Why Kevin James Thought Pal Ray Romano’s Sitcom Was “Not Gonna Happen” at First originally appeared on Parade.
It turns out that everybody did, in fact, love Raymond — but fellow comedian Kevin James wasn’t so sure that’d be the case when it all started.
The King of Queens EP and star, 60, recently shared about his initial take on Ray Romano‘s sitcom, which premiered on CBS in 1996. James’ comedy series launched on the same network two years later.
“I couldn’t believe it, because he’s such a low-energy guy. Sitcom guys were, to me, like the big, wacky [characters],” James said on a recent episode of the Sibling Revelry With Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson podcast. ” I’m like this, this is death. It’s not gonna happen.”
James would go on to admit during his podcast chat with co-host Oliver Hudson how wrong he had been once The King of Queens premiered.
“The first few years of going with Ray — even when our shows came out, we’d go to the CBS functions and things like that. Red carpet things were so rough because they knew him,” James said. “But my show had just come out, so they’re taking a thousand pictures of Ray.”
James also confessed to Hudson, 48, that he “learned everything from Ray on how to do a sitcom.”
The comedian joined the recent episode to discuss and promote his new action movie Guns Out, but fans of the funnyman might always know him best as the wise-cracking IPS delivery driver from The King of Queens opposite co-star Leah Remini. The late Jerry Stiller was also a regular on the show, playing Remini’s loudmouthed father.
The sitcom rans for nine seasons, and James was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006, for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He lost out to Tony Shalhoub for Monk.
Everybody Loves Raymond also rans for nine seasons on CBS, meanwhile, and became a massive success both critically and commercially. It won 15 Primetime Emmys and was nominated 69 times, and still airs in syndication around the world.
Why Kevin James Thought Pal Ray Romano’s Sitcom Was “Not Gonna Happen” at First first appeared on Parade on Aug 1, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
