Plenty of fans love watching Everybody Loves Raymond because they can see themselves in the characters. Although the Barone family’s antics may seem over-the-top at times, viewers were able to identify with them. Not only did this keep viewers laughing, but it also kept them tuning in for nine seasons in as many years.

Despite sharing a name with his character, series star Ray Romano maintained that the show was not entirely autobiographical. “It’s not a documentary,” said Romano during an interview with The Daily News. “Ray Barone is Ray Barone. It’s me, but it’s not me. It’s the sitcom version of me.”

Romano developed the series for television with creator Phil Rosenthal. Frequently, real scenarios submitted by the writers were utilized as episode plots.

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The actor was willing to acknowledge that a few characters did bear some similarities with his real-life family. “The father [played by Peter Boyle] is exactly like my father,” said Romano, “except you take my father and censor it down. You put some pants on him, dress him up a little, take away the funny noises and smells.”

While Robert Barone’s name is taken from Romano’s younger brother, his profession as a police officer was borrowed from the actor’s older brother, Richard.

However, while Ray and Debra may have had a less-than-ideal marriage at times, Romano maintained that his real-life marriage was vastly different than what audiences saw on screen.

“My wife doesn’t take any crap from me,” said Romano. “She likes watching the show when the wife is getting on my case.”