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Anyone who’s watched Phil Rosenthal‘s work can immediately recognize its focus on family.
In a recent interview with DECIDER, the Everybody Loves Raymond creator acknowledges how “family-oriented” he is and how that “ethos” comes through in Somebody Feed Phil, which is now in its eighth season. Executive produced by his brother Richard Rosenthal, the series is also chock full of appearances from Rosenthal’s loved ones, including his wife and children.
However, it’s not only his words that carry this sentiment. Rosenthal beams as he talks about the importance of making “shows about and for families,” and his enthusiasm remains as he talks about having his “brothers” Ray Romano and Brad Garrett on Season 8’s “Las Vegas” episode, though as he noted, this wasn’t their first rodeo on his Netflix food travel series — and they’ve “always stayed in touch.”
“We spent so much time together the nine years making the show, and all the years since the show,” he explained via Zoom earlier this month. “So it has been 30 years of us being a family. It was just natural to have them, and so much fun.”
Photo: NetflixRosenthal welcomes numerous celebrity cameos on Somebody Feed Phil, specifically through the program’s signature “Joke for Max,” where stars Zoom in to tell a joke in honor of the segment previously starring Rosenthal’s late father. However, the first episode of Season 8 features a special in-person visit from Bridgerton‘s Claudia Jessie, who revealed herself to be a fan of Rosenthal’s in a May 2024 Bustle interview. Rosenthal coordinated a meet-up, with the help of her publicist, and surprised the “funny” and “charming” actress shortly after, who he said even “cried” upon meeting him.
“And then I thought, if I’m anywhere near England, she would be a great guest on the show,” he recalled. “So I just called the publicist again. I texted and I said, ‘I’m going to be in Amsterdam. Do you think Claudia would like to —.’ Before I could finish the sentence. ‘Yes, yes!; And she came. I would have her again. I would have her all the time.”
And we haven’t even gotten to the food travel show of it all! Give our interview with Rosenthal a read, in which he praises food travel show “pioneer” Anthony Bourdain, details how he landed Lake Street Dive to perfect Somebody Feed Phil‘s incredibly catchy theme song, and shares his thoughts on the diner as a center of the community.
DECIDER: The show is a complete family affair, which I love. Whether it be your brother, Richard, producing the show.
PHIL ROSENTHAL: That’s the worst part.
And your wife and children also appearing on the show, as well as this season, getting to see Claudia, your children’s babysitter… But you also shine light on other family dynamics and their relationships with food in other countries, like the Afghani family that emigrated to Adelaide.
Oh, yeah, I love them.
I wanted to ask if you always anticipated this show being so family-oriented.
Well, you know, I’m family-oriented, and it’s been kind of the wheelhouse that’s gotten me this far, right? My biggest success before this was Everybody Loves Raymond, which was about a family. What I realized was it was about a family made for families, and as we were making it, it slowly became made by a family. So that ethos has of course come into my next thing, which is this. It’s important for me to make shows about and for families, by a family. Because I don’t see that much. And this just happens. It may not work for everybody, but it works for me. It’s what I feel comfortable doing and it’s what’s important to me. I think it’s very important to put out what’s important to you.
Very true. I agree. Speaking of Everybody Loves Raymond, I know you had a bit of a reunion this season in the “Las Vegas” episode. I know the show recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a Paley Center exhibit here in the city.
It runs all summer.
Could you tell me a little bit about this “worlds colliding” moment on Somebody Feed Phil?
Well, it wasn’t that big a deal because I’ve always stayed in touch with these guys. Ray is one of my best friends. Ray’s family and my family go on vacation together every year. So it’s not crazy that we would [join forces again]. In fact, he’s done a joke for Max before, Brad Garrett’s done a joke for Max before. I love these people. I call them — you’ll see in the show — they’re my brothers, too. We spent so much time together the nine years making the show, and all the years since the show. So it has been 30 years of us being a family. It was just natural to have them, and so much fun. The reason I got them together in Vegas is because Brad Garrett has a comedy club in Vegas, so he was going to be there anyway. Ray was performing that weekend anyway, so he came to Vegas, and we got to eat together and have fun.
This season, as with other seasons, had a ton of celebrity cameos, especially through the joke for Max. But also this season, you had Bridgerton star Claudia Jessie, who is a huge fan of yours.
I’m a huge fan of hers. She is so funny, and charming, and great. Did you see that episode?
Yes, I did.
How great is she! She should have her own show.
What was it like getting this cameo together, and getting to meet her after her interview went viral talking about being a fan of yours?
I had no idea. Somebody showed me the video. I think I had a publicist years ago who’s now her publicist. She called me. “Is there ever a way that you guys could meet?” I said, “I don’t know.” We started talking. I said, “Right now I’m in New York.” She goes, “Where in New York? Claudia’s in New York.” I said, “Come by my hotel.” “Okay, we’re going to surprise her,”… They text me, I come downstairs, and you see the video. She cried [laughs]. And I just thought it was the most charming thing. She was so funny and dear.
And then I thought, if I’m anywhere near England, she would be a great guest on the show. So I just called the publicist again. I texted and I said, “I’m going to be in Amsterdam. Do you think Claudia would like to —.” Before I could finish the sentence. “Yes, yes!” And she came. I would have her again. I would have her all the time… She lives in Birmingham, a smaller city in England, and I did my European live tour. And I said, “Do you think she’d want to moderate the evening in Birmingham?” “Yes.” And she was great doing that too.
That’s awesome. Are there any other foodies or food TV personalities that you found yourself taking inspiration from throughout this show, or any that you also refer to for recommendations?
Well, first of all, we always stand on the shoulders of everyone who came before us. So Anthony Bourdain was like way up here. He was this pioneer who literally reinvented the genre of food and travel shows. Everyone who came after Anthony Bourdain owes a debt to him if they eat or travel, right? [Laughs]. I knew, though, that I am not him. I am decidedly not cool. I am not an adventurer. I am not getting a chest tattoo by Borneo tribesmen when we’re drunk, by them pounding nails into my chest. This is not Phil. But I thought maybe there’s a show for people who watch Bourdain and go, “He’s so cool. I’m never doing that.” Maybe there’s a show for people for who just getting off the couch is going out of their comfort zone. The way I sold the show was with one line. I said, “I’m exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.” And that honestly got the show sold on the air. Everybody who does this, it’s merely a take on what he has done already, just with their personality over it.
Andrew Zimmern’s amazing, right? Rick Steves is amazing. Samantha Brown is amazing. All these great people who came before me, and I just admire them. So what I can bring to it is only my stupid sense of humor and my personality. That’s all.
I wanted to ask about the show’s theme song, which is so incredibly catchy.
The best.
It’s streaming on Spotify now.
You know the band?
Yes. Well, through this show. I hadn’t heard of them before. I was curious how you went about finding them.
I’ve known them for years. The first time I saw them, or heard them, I fell in love with them. I did something I’d never done before. This is going back 10, 12, 15 years. I knew someone who knew them. I said, “They’re coming to L.A. Can I get into that show?” It’s a small club. “Can I come? If they let me in, I’m going to take the whole band and their crew to dinner.” I’ve never done that. But that’s how much I love them and their sound and their talent. They said yes, and we became friends. So when it came time for me to do the show at Netflix, I asked Netflix if I could have a theme song, and they said yes. So I called Lake Street Dive. I said, “Would you be interested?” And they said yes. I wrote some lyrics, sent it to them, and they wrote some additional better lyrics. And that’s the song.
It’s so catchy. Like, almost too catchy for a food travel show.
But you get the spirit of the show. That’s the great thing about great theme songs. They encapsulate the spirit of the show. My joke is I don’t think people even liked Friends. [Laughs]. The song was just so good. You have to watch.
Very true. We talked a little bit about having your family on the show and getting to show a little bit of your personal life. I read news about a diner that you plan to open up in L.A. named after your parents. I was wondering if you would ever feature it on the show in a future season? Update us on the status.
The status is it’s being built right now. Hopefully it’ll open sometime this summer. Can’t say exactly when because it’s up to the city really. It’s out of my hands, and it moves really slowly. But I can promise you it’s going to be good. Why? Not because of me, but because of the executive chef, Nancy Silverton. We’re trying to elevate diner classics by just using the best possible ingredients and her ability at elevating everything she touches. Not making it fancy. Just making it the best possible version of a classic that we all know, which is not easy because we all have a frame of reference for this kind of food. We all know what our favorite burger is, or our favorite bacon and eggs. Or pancakes or french toast or waffles. So I think it’s a pretty high bar to meet. We’re going to try to do it.
I love that! I read somewhere that you said the diner is kind of a dying breed, and I agree. I’m from New Jersey, very much a diner capital.
Yes! Land of the diners.
But honestly even there and where I’m from, there aren’t as many as there used to be… It’s definitely not so much a thing, but people rely on them. Such an institution.
It’s where we grow up. It’s where we live. We’re not going to fancy meals every night. We’re going to the diner. If you participate in any after-school activities, where are you all going after practice? You’re going to the diner. Where do we meet for coffee, for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner even. Let’s go to the diner. It’s reliable. It’s always there. We know what we’re getting. It’s literal comfort food.
It’s also the center, in many ways, of the community. You see the regulars. You see your neighbors. Everyone can afford it. It’s not exclusive, it’s inclusive of everyone. So if we lose these centers of the community, what else do we lose? Maybe our sense of what our town is supposed to be. Or our state, or our country. So I’m going to solve all this with my diner.
Do you think there could be another season of Somebody Feed Phil?
I want a hundred more seasons. I want to do it until I can’t do it anymore. I want to do it the rest of my life. Who wouldn’t want to do this job?
So true. It is the dream job.
It is. It took 10 years to get it. But was it worth it? Yes, because look at me now! I’m on Decider.
Exactly! Watching this season and watching previous seasons, you learned so much. I didn’t know Georgia was the birthplace of wine, and also that Guatemala was the birthplace for chocolate. What’s something that you were super surprised by to learn while filming?
Both those things! Wine was invented in the former Soviet Georgia 7,000 years ago. That’s pre-Egyptian, that’s pre-everything. You go there, and the vineyards are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I picked the grapes with the little old ladies who kicked my butt in grape-picking. I couldn’t keep up with them. They were amazing.
I don’t think I could either.
But the world is so fantastic. There’s so much more great stuff than bad stuff, which is a surprise if we watch the news. The news doesn’t report on all the planes that landed safely today. They report on the extraordinary, which is actually bad stuff, because the ordinary everyday stuff is mostly nice.
Photo: NetflixVery, very true.
So there has to be a little of that represented.
Definitely. I know at the end of that episode, when you said something like most of the world is tinged with sadness if you think about it, or has a tinge of sadness. But food and getting together definitely helps mend that, which was definitely very striking to hear.
And is the bulk of life. I said “tinge of sadness.” Not mostly sad, right. Mostly great, and really beautiful and sweet.
Was there a favorite meal that you had this season?
Oh boy, so many. One that’s coming to mind is in the Basque Country… There’s a scene where — I don’t want to say who I eat with because I think that’s a good surprise — but I eat at arguably one of the best restaurants in the world, called Etxebarri in this part of Spain outside of San Sebastián. Every single dish for every single person — every course, every bite of food for every person in the restaurant — is made by one guy over open fire. This is one of the meals of my life.
You’ve been blessed with a lot of incredible meals, whether it be on the show or outside of it. If you could choose your final meal, what would it be?
I know. I get this actually quite a lot, and I know what it is. It’s comfort food. It’s the food I grew up with. Hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, roast chicken, fried chicken, French fries. It’s my last meal, so I’m not thinking about health [laughs]. A lot of chocolate, right? Ice cream, cake. Everything I love. Cookies. Then I would finish, I think, with a bowl of my Mom’s matzoh ball soup.
Photo: NetflixWhat are you currently streaming or watching right now?
I love that you asked me this. I found a show last night. I finally got to it because it had been recommended to me for a few years, and I never got to it. But finally somebody just demanded that I watch this show. It’s from Australia, I think it’s on Paramount+, and it’s called Colin From Accounts. You know it?
Yes. I haven’t watched it, but I’ve heard of it.
Watch that. You will be hooked within the first 15 minutes. It’s one of the most charming romantic comedies. Truly funny, not sappy in any way. Listen, I’ve made sitcoms. I’ve made shows for a long time now. This is one of the best shows of any kind I’ve seen in years. I watched five in a row last night.
That’s the sign of a good show.
Yup!
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience filming Season 8?
I’m having the time of my life. I hope that comes through. The joy of life! That’s really what’s out there for you if you travel.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
All eight episodes of Somebody Feed Phil Season 8 are streaming on Netflix.
English (US)