Today’s best comedians are able to put a fresh spin on older influences. Avid television fans grew up watching popular shows like Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. Plenty of comedies that are now considered “classic” television rely on traditional values and simple comedy to entertain an audience. It’s a well-loved formula, and one that is still frequently used today.

Phil Rosenthal, a lover of classic television, used classic television to influence the creation of his own series, Everybody Loves Raymond. “People didn’t jump up and down when we told them the premise of the show, a guy lives across the street from his parents,” said Rosenthal during an interview with The Kenosha News. “They were all saying, ‘Make it hip, make it edgy.’”

But Rosenthal said that when he created his show, he considered early television shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show and All in the Family. “These are shows where the humor and stories came from character,” said Rosenthal.

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The comedian understood that quick jokes made for easy laughs, but it didn’t necessarily mean that a series was sustainable. Instead, Rosenthal put a great amount of time and effort into the characters of his series, ensuring that the series had a lasting impact.

“So many shows are just joke bags,” said Rosenthal, “just ‘Make them laugh for now, don’t worry about the future, because tomorrow we may be off tomorrow. I always thought it’s not worth having a tomorrow if that’s going to be what it is.”