Why ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Star Ray Romano Called Ray Barone a ‘Dumbed-Down Version’ of Himself

Ray Romano revealed described some similarities between himself and his onscreen persona.

by Melissa Mitas

Published on October 22, 2020

2 min read

Ray Barone often fell short, but he tried

Playing the harried married father of three on the show, Romano’s character was often subjected to his onscreen wife’s wrath for not living up to her expectations. Heaton saw Debra as somewhat representing the frustrations of long-suffering wives.

“It’s funny, she could be sort of such a b*tch but I guess she was really patient,” Heaton shared with the Television Academy Foundation. “She recognized Ray’s good qualities, as much as she got angry at him. … She was always a little bit angry that [Ray] couldn’t read her mind, that he wasn’t sensitive and everything he tried fell apart.”

While Debra often expected Ray to pitch in around the house and help out with the kids, he often opted for grabbing the TV remote. Yet there would often be a point in the episode where Ray would show his soft side.

“I think the thing that saved Debra’s and Ray’s marriage – and I think it’s in any marriage – is you know that your spouse is well-meaning ultimately,” Heaton explained. And it’s one thing if they’re doing things deliberately, but if they’re just an idiot – which I often called Ray on the show – then they kind of can’t help it.”

Ray Romano sees similarities to his character

While Ray Barone is portrayed as aloof, lazy, and awkward, Romano confessed that the character is somewhat like himself, but to a lesser extent.

“But I would say he’s a dumbed-down version of me – which is like splitting the atom almost,” Romano told 60 Minutes in 2005. “He’s a little more selfish. A little more naïve, a little more ignorant.”

Like Heaton, the sitcom star sees the humanity underneath the less than redeeming qualities.

“I think he’s still a good person,” Romano noted, then made one of his trademark jokes. “The wife and, you know, my TV wife, my real wife. I don’t sleep with either of them, to be honest with you.”

Ray and Debra – Lucy and Ricky?

Show creator Phil Rosenthal saw Ray Barone as a very relatable guy, which helped draw in such big ratings each week.

“He’s Everyman. You know, that’s what’s great about him,” Rosenthal explained of the stressed out family man. “He wants to be left alone. ‘Please let me sit on the couch and watch television without all my responsibilities and obligations and family bothering me.'”

Heaton may have summed up Ray and Debra’s relationship best when she compared them to another iconic television couple.

“They were kind of Lucy and Ricky, I think,” she remarked, referring to the legendary Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. “Kind of a modern day Lucy and Ricky. But it was just flipped. Ray was the new Lucy.”