Butler's Cinema Scene

“EXPORTING RAYMOND” (Available Aug. 2 )

When “Everybody Loves Raymond” ended its run after nine years and 210 episodes, creator Phil Rosenthal began thinking about whether his TV show about a bickering but basically loving middle-class family might translate to other cultures.

After all, “The Nanny” became a hit in Europe with casts of various nationalities. Why not “Raymond”?

With that in mind Rosenthal agreed to help a Russian TV network develop its own version of “Raymond.” Rosenthal brought along a video crew to document the progress, and the result is “Exporting Raymond,” a fish-out-of-water real-life comedy in which the Hollywood mover and shaker gets a sobering lesson in how the rest of the world operates.

"Everybody Loves Kostya"...the Russian "Raymond"

OK, I don’t want to make Rosenthal seem like some sort of boorish Tinsel Town heavy hitter. His persona is closer to Woody Allen than a cigar-chomping mogul behind a big desk — an impression cemented when I interviewed Rosenthal by phone.

But after all…he had created “Raymond” and nurtured it through almost a decade of Emmy-winning episodes. Rosenthal believed he understood what made the show tick.  He was eager to share that with his new Russian collaborators.

They, apparently, wanted to do things their way.

For example, there was the very stylish costume designer who envisioned using the program as a showcase for snazzy fashion. She argued that Russians wanted to feel good about the way they looked and dressed.

Imagine Ray Romano doing the series in Armani suits and Patricia Heaton decked out in Valentino’s latest. Hmm…something doesn’t feel right.

Rosenthal was insistent that the Russian pilot episode be shot before a live audience. The Russians groused that it would be too expensive but finally caved. On the day of shooting a dozen grumpy citizens were rounded up and placed on uncomfortable folding chairs. They didn’t laugh. Not once.

Culture shock came in other forms. Before leaving for Moscow Rosenthal was advised to buy K&R insurance. He learned that this stands for “kidnap and ransom” but was assured that this hardly ever happens.

Phil Rosenthal...in limbo in Moscow

“It happens enough for there to be an abbreviation,” Rosenthal frets.

Moscow’s “state-of-the-art” TV studio is so dank and grim that Rosenthal jokingly asks to see where “Saw” was filmed. “You can hear the cancer,” he marvels.

And then there’s the Russian machismo. Rosenthal’s hope was that the “Raymond” template captured the universality of family comedy, and that it would be recognized in every culture. What he hadn’t reckoned on was that “network executives are the same the world over.”

The weeks grow into months. It looks like the Russian “Raymond” is  going to be an unmitigated disaster.

And then…and then…

We can now report that, several years later, the “Raymond” concept is the source of hit shows in different languages and cultures all over the globe. Was Rosenthal surprised by this happy ending, that his baby is now an international hit?

“Listen, I was surprised it became a hit here,” he said in a recent phone conversation to promote the DVD release of “Exporting Raymond.”

“They’re telling me ‘Raymond’ will become the most-produced show in the world. They’re taking our scripts and translating them into these various languages.”

These aren’t carbon copies of the American shows.

“You certainly notice the differences in the looks of the people, the costumes and the decor. The food they eat. It’s supposed to be a typical family of whatever culture it’s set it, and that’s one of the joys for me…seeing these stories unfold in different settings.”

And what about those months of distress and indecision when it seemed like the Russian “Raymond” was circling the drain?

“What I realized is that I couldn’t make the show for me. It’s ultimately it’s for them, the TV viewers of these different countries.

“It’s like raising children. If I learned anything from all this, it’s that they can’t live the life you want for them. It’s theirs.  You love them and nurture them and teach them as best you can.

“But they must be free to go off and disappoint you.”

Quite aside from having another hit show, Rosenthal said the big payoff to his experiment was the people he met. Several of the people who figure prominantly in the documentary — his translator, his driver and the Russian “Raymond’” producer — he now considers good friends.

“I’ve been invited to all these other countries — Poland, Egypt, Israel, the Netherlands, India — to help get there other ‘Raymonds’ up and running. It’s almost too much travel. I’ve decided that from now on I’ll mostly visit the countries where I like to eat.”

Rosenthal said he loves every aspect of show business…”except the business. I love writing, performing, producing, directing…but the business itself is debilitating.

“You see more and more that it’s no longer about substance, it’s all about style. Very few things on TV or the movies any more are actually about writing or acting. That’s terrible news for someone like me who doesn’t know how to write a ‘Transformers’ movie.”

Perhaps, but it sounds like Rosenthal’s plate is full. He’s currently shopping two original screenplays, a Broadway show, an animated TV series.

He’ll soon be acting in an English movie. “Somebody saw me in the documentary and cast me in a movie.

“I’m happy to do it. I like to work. People say to me, ‘Why are you working so hard?’ What, I’m supposed to lie in bed all day?”

| Robert W. Butler