a chinese-canadian met a jewish-american on the set of everybody loves raymond

Last weekend, I finished reading "You’re Lucky You’re Funny" by Phil Rosenthal. He’s best known for not being known as the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond. He’s the head writer and showrunner for the show, and he intermingles his own life with Ray’s life to come up with stories for episodes of the show. He’s a brilliant writer with a great radar for what’s funny. He wrote Raymond as a throwback to classic family comedies, and I’ve realized that classic elements are missing from today’s television shows.

A family show needs strongly defined characters, real yet crazy stories, and the love that permeates every family. What’s more, the love isn’t excessive or obvious. What real family constantly says that they love each other? The few times that it happens are truly memorable, because it’s so rare.

The writing staff at Raymond is a well-oiled machine. They planned months in advance, so that they had time to iron out the scripts before taping, instead of rushing to create something on the same day that they film. The writing staff spent time at home, so that they could experience life and gather material for the show. And the stories are almost entirely true, and have happened to one of the people on the writing staff. Write what you know. Laugh because it’s funny, cry because it’s true.

It’s a joy to read books by good writers. It’s more than being able to choose the best words to describe something. Good writers also permeate every word with an underlying tone. Sometimes you read a story that expertly describes the surroundings, the wardrobes, the relationships, and it feels like reading a science textbook. Sometimes you read a book that is heavy on emotion and feeling, but doesn’t have a clue about plot or structure. That’s why it’s great when a story has both structure and tone.

The tone that I got was that growing up, Phil was a creative person who enjoyed different things than others. Interestingly, the things that he enjoyed are the same things that I enjoy. Not only do we enjoy similar things, we describe them in a similar way. When I was reading his words, I thought, "That’s close to how I would have said it!" It’s really strange when you read someone else’s work, and it’s close to what you would have written.

Maybe that’s what happens when you read from another creative person. Creatives look at themselves in a certain way. They look at their family in a certain way. They look at their relationships in a certain way. And this certain way is usually not the same as most people. That’s why it feels great when you have another creative person who ‘gets’ you. He had a team of strong writers who ‘got’ each other. Even though I’ve never met Phil Rosenthal, after reading his book, I think he’d ‘get’ me.

Of course, it’s the nature of entertainers to get people to relate to them. Songwriters thrive on writing materials that audiences will relate to. “That’s exactly what I’m feeling right now.” And as I write this, I realize that maybe Phil wrote this book the same way he planned an episode of Raymond. He provided enough material so that you recognized something real and familiar in his story. That’s good writing.

I hope we’re nearing the end of the WGA strike. More than ever, I appreciate good writers.