The Noble Reason Phil Rosenthal Won’t Reboot Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond is getting the band back together — not for a reboot, but for a proper, big-deal reunion special. If you grew up with Ray dodging his parents across the street, this one is made to hit you right in the nostalgia. And yes, it is airing on the show’s original home.

So, no reboot — and that is on purpose

Creator Phil Rosenthal and star Ray Romano have been crystal clear: they are not chasing a reboot. Rosenthal told Deadline that some of the original cast who made the show what it was are no longer with us, and trying to redo the series without them wouldn’t be honest. He also is not exactly bullish on the reboot trend in general.

"Many shows do reboots, and we’ve never wanted to do that. We felt like we couldn’t honestly do one since some of the cast isn’t with us anymore, and they were essential to the success of the show. Also, Ray and I both believe that reboots generally are never as good as the original."

Romano echoed that sentiment in his own way: even if every name from the original cast were alive and well, you still can’t recreate the chemistry of a show that was thriving when everyone was younger. In short: celebrate what worked, don’t try to bottle lightning twice.

The reunion Rosenthal has been chasing for years

Rosenthal has apparently been trying to line this up for close to a decade. It finally happened: the 90-minute special, Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion, lands November 24, 2025 — and it’s back on CBS, where the series originally aired. That little full-circle detail is oddly satisfying.

Bittersweet, because the Barone world has lost some heavy hitters

This celebration comes with a real dose of sadness. Doris Roberts (Marie Barone) died in 2016 at age 90, and Peter Boyle (Frank Barone) passed in 2006 at 71. The show also lost Sawyer Sweeten, who played Ray and Debra’s son, and two of Robert’s in-laws from the series — Fred Willard and Georgia Engel — have passed as well. Expect the special to acknowledge them; it would be impossible not to.

Quick refresher on how big Raymond was

Everybody Loves Raymond premiered September 13, 1996, ran nine seasons, and wrapped on May 16, 2005. It became one of TV’s big Emmy magnets, and if you like a little TV lineage, it’s often cited that even Modern Family took cues from Raymond’s family-comedy blueprint.

How to watch

• Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion (90 minutes)
• When: Monday, November 24, 2025
• Time: 8 PM ET/PT on CBS
• Streaming: Paramount+ at 8 PM ET and 5 PM PT (as per Forbes)

Bottom line: no reboot, no reinventing the wheel — just the people who made the show revisiting what they built, on the network where it all started. That feels right.