Ray Romano recently confirmed that the beloved sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond will not be joining the reboot trend, and it’s a decision that fans can understand. Speaking at a 30-year anniversary celebration of the show at the Paley Museum in New York City, Romano explained, “There won’t be a reboot. The obvious reason is that Peter [Boyle] and Doris [Roberts], and one of the kids, they’re no longer with us. We’re all heartbroken. They were a big part of the show, the dynamic.”
He added, “Without them, I don’t know what the dynamic would be. We love the show too much, we respect it too much to even try to do it.” These heartfelt words speak volumes about the emotional bond the cast has with the series, and the absence of key members would make recreating the magic impossible.
Alongside Romano, the event also included Maggie Wheeler, who played Linda Grunefelder in a guest role, series creator Phil Rosenthal, and co-star Patricia Heaton, who portrayed Ray’s wife, Debra. Heaton also weighed in on the reboot question, saying, “To try to do it again without the cast members that we’ve lost would be a disservice to the show. You shouldn’t try to go back and redo something that is pretty much perfect. We need to just leave it there and let people enjoy it for what it was.”
It’s true that Everybody Loves Raymond ran for nine fantastic seasons, from 1996 to 2005, and gave viewers memorable moments thanks to the amazing chemistry between the cast. The untimely deaths of Boyle, who played Frank, and Roberts, who played Marie, left a hole in the heart of the show that would be hard to fill. Additionally, Sawyer Sweeten, who portrayed Geoffrey, Ray and Debra’s son, tragically passed away in 2015. While it’s clear that the cast’s legacy lives on, it seems that Everybody Loves Raymond is one show that should remain untouched.
Meanwhile, the reboot trend continues elsewhere. Malcolm in the Middle is set to return with a four-episode reboot on Disney+, but without Erik Per Sullivan, who played Dewey. Though filming has wrapped, the release date has yet to be announced.
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