Everybody Loves Raymond Siblings Remember Sawyer Sweeten

For many reasons, Ray Romano has been very consistent in his position on the reboot of his favorite sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond: This will never happen. However, he brought the Barone family back together to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary in a reunion special that aired Nov. 24 on CBS, and paid special tribute to series regulars and members of the Barone family who are no longer with us. While the cast reminisced about the good times on set, Sweeten's siblings Madilyn and Sullivan remembered their late brother. Sawyer Sweetenwho committed suicide in 2015. “None of us expected what happened,” Sullivan, his twin brother, shared during the special. “I try to think about the good times. And often that happens here on set.” His sister Madilyn added: “In our family, we're very passionate about suicide prevention. It's the second leading cause of death between the ages of 18 and 25. But 90 percent of people who seek treatment recover. And so many of the messages we get are people saying, 'I'm so grateful to hear about your brother.' He saved my life.”

In the special, Romano and creator Phil Rosenthal recreated the Barone family's living room, joined by original cast members Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Monica Horan, and Madilyn and Sullivan. Romano further explained that the reboot would not have been possible without the late Sawyer: Doris Robertsand Peter Boyle; the latter two played Romano's parents in the series. “We're never going to do [a reboot]because we're missing three actors, three family members,” Romano shared, “so we would never try to do the show without them.” Rosenthal also added that since the show is still airing, 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 the wonderful audience.”