A Show About Something Acclaimed Sitcom ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Picked To Fill Void Left By ‘Seinfeld’

While presiding over the People’s Choice Awards ceremony last month, Ray Romano, the star of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” observed that the cast of his CBS comedy series was seated way back at the far end of the room.

“Next year we’re going to be up front, I promise,” Romano called out. Then, glancing toward the “Seinfeld” cast seated near the stage, he said, “I know this table is going to be empty.”

The hope at CBS these days is that Romano and his rising, critically acclaimed sophomore series will eventually inherit not only “Seinfeld’s” preferred seating but perhaps even the NBC show’s standing as America’s favorite comedy.

“Raymond,” ranked about 30th in the Nielsen television ratings, has a long way to climb. Still, when the PBS talk-show host Charlie Rose recently asked a panel of critics which show might fill the void left by “Seinfeld,” one of the first candidates was “Raymond.”

“It’s flattering,” Romano said, when asked about comparisons between his show and “Seinfeld.” The similarities are hard to miss: Like Seinfeld, Romano is a lanky, 40-ish stand-up comedian from New York whose sharp humor is rooted in everyday observations. And like Seinfeld, he has fashioned a comedy series in which he plays an amused but skeptical central character surrounded by idiosyncratic supporting players who frequently barge through his door and into his chaotic life.

But Romano is quick to point out that “the two shows are very different,” an observation seconded by his creative partner and executive producer on the series, Philip Rosenthal. “‘Seinfeld,’ as everyone knows, is about nothing,” Rosenthal said, “but ‘Raymond’ is about little things that add up to everything. It’s almost the anti-‘Seinfeld.”’

The series centers on Romano’s character, Ray Barone, a sportswriter who lives on Long Island with his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), and their three young children. Across the street are Ray’s intrusive parents (Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts) and his hulking, sulky policeman brother, Robert (Greg Garrett).

With the exception of Robert, whose simmering inferiority complex and compulsive habit of touching everything to his chin rivals “Seinfeld’s” Kramer for sheer weirdness, the characters in “Raymond,” though finely drawn and full of wit, are suburban and unhip. And its story lines are linear and firmly grounded in mundane reality.

In some ways, the series is simply “an old-fashioned, classic sitcom about family,” Rosenthal said.

But there are a couple of twists that differentiate “Raymond.” The children are usually tucked out of sight, leaving the adults to have at one another. And while the plots often hinge on innocuous, sitcom-ish situations (Ray gets a dog, Ray tries to balance the checkbook himself), the stories spiral and dig beneath surface jokes to explore the emotional dynamics - petty rivalries, festering resentments, awkward attempts at affection - of adults living cheek to jowl.

Romano has put much of his personal life into the series. Until recently, he, his wife and their young children did live down the road from his highly involved parents in Queens. Romano’s brother really is a policeman, living in his parents’ house, who teases Romano about his show-biz career.

“When his brother would see some comedy award of Ray’s,” Rosenthal said, “he’d say things like ‘It never ends for Raymond - everybody loves Raymond.”’ Rosenthal seized upon that as the sarcastic title of the show and the helpless refrain of Garrett’s envious character.

Until two years ago, Romano’s career would not have inspired envy. A Queens College accounting graduate who sold futons for a living (he once delivered a futon to Larry David, the co-creator of “Seinfeld”), he started doing stand-up to impress a date and kept at it for 12 years.

Eventually, in 1994, Romano was cast in the pilot for NBC’s “News Radio” - but was jettisoned after one day. His big break came a year later when he did a five-minute routine on “Late Show With David Letterman” (featuring home videos of his chaotic family life). A few days later, Letterman’s production company offered Romano his own show.

Placed on Friday nights, the show had abysmal ratings at first. The show moved to Monday nights last spring, in the 8:30 slot after “Cosby.” Heavily promoted by the network, the show nearly doubled its audience and now consistently beats NBC’s comedy competition.

Whether the show can become a hit of Seinfeldian dimensions is another matter.