Ray Romano loved Raymond, too.
He just doesn’t want to be identified his whole life as the title character from his hit sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which ended a nine-year run in 2005.
“I’m not complaining,” says the 56-year-old Queens native. “I’m proud of what we did there. I just want to do other things, too.”
At the moment, that includes his regular role on NBC’s “Parenthood.” In 2009, he created the TNT drama “Men of a Certain Age,” co-starring with Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher.
“Men” drew favorable notices but only modest ratings and got canceled after two seasons.
“We’re still in mourning,” Romano says. “I liked that show. But it didn’t hit certain numbers it needed. Credit TNT for taking a chance on it in the first place. A show about three middle-aged guys isn’t exactly a slam dunk.”
It did, at least, help in his quest to edge away from Raymond.
“I’m taking baby steps in that direction,” Romano says. “People still stop me to talk about ‘Raymond,’ but I gotta admit I’m guilty of the same thing myself. I see someone from a show I liked and I immediately think of them as that character.”
Part of the irony for Romano is that he was known as a standup comedian before the TV show.
In fact, he’ll be on TV again next week talking about the deceptive difficulty of making that transition in the first place.
PBS’ “Pioneers of Television” resumes next Tuesday (8 p.m.) with an episode called “Standup to Sitcom,” and Romano will be in pretty select company there, with Bob Newhart, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby and Roseanne Barr.
They all made it look easy, which it’s not. In recent years, the TV landscape has been littered with standups from Paul Reiser to Whitney Cummings whose self-inspired sitcoms bombed.
“There were a lot of guys given opportunities way too early, before they developed their own persona on stage and their own point of view,” says Romano. “You can be a standup for five years, and you’re still finding your voice.”
Equally important, he says, TV isn’t as interested in character-based shows as it was when he was doing “Raymond.”
“I don’t think ‘Raymond’ could get on the air now,” he says. “Just a simple premise, telling stories. TV is more concerned with the punchline and the jokes than with stories.”
He doesn’t think he’ll do another sitcom, he says: “Nothing against the form. I just want to do other things.”
What he will continue to do is the standup that launched him in the first place — even though he admits to a love/hate, or perhaps a comfort/discomfort, relationship with the art.
“The first time I did standup, I bombed so badly I gave it up for two years,” he recalls. “And there are still some nights when you’re up there asking yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’
“And then on a good night, it’s the greatest thing in the world. You’re being onstage and you’re being loved by the audience.”
And not just as Raymond, who everybody loved.
dhinckley@nydailynews.com
