Says co-creator Phil Rosenthal: "I put 'Everybody Loves Raymond' on the original script. What I loved about it was that it was like 'I Love Lucy,' and I was trying to do an old-fashioned show. ... Once you knew the show, you got that the title spoke to sibling rivalries, problems with parents, problems with your wife."
Globe Photos/ZumaPress.com/NewscomLONDON — The BBC’s flagship channel BBC One has ordered a pilot for a U.K. remake of Everybody Loves Raymond, starring comedian Lee Mack and Catherine Tate (The Office).
The BBC announced that the pilot, entitled The Smiths, will be set in Cheshire, England, but also feature a man who lives opposite his overbearing family. Mack himself will write it and portray the protagonist, with Tate taking on Patricia Heaton‘s role in the original.
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Raymond was a sitcom hit in the U.S. and elsewhere for nine seasons, starring Ray Romano, Heaton and Brad Garrett. Romano played a New York sportswriter. The character’s comedic slant is seen as similar to Mack’s role in British sitcom Not Going Out.
The pilot will be shot in front of a live audience later this month. Silver River Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television, is producing it.
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Raymond previously also got local adaptations in such countries as Russia.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
