Conan O'Brien Passed on Hiring Ray Romano as a Monologue Writer 1 Year Before His Breakout Success onEverybody Loves Raymond

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Conan O’Brien; Ray Romano.Photo:Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Conan O’Brienis opening up about something that just wasn’t meant to be.

On a recent episode of hisSiriusXM podcast,Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the comedian revealed a funny story from when he first metRay Romanoin the ‘90s. Before Romano had his big break with his showEverybody Loves Raymond,he had asked to work for O’Brien — but got turned down.

“Ray Romano wanted to be a monologue writer for my show,” O’Brien, 61, recalled. “Great comedian, great joke writer. We didn’t have a slot, but he had a good packet and people knew him, so I met with him. He came into my office and, you know, at the time I’m like 32 years old.”

Conan O’Brien and Ray Romano on March 25, 2019.Conan O’Brien/X

Conan O’Brien/X

Going on to say that he only “vaguely” remembers the interaction, O’Brien noted that Romano “was real nervous.”

“I remember later on running into him and [him] saying, ‘Ah, so I was really bummed I didn’t get that job,’” O’Brien laughed. “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Do you realize what we pay monologue writers? Ray, Ray, hello! Ray, you’re Ray Romano. That doesn’t happen if you’re with me writing!’”

Romano, 67, found massive success during the nine-season run ofEverybody Loves Raymondfrom 1996 to 2005. He is also well known for being the voice of Manny in theIce Agefranchise and, most recently, starring inNo Good DeedalongsideLisa Kudrow.

Ray Romano on Everybody Loves Raymond.Robert Voets/CBS

Robert Voets/CBS

In December,Romano and Kudrow opened up to PEOPLEabout bonding over both being ‘90s sitcom stars. “It was definitely something we could talk about. We had a lot of downtime. And we did swap stories and compare,” Romano said.

Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay in the iconic seriesFriendsduring its 10-season run, shared that she “was curious” to ask Romano questions about his experience during that time, even telling him: “I know what our set was like, what was [yours] like?”

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“We were on the same lot,” she noted. “They were on the stage that we had the first season.”

“That was fun,” Romano continued. “It was a cool feeling, all the things you were saying without admitting it. We weren’t admitting to ourselves, ‘I’m a big sitcom star, and you’re a big sitcom star,’ but we understood this is kind of unique and cool.”

“A shared history,” Kudrow affirmed.

source: people.com