‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ producer makes ‘unexpected’ revelation about sitcom star

Everybody Loves Raymond producer Tom Caltabiano recently made a surprising revelation about the sitcom’s star, Ray Romano.

The 64-year-old writer and stand-up comedian opened up about how Ray feeling “tortured” by the title of the 1996 show.

In an exclusive conversation with the New York Post at the Paley Center on Monday, June 16, Caltabiano shared, “Because Ray in real life is a modest guy, and he’s like, ‘Everybody loves Ray, what if the show stinks?’ Thank God it was a hit. He had to make it a hit just to overcome that title.”

The producer also revealed that the 67-year-old actor contacted top network executives to try to change the show’s title before its premiere.

Speaking to the outlet, he added, “He called [David] Letterman, and he called the president of CBS and said, ‘Please, can we change the show name?’ So the president said, ‘Look, if it’s a hit, we’ll change it.’ And then it became a hit and the president says, ‘Well, we can’t change it now!’”

During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at the same event, the No Good Deed star reflected on the life-changing impact of the sitcom.

He said, “And here we are, and it changed my life. It changed my family’s life, you know, I’ve made such great friends. It changed my career.”

Everybody Loves Raymond, which also starred Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Madylin Sweeten, and others, aired its final episode of Season 9 on May 16, 2005.