After nine hilarious and often heart-warming seasons, TV audiences said goodbye this past May to the CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond." The hit comedy was born from the successful partnership of stand-up comedian Ray Romano and creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal '81. During its successful run, "Everybody Loves Raymond" garnered five Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series, in addition to winning the award in 2003.

Phil Rosenthal '81

As a student at Hofstra, Phil may not have known for certain that he was headed toward the pinnacle of success ? but he was pretty sure. In fact, he and several of his peers in the Drama Department - Tom McGowan '81, Richard Stegman '81 and Margaret Colin '80 - all shared a cockeyed optimism about their future in the performing arts. Phil explains, "There seemed to be among many of the students an attitude of absolute determination. We felt that whatever the odds were out there, they didn't apply to us."

He says, "We were determined to be in as many shows as we could. It meant a lot to us to learn as much as we could about all aspects of acting and directing and understanding playwriting."

When Phil reminisces about his professors, he does so with tremendous affection for the way they helped shape his craft. "The department had terrific teachers," he says, "like Dr. [Richard] Mason, who was brilliant in terms of directing and making us understand what style was and what artistic choices could be made in terms of interpreting a play for the stage."

"Dr. [Howard] Siegman was brilliant in terms of analyzing and getting to the themes and relevance of plays. I'm sure everyone thought he was an absolute genius. And Mrs. Miriam Tulin was extremely encouraging to me personally in terms of acting. She responded nicely to everything I did - to the point that I thought my mother had inhabited her."

The students at that time also found inspiration among each other. Phil cites Rob Weiner '81 in particular. "He was the undisputed genius of the department in terms of directing and art direction and set design. He was a big influence on all of us, probably as much as any professor because he was so brilliant." (Rob went on to become a professor at Hofstra and is now acting director of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, one of the largest outdoor modern art installations in America.)

Tony Award nominee Tom McGowan, with whom Phil shared Hofstra's Globe Theatre stage in a memorable Shakespeare Festival production of Twelfth Night, remains one of Phil's closest friends. Prior to playing a recurring role on 'Raymond,' Tom worked with Phil on an earlier sitcom, 'Down the Shore.' "He was hilarious," said Phil, "and is probably the only reason why that show got picked up for a second season on Fox. I vowed then to always work with him."

In the weeks leading up to the final episode of 'Raymond,' the seasoned cast called the program the best job they ever had. And throughout the almost decade-long run of the show, even semi-regular characters were consistently played by the same actors, like Tom.

Phil says this was no accident. He actively sought to surround himself, "? with comforts like the people I've known and loved for a long time. So Tom was a part of that, and I had other friends and my wife [Monica Horan '84, who played the part of Amy]."

"'Raymond' was the first show I ever created. The only rule I had for myself was that we should all be nice, because I had worked on shows where it wasn't very nice. A nice set, with nice people ? how do you get that? The first thing I found was good food."

"Have good food on the set and then people gather round the table and they're talking and friendly. Even if everything else stinks, at least they have good food."

Phil's friendly and delicious set also featured keepsakes of his past, including lots of Hofstra memorabilia. Throughout 'Raymond's' nine-year run, Phil was never shy about his Hofstra connection. One episode centered on a Hofstra football game where Frank (played by actor Peter Boyle) ran out of James M. Shuart Stadium with a record-setting football. Though Hofstra was never mentioned by name, in an episode where Ray received an honorary degree from his alma mater, his robe and diploma are unmistakably Hofstra.

"Ray was somewhat representational of me," says Phil. "I mean, I was the writer and of course we based the show on Ray's actual life. But what I didn't know about the minute details of his life, I filled in with the details of mine: certain family members, where I went to school. The show was about writing what I knew and drawing from personal experience. Hofstra was clearly part of my personal experience."

Hofstra alumni and audiences worldwide will continue to feel the University's presence on the sitcom for many years of reruns. The cable station TBS recently renewed the show's syndication deal through 2016.

Having started out as an actor, Phil does once in a while make an appearance in front of the camera. He played Adam Sandler's sous-chef in the film "Spanglish," and will appear as himself in an October episode of the HBO Larry David comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm." "I'll only do the acting if people want me to. I enjoy it. It's what I first wanted to do. After running a show for nine years from the other side, the acting part is a vacation, comparatively speaking."

He is also currently working on a television special to raise awareness of global warming that will air on TBS in November. "I'm actually busier now than I was working on 'Raymond,'" he says.

Phil and Monica currently live in Los Angeles with their two children.