that you're you're local and that you had an
interest in showbiz going all the way back to high school.
You did interviews and stuff with very famous people.
Is that correct? Yes, that is correct.
I I used to have a monthly interview column in the
Southerner at Great Neck S Senior High School.
(01:27):
I really thought I was going to be a celebrity interviewer.
That's how I was charting my path.
But you know best laid plans Of mice and men, and here I am.
Well, well, you did it for a little while, right?
Even beyond high. School, yes, I, I actually, I
wrote for the Southerner. I freelance.
(01:47):
I was an intern in freelance forGood Times Magazine, actually
actually doing a, a cover story interview with Dustin Hoffman
for them, among others. I was a guest lecturer at
Columbia University at the Columbia Journalism Convention
on celebrity interviewing technique.
(02:09):
And then I I went to college andafter my first year, I landed an
internship at Playboy magazine in the advertising promotion
department. I went back to school for my
second year and they called me to interview comedian Robert
Klein. They were putting the Playboy
(02:32):
was putting together a special magazine.
The magazine was called Spring Break and it was for all the
kids who were in Florida for spring break.
And it was really a it was a good magazine.
It was like where to eat, what to wear for me.
You know, what do you do if you get a sunburn?
That kind of magazine. And the interview with Robert
was Playboy style 3 photograph interview.
(02:55):
I met him on his birthday, February 8th and went back to
college and for and then that summer, my second summer, I I
landed the internship again. And then he offered me a full
time job and that would have meant leaving college and I went
(03:20):
back to high school to talk to acouple of teachers I had who I
like very much to get their advice.
And basically they said don't bea schmuck, take the job.
You can always go back to school.
So I worked at Playboy and I started working with Robert
Klein. His wife called me.
(03:42):
His wife, Brenda Boozer. Then the opera singer called me
to say he had left his manager and I should give him a call.
And I called him. I started working with him and
one thing led to another. I left Playboy after about nine
months and I opened up The Conversation Company Limited and
here I am. That's amazing.
(04:02):
I'm I'm glad your teachers gave you the right advice.
Oh. They were great.
They were great. They were great teachers too.
What what made you think that you could do, which obviously
you did, but what made you thinkat such an early age that you
could start interviewing major celebrities?
That's rare. Hockey stupidity, you know,
(04:22):
sometimes you just, you believe you can do anything, especially
when you're young, right? And you don't listen to anybody
and you just go for it. And I, I was very, very lucky.
I interviewed amazing people, Jesse Jackson and Lionel Hampton
and and Dustin Hoffman and Gregory Peck, all these
(04:47):
unbelievable people. And they weren't phone
interviews, They were all in person interviews.
I think the celebrities got a kick out of the fact that I was
a kid with a with a brass pair of balls.
Also stupid. And yeah, one thing led to
another. Did any of these interviews that
you did prepare you for the workthat you would do later on?
(05:08):
No, no. You know what it did prepare me
for was dealing with celebrities, I guess.
But I have no formal management training.
I kind of learned as I went. That's incredible.
I want to get into that. One thing I noticed though, when
I've seen you in a few interviews, is that sometimes
you have, I don't know if this is the case right now, but I've
(05:31):
seen you talking and you had signed electric guitars behind
you. What's your interest with
guitars? Well, it's not interest in
guitars. I happen to have behind my desk
all the guitars that KISS used in their last concert at Madison
(05:51):
Square Garden. And in my office I have a couple
of guitars from Bruce Springsteen.
They're all used guitars. They're not just autographed
guitars. And it it makes me happy.
What can I tell? You.
Are you really a music fan? I love music.
Classic rock. Forget it.
My favorite. That's incredible because the
Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame used
(06:13):
to be just a Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
And as you know, 'cause you've been involved with the bringing
of this Everyone or Everybody Loves Raymond show exhibit to,
to the museum. We're expanding to
entertainment. And it, it's, it's great that
you have this interest in music too, before again, we get into
to everything about the show. I understand that you're you're
(06:36):
also working on a movie with theRamones.
Well, I'm working. I'm working on a project.
Joey Ramone's brother, Mickey Lee, has been a friend of mine
for 40 years, and he wrote a book called I Slept With Joey
Ramone, which is a really good book.
And we're turning that book intoa movie, and we're working with
(07:02):
Netflix and we'll see where it goes.
That's incredible as as you probably know, that Ramones are
inductees at the Long Island Music Entertainment Hall of.
Fame. Yes, I do know.
So by the way, do you have any insight into why there's so many
great musicians and comedians and actors and writers who come
(07:23):
from Long Island and we include Queens and Brooklyn?
I, I, I always say that, I mean,you know, you hear about all
these comedians from California,but they all started here for
the most part. I, I don't know, I, I think
there's something about the New York atmosphere and the pace
(07:43):
that lends itself to musicians and comedians and actors.
And a lot of them start here, they really do.
And then they go and find their way.
Well, you found your way. You you talked about getting
into the management business. What's it like to be a manager?
(08:03):
What, what does it take to be a manager?
You said you learned on the job.Well I I think you know I'm
their severest critic and their best friend.
I'm not a blow smoke up your butt guy.
Because if they can't count on me to give my opinion honestly,
(08:26):
then I'm in the wrong business. So I'm very protective of my
clients and I'm also I'm very private about it.
I don't really divulge, you know, and I don't divulge from
one client to another client. It just you can't go to school
(08:50):
to be a manager. You can learn basics, but I
think if you were to go to school, you'd be a lawyer and a
shrink because that's the properpreparation for being a manager.
But I think that it's sort of you and the talent you and your
client shoulder to shoulder versus the world.
(09:10):
You know, that game you used to play when you were a kid, Do you
trust me? Where you would stand behind
somebody and they'd close their eyes and fall backwards and
you'd catch them. Yeah, You're, you're always
playing a game. And do you trust me?
And I pride myself on the back that I'm.
I'm there to catch them regardless of the situation.
And I. Understand that you are unique
too, and that your entire careeryou've always limited yourself
(09:34):
to a small number of clients. Is that correct?
Yeah, the the reason is I never wanted a massive group of
people. I really only work with 10 or
less at any one time because I I'm very involved and you can't
be really involved and roll up your sleeve if you have 40 guys.
(09:56):
There's just so many hours in the day.
So I'd rather work with less guys and be more involved.
Well, that makes sense. So I I guess everybody wants to
know the story about how you metRay Romano.
Well, I was a judge on the K Rock Comedy competition, which
(10:17):
Ray was in, and I saw him and I just thought he was
extraordinary. And that was my first exposure
to Ray. I had judged the competition the
year before and signed Brian Regan out of that competition.
And then this year I signed, youknow, this particular year I
signed Ray. But before I signed Ray, Ray
(10:38):
knew Brian and said, who's this Rory guy, you know?
And I got a nice vote of confidence from Brian and I
started working with Ray and we've been together.
God, it's just endless amounts of time and.
What did you notice about him inthe beginning that that made you
think that this is this is the one and and why did you click so
(11:01):
well together, do you think? Right.
Well, that's multifaceted. First of all, the way that I've
always worked, I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it's
the way I've worked. They have to make me laugh
because I've got to work with them and I got to get on the
phone and pitch them and I'm notreally good at lying to anybody.
(11:22):
So I want to feel the passion. And when I saw Ray, I was blown
away. He was so funny, so self
effacing. He had a story to tell about his
family life, his kids. Everything that came out of his
mouth was really, really funny to me.
And when I met him, we just really hit it off really well.
(11:47):
He's a nice guy. He's really a nice guy.
His wife's nice, his kids are nice.
You know when you see Everybody Loves Raymond, basically, that's
Ray. Not not so much in front, but
he's just a really super guy andyou want to surround yourself
(12:09):
with those people. Show business is hard, man, and
you don't want it to be hard when you're in your house.
And when I was in my house with Ray, you know, when we were
doing our thing, we got along famously.
And you know, the, the crazy part is that in all the years I
worked with Ray, we've never hada, had a fight or an argument.
(12:33):
We've disagreed on things, but we've never had a fight.
We've never slammed the phone down on each other.
It's, it's, it's old school and it's, it's, it's really great.
That's amazing. So I understand, like a lot of
people that make it big, that Ray's success was partly due to
(12:54):
some very positive experiences he had on late night programs,
including I, I can't even believe it because it just seems
like so long ago. Johnny Carson and David
Letterman. He had done Carson.
That was a good, that was a great experience.
Ray and I were young guys and the thing was that Ray was a
stand up comedian and, you know,doing The Tonight Show was the
(13:20):
pinnacle. That was the highlight.
And when he got the show, I remember when the, when it was
over, he was sad because like, what do I do now?
I, I, I've done the, I, I, I made it to the pinnacle, you
know, But after he had done the show, right after we were in, I
was in the dressing room with Ray and Johnny walked into the
(13:42):
dressing room with Ed McMahon and toe and Johnny and Johnny
said, well, you got to be happy with that, you know, And I, I, I
was like stunned, you know, I, I, I was starstruck, you know,
it was amazing. This was the, the, the man
himself. And then a little bit after
that, I was friendly with the producer of Letterman, Bob
(14:09):
Morton and and Barry Sand, and they were running that show.
And Ray did the show and he killed.
I mean, it was the set of all time.
And the following Saturday, Rob Burnett, who worked for Dave
(14:30):
Letterman, called Ray directly. He didn't even call me called
Ray because he got his name off the paperwork from him when he
was on the show and talked to him a little bit and said let's
do a show. Dave thinks.
They had said to me that Dave thinks Ray is one of the most
accessible comedians he's seen in a long time.
(14:54):
And next thing we knew, we had adevelopment deal with Worldwide
Pants. That's incredible.
What do you mean by accessible? That Ray as a stand up Ray was
talking about things that peoplecould relate to.
You know, he, he, he was talkingabout his family.
(15:14):
You everybody has a family. He was talking about his kids
and people have kids and he was just very relatable.
And I, I think and he was funny as hell and I think Dave took to
that. That's incredible that that was
a time period, wasn't it, when alot of comedians were being
offered deals with networks? Oh my God, yeah.
(15:36):
They, they, you would, networks would literally fight each other
and they would offer a development deal for a real
money, not a couple of bucks, like real serious money.
And they would try to develop something for you because comedy
was hot. You know, it was the 80s and,
and things were hot and, and they just wanted to be in the
(15:59):
comedy business. Ray has since the the show gone
on to do some serious acting, but at that point, I mean, was
there any doubt at all whether he could act or not?
Yeah, Ray. The doubts were with Ray more
than anybody else. He he actually, the first couple
years of the show, he had an acting coach.
(16:22):
He worked with a guy by the nameof Richard Marion, you know,
just to sort of settle things. But I, I have to give credit to
Ray. He, he's, he's natural at this
and he's really good at it and he takes it really seriously and
he works hard and he's never satisfied.
He can always do it better. He can always do it bigger.
(16:44):
You know, if you got to know Ray, you'd fall in love with him
in in 2 minutes. He's just a one of those really
good guys. He's not an egotistical guy at
all, totally the opposite of that.
And he's a great comedian and hejust fell into this like a duck
to water. That's amazing.
(17:06):
I, I've heard you say before andyou even mentioned it today.
He, he worked really hard and, and I know that you also work
really hard, although you love what you do, that's a real key
ingredient, isn't it, to be ableto make it at this level.
You know, it's also luck, too. I mean, I, I, I, I have to be
(17:26):
fair. I know a lot of guys who work
hard who don't have the opportunity that I've been
fortunate to have. You know, you have to also be in
the right place at the right time.
I've always heard they added, well, you make your own luck.
Well, that's true to a degree. I mean, you do have to work hard
and you have to put in the time.But, you know, it doesn't always
(17:50):
work out the way you plan. And I'm very fortunate that this
opportunity raised its head and I'm very grateful.
Can you tell me about how the show came together?
I know Philip Rosenthal was eventually involved well.
Phil wasn't that. Phil wasn't the first showrunner
(18:13):
we went after. We went after somebody else 1st
and for whatever reason, we couldn't make that work.
And Ray and I and another producer on another executive
producer on the show, Stu Smiley.
And we went to a diner and we met 6 people, I guess.
(18:34):
And we met Phil. And Phil was the Jewish Ray
where Ray was the Italian guy with the family, Phil was the
Jewish guy with the family. And they started talking and
they had a lot in common, but itwas an arranged marriage and,
and we decided to go with Phil. I liked him immediately.
(18:54):
I really did like him. That's not revisionist history.
I, I said I think he's the guy. But I'm one guy, one vote,
nobody. You know, Ray has to.
It's up to Ray. He liked Phil very much.
And we put them together, they agreed to work together, and
Everybody Loves Raymond is born and.
(19:15):
What about your involvement as executive producer?
It's, it's not, you know, taken for granted if someone has a
manager that they will be an executive producer on, on their
TV show. How did how did that come about?
I, I was very fortunate. It was David Letterman's
company, Worldwide Pants, but hecouldn't be an executive
(19:35):
producer. And he decided to let me be one
of the executive producers, which was good in the beginning,
certainly because I was in it. And I, I, I would, you know, I
lived in New York, but I commuted back and forth in LA
and I got to be in the, in the very beginning, Ray didn't
(19:57):
really know Phil and Phil didn'treally know Ray.
So I was sort of a go between while they were cementing their
friendship and their relationship.
And you know, I, I helped Ray sort of guide him as best as I
could. I was young too, but to guide
him as through the process of getting a show started.
(20:20):
And little by little everything started to come together and and
the crew is incredible. The people worked on the show,
just unbelievable. Even the office, everybody was
so nice and so great and it justall came together beautifully.
When you look back, it's such a mystery how a great show
(20:44):
emerges. I mean, so many talented people
try it and it just doesn't work.But this one is one of the most
successful shows of all time. Is there anything you felt like
that you did in the beginning that was very, very important in
terms of its future success? Well, I, I don't want to take
any of the credit for that because it really was sort of a
(21:08):
group effort. It wasn't any one person.
I mean, Phil Rosenball was the showrunner and he was amazing.
And, you know, Ray's a really good guy and he is a very quick
study and he learned very quickly.
I, I, I think it was a matter ofin the very beginning of sort of
(21:29):
getting everybody on the same page and to do the same thing.
But Ray and Phil hit it off so well.
They're friends to this day. They travel, their families
travel together. You know, they, they, they have
a very nice thing. And when I was there I was a
(21:49):
little bit of a liaison with thenetwork, with Cbsi would talk to
Les Moonves all the time. You know, I was Ray's guy.
So anything having to do with Ray, I had a handle for him so
he could go out and do the show.How did it come about that the
show took place on Long Island? That was a creative decision I
(22:10):
think that Phil and Ray made at the time that they were doing.
It takes place in Lynbrook on Fowler Ave. 302 Fowler Ave. in
Lynbrook. Ray was a writer for Newsday.
And it just seemed very, it justold seemed right.
You know, the one thing about Ray and Phil, they wanted to
(22:34):
make a show that was excellent. The the show was the thing, you
know? And then if it's great, it's
great. Ray and Phil worked very hard to
get the show to where it was relatable, it was funny, and the
(22:55):
writers on the show are extraordinary.
It's a murderer's row of writers.
I mean, they're just unbelievable.
And creatively, they all put it together.
Can you give us any sense at all, like at the peak of the
show, when you were in production, what a typical week
would look like? Can you kind of take us through
(23:17):
the process? Well, yeah, we would have a
table read on a Monday, which iswhen that's the first day that
you put someone put the script on his legs.
The the cast sits on the stage and and a round table basically.
And they read the script and then they go right into
rehearsal. The writers go into the writers
(23:38):
room to work on new scripts and that script and make changes and
adjustments. And Ray was pretty extraordinary
because not only was he a great actor, but he would rehearse his
parts on stage with the other actors and then run into the
office, into the writers room and work on the writing and
(24:01):
crafting of the scripts. The writers would each write a
script, but Ray would have inputand say, and they would.
And they all got along just famously.
They were great. All of them were great friends,
very talented guys. Like it's crazy talented and I
(24:22):
think by Ray working with the writers, it made the material
more organic to Ray as opposed to someone writing something and
then handing it to the actor. The actor was part of crafting
the writing, and I think that issort of the secret sauce at.
What point did you realize this is a hit?
(24:42):
This is connecting with people. Well, when we became the number
one show, it was like being withThe Beatles.
That's the only way to describe it.
It was so extraordinary. We never got cocky about it, but
boy, we were all proud. I mean, we knew that we had
something special and great. Everybody, everybody worked hard
(25:06):
on the show. Everybody knew it was special.
The actors are the the greatest in the world.
They were, they're just extraordinary people.
Doris and Peter and Patty and Monica and Brad and the kids.
They were just extraordinary. Ray just opened up like a
flower. He was incredible.
(25:28):
And everybody felt this huge responsibility.
We knew we had our hands on something special and everybody
treated it as such. I, I mentioned that I do a show
called The Sounds of Films, so I'm kind of interested in
soundtrack music and stuff like that.
And the show is unique in the sense that it had, it had
several different musical cues throughout its history.
(25:50):
Yes. Why did that?
Why did that happen? Well, the the the musical
director of the show, it was Rick.
Rick Murata. He's an extraordinary guy, too.
He's, I know I sound Pollyannish, but I really did
love all the people they went to.
Just, it was a coming together of great people and he wrote
(26:14):
this great stuff for Raymond. He was the only one who wrote
music for the show and it's a great soundtrack.
It really is. Wow.
So tell me a little bit about I know you're modest, but you did
win some awards yourself. How, how did that feel?
Do you remember that night? Well, it was amazing actually.
(26:39):
I'm actually sitting in my on myat my desk here looking at the
two Emmys that we, that the showhad won.
It was had a body experience. I, I, I remember when we won the
first one, I, I shared the limo with Ray and he took me home and
I said to him, thank you. I remember saying that's him in
(27:03):
front of my apartment building in LA because I, it was like, I
couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it.
I, I, I, I still look at them with such pride.
They're in my office. If you came to my house, you
wouldn't know what I did for a living.
You know, my wife and I, you know, there's no posters hanging
up or anything like that. But I, I look at them every day
(27:27):
and I, I still can't believe it.Raymond won a bunch of awards or
won a People's Choice award or won Humanity's Prize and won the
I just won a ton of things And, and I was even to this day, 20
years after it was on the air, Istill can't believe it.
(27:50):
You're a real expert about comedy and, and I know everyone
has their preferences, but you said you you like to work with
people that actually make you laugh.
As an expert, can you describe the humor of the show?
Like how? Why does it work?
Yes, I can tell you exactly why it works.
I think. I think it works because it's
(28:16):
real. The one thing about Raymond was
it wasn't contrived. Phil would end the show every
working day the show ended, every went home at 6:00.
His attitude was go home and fight with your wife so we can
talk about it tomorrow and writea show.
The the IT was very real. It was your family, and if it
(28:40):
wasn't your family, it was your aunt and uncle.
But you knew these people. And I think that by knowing the
comedy the way the audience knewit, you know what I used to go
to when I would be at the show, I would look at the audience and
they're elbowing each other and they're laughing.
(29:02):
Not only because it's funny and it's incredibly well written,
but because it happened to them too.
You know, whatever the situationwas, something similar had
happened to the audience. And I think that the thing about
Raymond, which is so great is it's very, very relatable.
(29:22):
And in terms of the kinds of jokes, I mean, Seinfeld was a
huge, you know, comedy as well. And, and he's from Long Island.
How is the comedy different thanEverybody Loves Raymond comedy
now? You can't, you can't compare
them. They're, they're, they're two
different shows, two different comedians, two different points
(29:43):
of view, two different, two different sets of comedy.
I think that the Phil is really funny.
Ray is a great comedian. Or in the early episodes a lot,
you know, not a lot, but there was a lot of Ray's act in the,
in the show. And then it it morphs and
changes and grows. But Ray's really funny.
(30:07):
Ray is a great stand up comedian.
I remember when we first starteddoing the show, everybody knew
Ray from the show. They didn't know he was a
comedian. And in the very beginning, I
remember talking to Ray's agent and saying when Ray goes out on
tour, we have to put in an evening of hilarious stand up
(30:28):
comedy or something because people are going to go, what
does he do? Does he sing?
I don't know. You know, he's a great, great
comedian. Yeah.
At what? Point.
Did you realize or did he tell you that he wanted to start
doing some serious acting? Well, when Raymond ended we, he
(30:51):
had a problem. It's a good problem to have, but
a problem nonetheless because even though Raymond was done on
CBS, they were running it and rerunning it on other networks
and it was a giant hit. So for him to go play a dramatic
role, people loved him, but theygo, we can't play this.
(31:11):
Everybody, you're on Raymond. You, you, you know, he he didn't
have the choice creatively that he wanted.
So after Raymond, he and MichaelRoyce, who is Mike's another
really talented, incredibly talented guy.
They wrote Men of a Certain Age,which started Andre Brauer and
Scott Bakula and Ray as three friends.
(31:35):
And it was a drama. It was a dramedy, but it was a
drama. And that was the beginning of
Ray starting to do things a little bit different than the
stand up comedy show sitcom, actually.
And yeah, so we started doing dramatic work.
(31:58):
And frankly, I'm very proud of Everybody Loves Raymond and I
love that show, but I think he'san even better dramatic actor.
Yeah. He really has received a lot of
praise for his different roles and he's been amazing.
How did it feel for you when when the show did come to an end
(32:19):
eventually? That's a that's a great
question. You know, it was a weird thing
when the show finally came to anend.
It was odd because on Friday I was an executive producer and
Everybody Loves Raymond. On Saturday, I used to be the
(32:40):
executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond.
You know, it, it, it's a it it. The only thing I can equate it
to is the ending of college. I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the people, I enjoyed the experience, I enjoyed all of
it. And it had come to an end.
But the ending was the choice ofthe show, not the choice of the
(33:04):
network, which is always great when that happens.
The the Phil and Ray and the writers had sort of decided
we've, we've run our course. The show would have ended after
eight years if it were up to them, because Phil Rosenthal
(33:26):
said. One of the things I've quoted a
million times since you want to get off the stage before they
say, hey, get off the stage. And, and but he, he, you know,
the agreement was we would do one more season, a shortened
season, the one more season. And we kind of ended it in, in
(33:47):
our terms and, and Phil and Ray were, you know, they had made a,
you know, a boatload of money. And so it wasn't a money
decision. It was a quality decision.
And they didn't ever want something on the air that wasn't
a plus. And they were.
At the point, and they were at the point where you know, you've
(34:10):
done 210 episodes, it's very hard to come up with something
original and new and fresh that you haven't done already.
And they just felt get off the stage before they say, hey, get
off the stage. When the show went off, I
believe Ray went on David Letterman one last time near the
(34:31):
end when Letterman show was ending right?
Yep, and. That that that was a really
special moment, it seemed from the outside.
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Yeah, it was very emotional. You know, Dave is a Dave was
always a great guy to me. Always.
I always got along with him and,and he was a great guy and he
(34:55):
gave us our life. I know that sounds trite, and I
don't mean it in a trite way, but he gave us an opportunity
that became bigger than we couldhave ever dreamed, certainly
bigger than Ray could have ever dreamed as an actor, me as a
manager. And he, it was emotional.
(35:17):
It was emotional. It was very sweet.
And in the on the first episode that Ray had done way back when,
there was a bit between Mel Gibson and David Letterman where
they cut off each other's pants legs and whatever.
And at the last episode, Ray cutoff his pants leg, his own pants
(35:42):
leg, you know, sort of tie a nice bow around it.
You know, the thing about Ray ishe's a, he's very emotional guy.
He he's a very sweet and contrite guy.
And it was, it was emotional. It was emotional.
And Dave was, you know, there was Dave who we gave us
(36:04):
everything, you know, this opportunity.
And there was Ray and it was crazy.
It was crazy and very nice. I know you said he wasn't
available to be executive producer.
Was he involved in any way? Not.
Really, not really, not really. He he's very supportive, very
(36:26):
supportive. But in fairness, he was very
busy with his own show. He did 5 shows a week and he's
very, very busy. Rob Burnett, who is the
executive producer of Dave's show and also a good friend of
ours. And he, he was sort of the
conduit, so to speak, right. We met with Dave a couple times.
(36:49):
We talked to Dave a couple times.
But I think Dave realized that the show was great and it was in
good hands. And if it ain't broke, don't fix
it. Yeah.
Well, we, we talked about music earlier and just talking about
the emotion. I, I don't know if you'd call it
Letterman at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, but but
(37:09):
he showed up and, and gave a nice tribute.
Been interesting after he retired the, the little things
that he decides to do. He has the beard now and, and,
and he's doing very select interview shows and stuff like
that. You know him personally.
I mean, were you surprised at all by some of his choices later
on in life, or does that seem like who he is to you?
(37:31):
No, I, I think first of all, it's very hard to be David
Letterman, right? Because the expectations,
everyone has expectations and thoughts and you know, he's been
on the show for years and years and it's like he, he's earned
the right to do what he wants todo.
And. You know, he, he's, he, he's a,
(37:54):
he's kind of a shy guy. He's not a, he's not out there.
You know, he he's shy and he's he's very sweet.
As I said, he's very sweet to me.
And no, I'm not. I love his choices and they're
quirky and they're very Letterman like.
And you know, he doesn't want todo a lot of interviews and he
(38:15):
doesn't want to do a lot of shows and he shouldn't have to
do a lot of shows. He, you know, he's financially
in good shape and he's, you know, not not doing a show to
pay the mortgage. And I think the choices he's
made are, are interesting. And they're also choices that
only David Letterman could make.I don't know personally if
(38:36):
anyone could do what Dave did. I think only Dave could do what
Dave did. And what about your choices
since Raymond has ended, it seems like you're always doing
interesting things. Well, you know, I love show
business. Look, show business is great and
(38:57):
I love it. I adore it actually.
But it's what I do. It's not what I am.
What I am is I'm Wendy's husbandand Danny and Ryan's dad and
Jason's father-in-law. I have two grandchildren, Kaya
and Brett. And I, you know, I work hard and
I play hard. Show business has afforded me
and a great life. I'm very thankful for that.
(39:21):
And the reason I don't want to retire.
I have this terrible fear of becoming irrelevant.
I don't want to be irrelevant. I like, I like the new gadgets.
I like new comedians. I like new things.
I'm not working as hard as I used to work.
(39:41):
I'm also much older than I used to be, you know, but I have
terrific clients. They're great friends.
We, you know, we, we do it sort of shoulder to shoulder and
enjoy the process. There are days that suck.
There are days that are just really bad days.
(40:02):
But what career doesn't have those?
You know what I mean? Like everybody has that.
I'm no different than anybody else.
So I'm, I'm, I'm thankful and I enjoy it and I'll keep doing it
till they say, hey, get off the stage well.
We're thankful that you're doingit.
Why did you always stay loyal toLong Island?
(40:23):
Some people just move away and no.
No, no. First of all, my father was the
mayor of Great Neck Plaza for years.
So I was sort of one of the first sons of Great Neck, I
guess you'd say. I, I like Long Island a lot.
I never lived anywhere but here.I I like the people.
(40:48):
It's gorgeous. I go to the city a lot, I travel
a lot, but I always like coming home to Long Island.
There's something very special about it.
I, I praise my family here. I've made all my friends here
and I, I just dig it. It's, it's a, it's a great
place. And you were instrumental in
(41:09):
helping the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame
get the Everybody Loves Raymond sets and and museum exhibit to
the museum. What?
Why is this going to be an important thing and and why do
you think people are going to enjoy it?
Well, I first of all, the, the what had happened was with the
(41:30):
30th anniversary, the Paley Museum in the city, they did the
first exhibit of Everybody LovesReagan.
And I was called by Long Island and same Music Hall of Fame
Museum entertainment Hall of Fame.
And I I've never been there, embarrassingly so I had never
(41:54):
been there and I went out there to take a look and I was blown
away. The Billy Joel exhibit was on.
They explained that, you know, Billy was involved and it was
just extraordinary. Kevin O Callahan is the crazy
good creative director. He's nuts.
He's great and, and I just couldn't believe how nice it was
(42:17):
and I didn't want to make the museum's talk to each other yet
until Paley opened. But once Paley was open and
everything was settled and the dust settled, I put Paley in
touch with lime off and and it'scoming in and they're doing such
(42:38):
a good job. They've actually, Kevin flew to
LA when we did the 30th anniversary special, which will
be on the CBS on the 24th. And he took the set back.
He carted it back, you know, andsee Kevin with the set on his
(43:00):
back, they put it in the truck and they took it back and which
they had not done at Bailey. So I think they're doing a very
good job. It's a different kind of
exhibit, but it's really great that it's on Long Island.
I mean, the barones were from Long Island, from Lynbrook.
Ray worked for Newsday. It belongs, it belongs here.
(43:24):
It it belongs here. And, and one of the things which
when the show is on, I used to save the props from the shows
and oh God, I they made fun of me.
It's unbelievable. I mean, why do you need that
junk for? Why do you here's Rory again,
another prop. Well, cut to 30 years later, I
(43:49):
got a trunk. I got a trunk full of props and
they're all going to be at the museum.
So there you go. Things sort of pays off That's.
Awesome. And as some you mentioned, Billy
Joel and you've been to the museum, you know, being involved
with the museum myself, you know, it, it was hard when we
were originally just music and we wanted to expand to
(44:09):
entertainment. It took a while, but you kind of
just described it. I, I think this Everybody Loves
Raymond exhibit is the perfect exhibit for us to kind of, you
know, go into this new area and it's right up there with Billy
Joel. I I think it's going to have a
similar appeal, yeah. And and the other thing which I
(44:31):
I, I with my fingers crossed, I hope the association now with
the Paley and Leimer off is a good one.
And, you know, they don't interfere with each other.
There are two ends of the world,really, because Limehouse and
Stony Brook and, and Paley's in Manhattan.
So people who didn't get to see the exhibit at the Paley will
(44:52):
get to see it in at Stony Brook.And I, I, I hope it's the
beginning of something great. And if I had a little part in
that, I'm happy the, the, the museum is really good and it's
run well. It's a beautiful place and I
think people really will enjoy the exhibit and they get a
(45:13):
chance to sort of relive the olddays, which is also fun.
I mean, the one thing about Raymond, which is pretty
extraordinary to me, because people who never saw it in first
run when it was on CBS, who caught it in reruns, there are
literally people who are seeing the show now for the first time.
It's amazing. And the people now think it's
(45:35):
funny. Like the people 20 years ago
thought it was funny and 30 years ago thought it was funny.
And that is the testament to Phil and to Ray and the writers
and the actors and the crew and the staff.
It's not very often that something's as funny then as it
(45:56):
is now. And Raymond is one of them.
I mean, look at the look at The Honeymooners.
There were 39 episodes. That's it, 39.
And it's just as funny now as itwas then.
Some shows just had it. I can't define it.
Let's just call it it. And I think Raymond has it.
(46:20):
I totally agree and we want to thank you again, Rory, for all
your help in bringing this to the Long Island Music and
Entertainment Hall of Fame. Absolutely my pleasure, my
honor. I'm happy to put smiles on
people's faces and certainly have one on mine.
The museum has been incredible to deal with.
(46:41):
Everyone is extraordinary. Ernie is is fantastic and Kevin
and they're just, they're, they're really nice people and
nice people deserve nice things.And I hope this is the beginning
of great things for them. Well, thank you again, Rory.
And it's a completely different subject, but when the Ramones
(47:04):
thing happens, maybe, maybe we'll have to have you on again
to talk about that. Project, I'll be happy to.
I've been working on that for years, years and years, All
right. So I'll be very happy to come on
for sure. OK.
Thanks again, Rory, and look forward to seeing you in the
future. Thank you.
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