Thursday, July 3, 1997 | 12:12 p.m.
There's definite irony in that the first comedy album Ray Romano ever bought was a Bill Cosby LP.
Earlier this year, the comedy legend inadvertently saved the life of Romano's sitcom.
"Everybody Loves Raymond," starring the droll standup comic and based on his real-life family ties, was relegated to television's dreaded Friday night lineup for the first-half of its freshman season on CBS.
The show, produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company, seemed destined to become another prime-time casualty.
"The critics were giving us good reviews," Romano explains, "but nobody was watching us."
But as the TV gods -- or network executives -- would have it, the show was soon moved to a choice Monday slot, snuggled between the evening's powerhouse programs, "Cosby" and "Cybil."
"That was like a big test, too," Romano says.
One the show passed with flying colors by holding onto Cosby's viewing audience. Critics have compared it to "Home Improvement" and "Seinfeld," which is "exactly what we were going for," Romano says.
"It was probably one of the best new comedies of the season," says Tom Feran, TV critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and president of the Television Critics Association.
"It was drawn from life, it was convincing, it was very funny," he says. "The characters were well-drawn and the cast is splendid. It's the sort of show that rings true to anyone in a family situation."
So it seems everybody really does love Raymond?
"My god, I hope not," Romano said recently from Los Angeles, where he and the "Raymond's" writers are at work on scripts for season No. 2. "We're going to be experimenting with time travel."
Very funny, Ray.
Actually, the show will continue on its current course, following Romano's family man character, his wife and their three children.
Living across the street -- and providing some of the show's biggest laughs -- are his parents (veteran actors Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts) and divorced police officer brother (Brad Garrett).
The real Romano brood is also fodder for the 39-year-old's standup act, which he'll perform Saturday at the Riviera.
"It's all true," the Queens, N.Y. native insists of his extended family. "Some (of the characters) are exaggerated a little bit and some aren't. It's not a documentary but we try to keep it close to reality."
The father of 6-year-old daughter and twin toddler boys, Romano has been married to wife, Anna, for 10 years.
Played by actress Patricia Heaton in teh sitcom, "She's kind of the voice of reason in the show," he explains.
On stage, however, Anna is the butt of most of her husband's jokes.
"I talk a lot about being married and being tired and not having sex. She's fine with it," Romano says. "Whenever she has a problem, I tell her to go cry on a bag of money."
Romano's dad, on the other hand, is basking in the celebrity limelight. "The guys at the Elk's (lodge) think" the storylines always reflect real life. "My father will go along with it."
(He and Romano's mother and his officer brother, really do live nearby, but not for much longer: The comic is in the process of moving his family to Southern California, where the show if filmed.)
It seems the only one who can't get used to sitcom stardom is Romano.
"I don't like to get too overwhelmed by it because it's so much work," he says. "We're so consumed with producing a funny show that you just don't (have time to) sit back and say, 'Holy crap, we're in a show.' "
Romano recently won a CableAce award for his writing contributions to an episode of "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist" on the Comedy Central network.
"You don't really realize how much you've achieved until you've stepped back and looked at it" -- a practice he avoids. "That would mess me up."
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