Phil Rosenthal

Prior to his success with the hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS, 1996-2005), writer and executive producer Phil Rosenthal was originally imbued with the desire to become an actor, and his quick wit and effusive charm seemed to make him a natural. Rosenthal was quickly disgruntled, however, with the humiliating audition process and soon turned to writing. At first his luck was no better, and he found work on short-lived projects or series in their swan song years. But Rosenthal learned from other showrunners what worked and what didn't. So once he got the opportunity to run his own series, he had developed a routine that allowed his writing team to get home in time for dinner, a rarity in a business that typically works long hours. Rosenthal reasoned that if his writers were going to write about life, they should have one. For this he earned not only the admiration and loyalty of his staff, but a top comedy series as well.