Customer Reviews

You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom

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I picked up Phil Rosenthal's "You're Lucky You're Funny" for research, as I needed a bit of background info for a novel I'm writing. My intention was to skim it and move on. After one page, however, I knew I wasn't putting down this book until I'd read every delicious word. It's not only hilarious, but so charming I feel like I've just spent a vacation with a favorite friend. A very smart, very funny favorite friend. Plus, it taught me more about the inside world of sitcoms than I'd even hoped.

But even if you're just in it for the laughs, this book is worth the price. Hell, the fruit-of-the-month story alone is enough to make me recommend it. And that's not even the funniest part (for my money, it's his description of the "all-inclusive" vacation from hell).

I read this in hardcover, but see that it's also available in audio format, which I think might be a lot of fun, as well. I listened to a clip, and Phil Rosenthal has a delightfully anachronistic Old New York accent--kind of a cross between Top Cat and Nicely Nicely from Guys and Dolls. So whether you read or listen, you're in for a great trip.
-Ellen Meister, author of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA

I couldn't put this book down and I had to endure the mystified stares of my family as I laughed out loud. This is the story of a decent, mega-talented, hilariously funny man who went on to create a show that has now become one of the few classic television programs of our era. With inside stories regarding his life, the actors, and the writers who worked on Everybody Loves Raymond, the book recounts how the series was developed as well as how the ideas for many of the most memorable episodes, had their beginnings from real-life events. A brilliant, joyful read that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading for sheer pleasure. Everybody loves this book!

Both "Everybody Loves Raymond" fans and aspiring writers of any kind will enjoy this enlightening and amusing book. Phil Rosenthal reveals to us how he and his fellow "Raymond" writers transferred their real life adventures to the network screen. Part memoir, part tell-all -- but not TOO tell-all, for some names are withheld to protect the stupid -- "You're Lucky You're Funny" also provides an insight into a typical writer's road to Hollywood. As such, the book is humorous in its own right. And anyone who's seen the show will nod in acknowledgement as Phil explains the basis of selected plot ideas. By the way, Phil: a complete listing of all the shows would have been a wonderful addition as an appendix.

Rosenthal leaves us with his theory about the proliferation and seeming success of TV reality shows. Regular comedies and dramas aren't believable anymore, he claims. They're not written as if the plots or the dialogue could actually happen. So folks are turning to reality TV because they see real people making real-life kinds of decisions. And that also explains the popularity and relate-ability of "Everybody Loves Raymond," for it was based on the true but bizarre experiences of people connected with the show.

For more "Raymond" tales, devoted fans should also read "Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine" by Patricia Heaton (2002) and "Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs and Lasagne" by Doris Roberts (2004). These three books don't overlap in their coverage; and all of them are made even more poignant now, with the recent death of Peter Boyle. Holy crap.

As I watched Everybody Loves Raymond all nine seasons, I kept asking myself, "Do people like the Barones really exist? Are they really out there somewhere in suburbia? If so, what do their real life neighbors think of them?" The answers to these and other questions were answered when I picked up a copy of Phil Rosenthal's laugh-out-loud memoir, "You're Lucky You're Funny." As much as I laughed watching ELR, I laughed twice as much reading Phil Rosenthal's book because the Barones are loosely based on his parents and truth is FUNNIER than fiction!

For me, comic genius and master director James L. Brooks says it best on the back cover of the book:

"There are books that evoke tight little smiles and nods of recognition that provide decent, restrained entertainment. Then there are books that have a whole section that you tell people about (like Phil Rosenthal's vacation at a family resort), maybe even get the interest of a room by quoting the story, and then do it enough to get a reputation as something of a live wire. And, then somewhere between "ever-so-rarely" and "never" there is a book such as this; where the reading time is increased exponentially by the number of times you must put it down because you are laughing hard and loud, the many trips for a pen to underline the particularly funny or wise passage, the trips to the john to avoid laughing accidents, the rereading which must be done on the spot so you get the words right for re-telling.

This is the book that is smart enough to declare depression the poor man's version of suing, that tells of the writer who finally agreed to marriage counseling because, "it's the closest I'll get to a threesome." And on it goes, clocking an extraordinary ratio of laughs per page and imparting so much sophisticated information and intimate detail (on creating and maintaining a classic television comedy) that it becomes at last and at the very least, the funniest textbook ever written. "

--James L. Brooks

This immensely entertaining book is full of characters whose personalities (including the author's) come off of the page, and make you laugh and laugh and laugh. This book is great for anyone who is a fan of "Everybody Loves Raymond", or anyone who is a fan of hearing great stories about the funny and touching things in life. Phil Rosenthal is like the Robert Fulghum (All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten) of the entertainment business.

What a fun read! Phil Rosenthal has written a book that is witty, informative, and best of all entertaining. It was fun to read about how
a hit sitcom grows from idea to actuality. Read it and smile!!!

This is a funny book... so you're already lucky if you buy it. You will get to laugh. Many times. Out loud.

But it's not just a funny book about show business. It's a book about how to find the funny in life even when life is doing it's best to wipe the smile off your face.

If you've got family - parents, spouse, kids, what have you - you'll find the funny here. If you've ever taken an dreadful vacation - you'll find the funny here. If you've ever had to pull a well placed knife out of your back, you'll find the funny here. If you've ever said "My life could be a sitcom" - well you'll find out why that's best left to the professionals, and why the sitcom behind the sitcom is very funny business.

Phil Rosenthal comes out to the forefront, no longer just the man behind the laughable, lovable Ray Romano. The creator of "Everybody Loves Raymond" has written a great story of his own--about his own fun and foibles in the television business, telling us directly why and how he made the show the huge success it came to be. What's so lovable about this book is that it's written in the old-fashioned conversational style of Carl Reiner's humor, but the tone combines comfortably with the self-deprecating mishap-filled hilarious insights into everyday life that we've come to expect of today's funniest characters. Great writing, great stories, and some big laughs.

If you loved "Everybody Loves Raymond", as I and seventeen million others did, keep the love growing by reading this most enjoyable back story of the show by the insidest insider. Phil tells us of how the show came about, the attempts to power grab by some of the "Suits", what goes on in the writer's room, and how the inspirations for the segments came.
We also learn about how he grew up in New York, came to Los Angeles, paid his dues by writing for various shows, met and married. He also describes in excrutiatingly funny detail an "everything included in the price" vacation he took, along with wife and two children.
This book is so funny on its own, that even if you never watched his TV shows, and have no idea who Phil is, you'll love it.

At some level, I guess we all see our lives as comedies (hopefully)-- at least on some level. Phil Rosenthal did one better, he helped turn the comedy of his life into a hit sitcom and got filthy rich in the bargain-- we should all be so lucky and funny.
His recounting of the way it all happened is both entertaining and instructive; he sums up his success with three simple rules: be real, be specific, and tell a good story. Good advice, and a great read for all fans of "Raymond," a good laugh, and the absurdity of everyday life.