LOS ANGELES — CBS executives have confirmed their interest in a "Raymond" spinoff centering on the character of Robert Barone (Brad Garrett), but creator/executive producer Phil Rosenthal said, "We haven't even discussed it."
"Honestly, nobody's brought it up," added executive producer Steve Skrovan.
Which may just mean that they haven't discussed it in the writers' room because nobody's brought it up. But Rosenthal sounds completely uninterested in working on a spinoff.
"I don't know. I've never done one," Rosenthal said. "I can't say I'm thrilled with the idea of doing one. They usually don't work. I think 'Frasier' is the wildly successful exception. We'll see what happens with this new one. I don't know. But it's not as exciting to a writer as something new."
END OF AN ERA? A lot has been written about the state of the television sitcom, which isn't so great these days. Not only has the number of half-hour comedies dropped dramatically, but so has the quality of most of the new shows.
And the impending departure of "Everybody Loves Raymond" raises the question about the future of sitcoms once again.
"I've heard the question asked — 'does this mean the end of an era? Does this mean the end of the sitcom on television?' Rosenthal said. "And I think — yes. I think not only on television, but comedy everywhere. In fact, I don't see any more laughing coming anywhere."
He's kidding, of course.
I think.
WHOSE WIFE? While this fact has never been widely publicized, Robert Barone's fictional wife, Amy, is played by Rosenthal's real wife, Monica Horan. But that's only a coincidence.
Sort of.
"That was not Phil's idea in the beginning when we were looking for a girlfriend for Robert," Skrovan said. "I didn't know Monica at the time, but a couple of the other writers did. And it was their idea.
"We had to convince (Rosenthal). It was a great idea. And my in-laws, who are fans of the show, didn't know that Monica was Phil's wife and . . . made a point of telling me how much they liked this character. That told me that it went beyond nepotism."
"Even (CBS chief) Les (Moonves) told me he didn't know until the second year that that was my wife," Rosenthal said. "That was very nice.
"The truth is we're lucky she's good, because I was going to put whoever I was married to into whatever show I was doing."
HIS FATHER'S UNHAPPY: Rosenthal said that, although his wife co-stars in "Everybody Loves Raymond," Horvan isn't upset that the show is ending.
"She's fine with it. I'll tell you who's upset — my Dad," he said.
Both Rosenthal and "Raymond" star Ray Romano's fathers occasionally appear in the sitcom. They're two of the "old guys" who hang out at Frank's lodge.
" And the first time my dad was on, we gave him a line and he killed," Rosenthal said. "And it was a blessing and a curse, if you know what I mean.
"Now he calls. 'When am I on again?' "
The elder Rosenthal, who's 78, went so far as to get an agent. And he even got an audition for another show, which apparently didn't turn out so well.
"He calls me and he says, 'I don't think I'm doing this anymore. I like when I just get the part' " Rosenthal said. "And now he's, like, 'How can you stop? What am I supposed to do?' "
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com