Everybody Loves Raymond Siblings Remember Sawyer Sweeten

For many reasons, Ray Romano has been very consistent in his stance on rebooting his beloved sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond: It’s never going to happen. However, he brought the Barone family back together again to celebrate 30 years of the show in a reunion special, which aired on November 24 on CBS, and paid a special tribute to the series regulars and Barone family members who are no longer with us. As the cast was reminiscing on the good times on set, the Sweeten siblings, Madylin and Sullivan, remembered their late brother Sawyer Sweeten, who died by suicide in 2015. “None of us really expected what happened,” Sullivan, his twin brother, shared during the special. “I try to think about the good moments. And oftentimes, that’s here on the set.” His sister, Madylin, added, “We’re very passionate in our family about suicide prevention. It is the second leading cause of death between ages 18-25. But 90 percent of people who seek treatment are cured. And so many of the messages we get are people saying, ‘I’m so grateful to have heard about your brother. He saved my life.’”

In the special, Romano and creator Phil Rosenthal recreated the Barone family living room with original cast members Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Monica Horan, and Madylin and Sullivan joining them. Romano further explained how a reboot would not be possible without the late Sawyer, Doris Roberts, and Peter Boyle; the latter two played Romano’s parents on the show. “We’re never gonna do [a reboot], because we’re missing three cast members, three family members,” Romano shared. “So we would never try to do the show without them.” Rosenthal also added that because the show is still syndicated, fans can relive the magic of the show as it was when it first aired. Rosenthal continued, “We have too much respect for the show itself and for the beautiful audience.”