On Nov. 24, CBS will air Everybody Loves Raymond : 30th Anniversary Reunion , a 90-minute special celebrating the Emmy-winning comedy series. While reuniting the surviving cast of the show for the first time is great news for fans, its timing is interesting as the special comes a little over 29 years after the multi-camera sitcom starring Ray Romano premiered on CBS Sept. 13, 1996.

Romano, on whose life and comedy Everybody Loves Raymond was partially based, and series creator Phil Rosenthal explained the special’s somewhat odd release date.

“That was just rounding off,” Romano said.

The timing of the special was driven largely by demand after several previous reunion attempts by Rosenthal had failed.

“The reason I think they’re doing it now is because they [CBS] wanted it no

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