Some kids grow up with dreams to become a firefighter or a parent. Phil Rosenthal had different aspirations, even as a child. Instead, Rosenthal wanted to become Ed Norton when he grew up.

It might seem like a strange aspiration to some, but to Rosenthal, it was second nature. The young man was a student of television, as he explained in Show Me the Funny! At the Writer’s Table with Hollywood’s Top Comedy Writers by Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis. “My real school was the years and years and thousands of hours of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood I wasted in front of the television,” Rosenthal said. It becomes a part of you. You understand it. It’s in your makeup, how you think. I can’t explain it better than that.”

Years later, Rosenthal would be responsible for hit sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond. But as a child, Rosenthal had a particular appreciation for the popular series, The Honeymooners. “When you’re a kid and watch The Honeymooners, you don’t think there is writing and directing and producing,” said Rosenthal. “In my case, I saw Art Carney and started imitating Ed Norton. I wanted to be Ed Norton. That’s who I loved. You start seeing other shows and you try out for the school play because that’s all you know.”

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Like any good comedian, Rosenthal was also fueled by a desire to make his friends and family laugh. “My parents’ laughter encouraged me,” said Rosenthal. “If they didn’t laugh, I wouldn’t be here. These are the people, first and foremost.”