Rosenthal stages fruitful 2nd act hosting food, travel show
If you are looking for edgy, hip comedy, Phil Rosenthal isn’t your guy. His bent is more heartwarming and positive, bordering on goofy. After ending his Emmywinning run as the creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” he hit a wall in Hollywood, where his earnest love of people just didn’t fly.
So Rosenthal pivoted after 10 years of getting his scripts rejected. He pitched a travel and food show to PBS, called “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having.” It ran for two seasons, winning the 2016 James Beard Award for best television program, on location. Then Netflix pounced and had one of its biggest hits with “Somebody Feed Phil” starring Rosenthal, which was recently renewed for a seventh season.
As the host who eats and drinks all over the world, Rosenthal’s face explodes with joy when he tries some noodles in Thailand or licks gelato in Italy. He makes friends along the way, but admits to being squeamish about certain foods like live insects. He jokes that his hosting persona is “exactly like Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.”
This interview with Rosenthal has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: Does it surprise you that your career took such a different turn in its second act?
A:
I worked really hard for that second act. After “Raymond,” it took me 10 years to get the food and travel show. The business doesn’t really embrace you when you are thinking of changing lanes. I like hip and edgy stuff as long as it’s well done. I’m just not very good at doing it because that’s not who I am. I’m a kind of, you know, I was born an old Jew, really. It’s a personality and sensibility that was in “Raymond” that is the same. It hopefully is a loving embrace of life as seen through a sense of humor.
Q: Have you noticed the places you visited have had a big influx of tourists?
A:
It’s kind of wonderful — that’s one of the great side benefits to see that where we go on the show then becomes popular. I take the responsibility of presenting the restaurants and places very seriously.
Q: Is there any food you don’t like?
A:
I will always be polite. Always. And I think you can tell when I like something and when I love something. But I like everything I put in the show. Of course, you like some more than others, but that’s life. You’ll see on the show there are rare occasions where I’m afraid to taste something, like an iguana or a bowl of living beetles moving around. I’m not an adventurer that way.
Q: Didn’t this have its origins in an episode of “Raymond” when he went to Italy?
A: Yes, it did. Ray Romano didn’t want to go, the real Ray, not the character. I asked him where he was going on his hiatus between season one and two, and he told me he was going to the Jersey Shore. I asked if he had ever been to Europe. He said no, and I asked why not, and he said, “I’m not really interested in different.” I said, “That sounds like an episode to me.” … It took me four years to convince him, and then we went and that episode called “Italy” won some awards, even. But the best part is that what happens to the character — he goes, he gets woke to how beautiful travel is and how beautiful Italy especially is — I saw that happen to Ray Romano the person. Now he goes all the time. When I saw that happen, I thought, what if I could do that for other people? Then I got tired of getting rejected in the sitcom world after “Raymond,” so I focused on this.
Q: Now it’s the most watched food and travel show on Netflix.
A:
People like our show, but the bigger part is the reach of Netflix. It’s in like 190 countries. Everywhere I go people seem to know me. It’s unbelievable; at this age, I’m suddenly Harry Styles.