Everybody Loves Romano

Sunday, September 22, 2002

Ray Romano © Zap2it

Everybody has loved Raymond for several years, now Emmy loves Ray Romano.

After four nominations for his starring role on "Everybody Loves Raymond," the comedian won his first Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series. Like the character he plays on the show, Romano took a skeptical approach to his good fortune. ''There's some trick behind this,'' he said, inspecting the Emmy carefully. ''They're pulling something. They want to take me so high that I'm dead before I even hit the ground.''

The award makes him one of the rare stand-up comedians to take home the acting Emmy. Comic-fronted shows like "Seinfeld," "Ellen" and "The Drew Carey" never earned acting trophies for their leads.

Romano believes that people in the drama category have an easier time at the Emmys. "You can never tell who's going to win because comedy is so subjective," he said. "'Sex and the City' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond' couldn't be more far apart -- there's no sex and no city in our show."

When asked if he is like his character in real life, the comic admitted, "I'm unfortunately a lot like him. When the show first started, there was a contest in the writing room to see who was dumber: me or Ray Barone," he revealed.

"Ray is winning now," the comic said with a smile.

Backstage at the 2002 Emmy Awards >>