Not every iconic “Everybody Loves Raymond” scene was easy to film.
Ray Romano has revealed that he nearly “passed out” while shooting one memorable moment from the beloved sitcom’s seventh season in 2002.
The episode in question, “She’s the One,” saw Ray’s brother Robert Barone (Brad Garrett) bring home a woman named Angela (Elizabeth Bogush) for dinner.
However, the episode quickly went off the rails after Ray witnessed his brother’s love interest eat a dead fly from off the dining room table.
“You know what I think of a lot?” Garrett, 65, said during the cast’s recent 30th anniversary reunion special. “The episode where the girl Robert was dating ate the fly. And when you tried to tell me what you saw in the kitchen, the scene was so great.”
“I almost passed out,” Romano, 68, responded. “I hyperventilated, and if you look very closely, you see me go, oop, oop, because I was gonna pass out.”
But Garrett wasn’t going to let his former onscreen brother forget how he reacted during the hilarious incident.
“Who hyperventilates saying a line?” he joked.
“Everybody Loves Raymond” premiered in September 1996 and ran for nine seasons until its finale in May 2005.
The show earned a whopping 69 Emmy nominations and won 15, including awards for Romano, Patricia Heaton (Debra Barone), Doris Roberts (Marie Barone) and Garrett. It also won for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2003 and again in 2005.
Last month, the sitcom’s surviving cast members headed back to Long Island for the “Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion” special.
The highly anticipated special saw Romano reunite with Garrett, Heaton, Monica Horan (Amy MacDougall-Barone), Madylin Sweeten (Ally Barone), Sullivan Sweeten (Michael Barone) and series creator Phil Rosenthal on a recreated set of the Barone living room.
Romano revealed that he was “intimidated” by Peter Boyle during their first meeting. Boyle, who died in 2006 at 71, portrayed Ray’s grumpy but lovable father, Frank Barone.
“He was an imposing figure,” Romano recalled during the special. “I didn’t know then how sweet he really was. He could tell I was nervous.”
Rosenthal, meanwhile, revealed that he chose Romano and Heaton, 67, to play Ray and Debra because the pair “had the most spectacular chemistry.”
“I always said that Patty Heaton’s the best wife on television,” the sitcom creator, 65, shared.
“We’re forgetting one little key element that really sold me on you during that first audition,” Romano chimed in. “That’s how desperate I was to get the job.”
The “Everybody Loves Raymond” cast also made a point to remember their former co-stars who have passed away since the beloved sitcom ended 30 years ago.
Roberts, who portrayed Ray’s onscreen mother Marie Barone, died in 2016 at the age of 90.
Sawyer Sweeten, who played Ray and Debra’s son Geoffrey, tragically died by suicide in April 2015 at 19. He was Sullivan and Madylin Sweeten’s real-life brother.
“So, Sawyer, of course, is no longer with us, and we miss him,” Romano said during the reunion episode last month. “And he, just like you are, was this bright energy.”
The episode later showed a photo of Sawyer on screen alongside the text: “In loving memory of Sawyer Sweeten, 1995-2015.”
Romano, Heaton and Garrett have ruled out a proper “Everybody Loves Raymond” reboot because their former co-stars like Boyle, Roberts and Sawyer are “no longer with us.”
“Without them, I don’t know what the dynamic is,” Romano told The Post in June. “We love the show too much, we respect it too much to even try to do it.”
