Big Sunday Weekend goes beyond community service

By Ryan Torok
Published on May 8, 2013

Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” was leading a game of Bingo in the annex dining room at Canter’s Deli on the morning of May 5 — not a bad way to spend Big Sunday Weekend, the annual festival of community service that featured more than 150 projects this year.

The ‘light’-er side of Temple Israel of Hollywood

Published on May 8, 2013

Temple Israel of Hollywood (TIOH) lived up to its name on April 28 when it threw a free biblically themed matinee musical, “Let There Be Light,” on Lag B’Omer featuring numerous celebrities.

When Everybody Didn’t Love Phil:  “Exporting Raymond” [VIDEO]

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 5, 2011

Can Russians love ‘Raymond’?

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 20, 2011

“Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal utters numerous “oys” before he even gets to Russia in “Exporting Raymond,” his documentary opening April 29 about how he helped develop the Russian version of his hit CBS sitcom. Rosenthal was initially thrilled, several years ago, when Sony Pictures gave him the opportunity to bring Russians their first “naturalistic” sitcom — one that was inspired by real family dynamics experienced by Rosenthal and the show’s star, Ray Romano.

You’re Lucky You’re Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom

By Phil Rosenthal
Published on October 19, 2006

The following excerpt is the prologue to "You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom," (Viking, 2006) a memoir by Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Tommywood - Raymond’s End

By Tom Teicholz
Published on May 5, 2005

Phil Rosenthal, the creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond," which will end its nine-year run on CBS on May 16, and I are fressing at Barney Greengrass in Beverly Hills high atop Barney's Department Store. It's not that eating sable is the way I mourn (how is it that a fish can be named after a fur coat my mother owned?) -- or that toasted bagels and cream cheese dulls the imminent loss of my favorite sitcom.

The Heroes of Jewish Comedy

By Tom Teicholz
Published on July 3, 2003

On Monday, July 7, Comedy Central will premiere the first of a six-part series called, "Heroes of Jewish Comedy." Unfortunately, the series suffers for being a clip job not up to its subject. Less documentary and more comedy would help.

Emmy ‘Loves’ TV Tribemembers

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 26, 2002

When Brad Garrett accepted his best supporting actor Emmy on Sunday, Sept. 22, the irony was thick as a Sicilian pizza -- or a deli sandwich. The 6-foot-8-inch Jewish actor plays Ray Romano's sullen cop brother, Robert, on the CBS hit "Everybody Loves Raymond," featuring the sitcom world's favorite Italian American family. But Garrett (born Gerstenfeld), a rabbi's son, drew huge laughs when he joked, "I just hope that this award breaks down the door for Jewish people who are trying to get into showbusiness."

Raymond Barone, Crypto-Jew?

By Ellen Sandler
Published on January 24, 2002

Is it an Italian sensibility? Or is Raymond a crypto-Jew?