Why Ray Romano Will Never Do An Everybody Loves Raymond Revival

Television series don't always end on their own terms. Some of the greatest shows in the medium's history have been canceled due to low ratings before they could finish telling their overarching story or just as they were hitting their stride creatively. Some of the most egregious examples of series getting the axe before their time include "My So-Called Life," "Arrested Development," "Frank's Place," "Sports Night," "I'll Fly Away," "Deadwood," and "Mindhunters." It's possible no one has had a more brutal small-screen run than Judd Apatow, who, before he became a hit-making film producer, watched helplessly as three superb, critically acclaimed comedies — "The Ben Stiller Show," "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" — failed to earn a second season.

Sometimes, fan enthusiasm results in these works getting revived in some incarnation or another, and, unfortunately, the results are often unsightly. But at least there's a reason for going back. The same isn't true for long-running sitcoms like "Roseanne," "Night Court" and "Frasier." Actually, there was a decent rationale for checking in on the Connors at the outset of the Trump era, but Roseanne Barr torpedoed the endeavor when she fired off a racist tweet about former Barack Obama advisor, Valerie Jarrett. As for "Night Court" and "Frasier," what could possibly be the point of a resurrection when crucial members of the cast were either dead or disinterested in participating?

The point was nostalgia, and the lack of purpose resulted in embarrassingly flat revivals of once-great sitcoms. Hopefully, the tepid critical reception that greeted the new "Night Court" and "Frasier" seasons will nip this trend in the bud. Time will tell, but you can at least count on Ray Romano to not get in on this desperate action.

During a recent appearance on the extraordinarily-ripe-for-cancellation "Real Time with Bill Maher," Ray Romano was asked if he'd consider a new season of "Everybody Loves Raymond." His answer was an emphatic no.

"[Revivals are] never as good," said Roman. "We want to leave with our legacy with what it is." That legacy is a hugely successful nine-season run that earned 69 Primetime Emmy nominations and 15 wins, with four members of the main cast — Romano, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts and Brad Garrett — taking home at least one acting trophy.

Romano cited the deaths of Roberts and Boyle, who played the star's parents, as a primary reason why there will never be a reboot. He did, however, allow that some cast members would've stuck with the original run had it been renewed in 2005. Per Romano:

"The rest of the cast was happy to go on, but myself and Phil Rosenthal — who ran the show — we wanted it to end in season 8, because we just felt it, we felt it [was] time."

I'm very much Team Romano on this. Though the show was still a fixture in the Nielsen ratings' Top 10, there was nowhere else to go with these characters. They'd reached the point where many series introduce a new character to freshen things up, and that way lies show-killing superstar Ted McGinley (or whomever is his modern-day equivalent). Thanks for sparing us a cringy final season, Mr. Romano.