dlemond
03-03-2004, 06:08 PM
3/02/2004
Final season of 'Raymond'? Not so fast ...
By Gary Levin, USA TODAY
Despite vows that this season would likely be the last for Everybody Loves Raymond, the show's top producer now appears open to a shortened ninth season.
And CBS, desperate to hold on to what would likely become TV's top sitcom post-Friends, is eager to negotiate.
"We are in the process of right now deliberating whether we should continue or not," says creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal.
Although he'd rather bow out now — he has said writers are running low on ideas — "I'm thinking maybe there's a compromise. We're actually talking about can we do part of a season," probably 16 or 18 episodes instead of 24, much as Friends did this year.
But a decision will come down to whether "it's financially viable for the people who pay the money" — producers CBS, HBO and David Letterman — to pay even more each week for fewer episodes, he says.
CBS seems willing. "We're very guardedly optimistic that we could hopefully come to some arrangement by which they could come back," says CBS Television chairman Leslie Moonves. "We need Raymond. We want it back."
A decision is due any day: Raymond has only three episodes left to tape, and Rosenthal says a series finale is already written as the last of those. A renewal would simply delay it until next season, when Raymond could escape from the shadow of Friends' farewell for a bigger sendoff.
CBS can hardly afford to lose Raymond, its No. 1 comedy and the keystone of its Monday-night lineup. Even with the show intact, the top-rated network, up overall this season, is down 3% on Mondays (9% among young adults) as NBC and Fox compete aggressively.
But a Raymond deal could prove steep: CBS now pays nearly $6 million an episode. And star Ray Romano has the richest acting deal in TV, now earning $1.8 million an episode. Romano won't return without Rosenthal. And Rosenthal will want more money, although he stands to make as much as $450 million from his share of syndication profits.
There's been talk of a spinoff involving Ray Barone's brother Robert (Brad Garrett) if Rosenthal and Romano walk away. But even that is fraught with complications. Monica Horan, who plays Robert's wife Amy, is Rosenthal's wife. And just who's handling negotiations for Romano? His lawyer, Moonves' brother Jon.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-03-02-raymond-ninth-season_x.htm
Final season of 'Raymond'? Not so fast ...
By Gary Levin, USA TODAY
Despite vows that this season would likely be the last for Everybody Loves Raymond, the show's top producer now appears open to a shortened ninth season.
And CBS, desperate to hold on to what would likely become TV's top sitcom post-Friends, is eager to negotiate.
"We are in the process of right now deliberating whether we should continue or not," says creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal.
Although he'd rather bow out now — he has said writers are running low on ideas — "I'm thinking maybe there's a compromise. We're actually talking about can we do part of a season," probably 16 or 18 episodes instead of 24, much as Friends did this year.
But a decision will come down to whether "it's financially viable for the people who pay the money" — producers CBS, HBO and David Letterman — to pay even more each week for fewer episodes, he says.
CBS seems willing. "We're very guardedly optimistic that we could hopefully come to some arrangement by which they could come back," says CBS Television chairman Leslie Moonves. "We need Raymond. We want it back."
A decision is due any day: Raymond has only three episodes left to tape, and Rosenthal says a series finale is already written as the last of those. A renewal would simply delay it until next season, when Raymond could escape from the shadow of Friends' farewell for a bigger sendoff.
CBS can hardly afford to lose Raymond, its No. 1 comedy and the keystone of its Monday-night lineup. Even with the show intact, the top-rated network, up overall this season, is down 3% on Mondays (9% among young adults) as NBC and Fox compete aggressively.
But a Raymond deal could prove steep: CBS now pays nearly $6 million an episode. And star Ray Romano has the richest acting deal in TV, now earning $1.8 million an episode. Romano won't return without Rosenthal. And Rosenthal will want more money, although he stands to make as much as $450 million from his share of syndication profits.
There's been talk of a spinoff involving Ray Barone's brother Robert (Brad Garrett) if Rosenthal and Romano walk away. But even that is fraught with complications. Monica Horan, who plays Robert's wife Amy, is Rosenthal's wife. And just who's handling negotiations for Romano? His lawyer, Moonves' brother Jon.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-03-02-raymond-ninth-season_x.htm