Creator, writer, and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond recently opened up to the Television Academy Foundation about the show’s dark finale. โI wanted to do something we hadnโt seen before; so this is what weโre doing,โ he remembers.
โRay talks funny. We know that. He [on the episode] has adenoid trouble. So, heโs got to go get his adenoids out.โ Rosenthal adds that because the character of Ray Barone is โis a hypochondriac and a baby,โ he needs to have his whole family there. But then the episode takes quite a turn.
Phil Rosenthal on the ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ finale
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โItโs all about Raymond, and theyโre making fun of him and what-not. Then the nurse comes out and says, โMrs. Barone, heโs not waking up. Heโs not responding, weโre trying to wake him up.โ Well, she breaks down and the whole family goes insane. And itโs very dark and scary, for about 30 seconds, until the doctor comes out and says heโs fine.โ
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Rosenthal came clean about why he made Ray’s character almost die, noting it only worked โbecause thereโs no jeopardy.โ Rosenthal continues to say that โthe audience knows, โHeโs not going to die!โ You have to write with the supposition the audience is savvy and they understand television. They know heโs not going to die if itโs not the finale. Thatโs why we could not tell anybody what this was. Because I couldnโt give this away, I want the audience to be scared to death.”
“What if you lost this guy? This guy you make fun of, this pain in the ass. This guy whoโs all about himself, this guy who we love ultimately. What if that happened to someone in your family? That scare, we know what thatโs like. Some people, itโs not over in 30 seconds. We know what that feels like, itโs relatable.โ
That’s the true beauty of such a dark and scary finale, which becomes a normal episode of Everybody Loves Raymond once it gets to the second half. Do you remember this scary moment of the finale?