• You're Lucky You're Funny

  • How Life Becomes a Sitcom
  • By: Phil Rosenthal
  • Narrated by: Phil Rosenthal
  • Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (423 ratings)

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You're Lucky You're Funny  By  cover art

You're Lucky You're Funny

By: Phil Rosenthal
Narrated by: Phil Rosenthal
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Publisher's summary

For nearly 10 years no TV comedy was a popular or beloved as Everybody Loves Raymond.

In You're Lucky You're Funny, Phil Rosenthal, the creator and executive producer of the show, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the making of a number one smash-hit sitcom. Based on Ray Romano's actual life, the show also took much of its material from Phil's equally, and hysterically, dysfunctional family characters and experiences.

Besides being one of the funniest books ever written about television, You're Lucky You're Funny is one of the most illuminating, Phil offers an unprecedented look at the making of a hit show, considering everything from casting to writing to production to managing egos to keeping a series fresh after it has comfortably settled in for the long haul.

For anyone who loves comedy, for the millions of devoted fans of Everybody Love Raymond, and for all the aspiring writers who are edging their way toward Hollywood, You're Lucky You're Funny will be a gift and an inspiration.

©2006 Phil Rosenthal (P)2006 Phoenix Audio

Critic reviews

"Like listening to a very long and funny stand-up routine." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about You're Lucky You're Funny

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

For Raymond Lovers

For anyone who really enjoyed the Everybody Loves Raymond series, this book is an absolute "must". Probably the most enjoyable audiobook I have ever purchased. Absolutely could not put it down. From this book I learned that a huge amount of the material in this series has serious ties to the real-life stories of Phil Rosenthal and Ray Romano. Absolutely GREAT listening!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Amusing, with mysterious pauses

Maybe it's the nature of the author-narrator's obsession - episodic television - but there are regular quiet spaces of a few seconds each. I'm used to pauses meaning something, and here they don't. Perhaps they're only meant to make the audiobook longer. Or not.

Listeners who are used to a smooth, or smoothly dramatized, flow of words may find the pauses as distracting as I do.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

REALLY FUNNY!!!!

If you are a fan of Everybody Loves Raymond, you will LOVE this audiobook!!! Phil Rosenthal is not only very funny, but he, also from Queens (like Ray Romano), talks like Ray! Many of the episodes were based on his (Phil’s) life. Lots of interesting info on all of the characters/actors and on the making of the show. Phil’s life story is darn funny (in his telling of it) and it is integral to understanding and appreciating Everybody Loves Raymond. I will re-listen, probably more than once. The book made me happy!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great fun for fans!

Everybody Loves Raymond is one of my all-time favourite TV shows; I own the entire series on DVD and the episodes still make me laugh out loud even all these years later!

Some parts of this book were better than others, but if you’re a fan like me you’ll agree that on the whole it was entertaining and well worth the time.

The overall enjoyment however was marred by the poor production/editing. It was full of annoying random pauses that were so long it made me wonder on more than one occasion if I had hit pause by accident. It really interrupted the flow.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great pick for writers, and people who love TV

I loved this book. I loved Raymond, so it's not hard to see how I'd love a book about it, but it's also phil's telling of the stories that's great. As a writer who hopes to work on sitcoms, I am sad I will never get to work on what sounds like the best writing staff ever, but still a little hopeful that maybe one day I'll still get to work with Phil. The only thing that detracted from the experience was regular long silent pauses, awkwardly placed throughout the audio for no apparent reason, sometimes in the middle of a speech. So the star taken away from performance is not a note on Phil's actual performance, but rather the odd editing of the audio. A great pick nonetheless!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Informative and hilarious to boot!

Wrapped in a memoir is a wealth of information about how TV works (or worked during the Raymond years). I love the fact that instead of quoting from speeches he's given, the book contains the actual recordings of the speeches themselves. Well done, Mr. Rosenthal, well done.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

He's funny and a nice guy too

Would you listen to You're Lucky You're Funny again? Why?

Yes - Phil Rosenthal has the DNA of a storyteller. It's a good thing to have if you are writing stories. I never watched Raymond, but this book is a look into that alien world of Show Business through the eyes of a talented and funny storyteller. Hearing an autobiography read by the author adds a lot to the experience.
I like this book.

What other book might you compare You're Lucky You're Funny to and why?

I've listened to Dick Van Dyke, Adrien Barbeau, and Kristen Chenoweth read their books and enjoyed them immensely too.

Which scene was your favorite?

Cover to cover - it's enjoyable.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The funniest people are behind the camera.

Any additional comments?

Phil is a performer as well as a talented artist.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

What a great book! Interesting, funny, good pace. The inside information and stories are just hysterical and now you can understand why this show ran 9 seasons. Phil Rosenthal is a guy you would want to get to know. So worth the listen.
Only drawback are the long silent gaps that hinder the enjoyment of the book and throw the pace off - I don't know why they did that.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

It gets a five because I can't give it a 6

Laughed out lout throughout. I hadn't watched that many 'Raymond' episodes before listening to this book, but it didn't matter as his own comedy writing and delivery was hilarious. Great summer read.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Storytelling

I've never seen an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, I gave away my television in 1990 before I moved to California. What irony, since tv shows come from here.

Anyway, I bought this because it was about writing. I'm into the fourth hour, and I can't turn the iPod off. Phil is funny and honest and insightful and kind. This is the first five-star rating I've given an audiobook. It's brilliant and genuine. I just wish somebody had written a book about my favorite tv series, Cheers, and done what this writer has done.

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1 person found this helpful