<< back                                       November 28, 2005
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Author: Mark Dawidziak

Patricia Heaton talked about slowing down and taking it easy after "Everybody Loves Raymond" ended its ninth and final season earlier this year. She talked about it.

But her "Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett didn't believe that talk for a Hollywood second. When Heaton stated this goal before a group of TV critics in January, Garrett's incredulous and booming response boiled down to, "Who are you kidding, Patty?"

Heaton isn't the take-it-easy type, Garrett told critics, and she'll undoubtedly have more projects going than the rest of "Raymond" cast combined. Well, let's see.

She already is in development for a new half-hour comedy. Four Boys Films, the company Heaton founded in 2001 with her husband, actor David Hunt, has a documentary, "The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania," making the rounds of film festivals.

Heaton's both the executive producer and the star of "The Engagement Ring," a cable movie that premieres at 8 tonight on Turner Network Television.

"There's no time like the present," she said of life after "Raymond." "I know a lot of people sort of disappear for a while after starring in a long-running show. The idea, I guess, is to let the character you played subside in the public consciousness, but there's so much good stuff out there.

"I'm still young and feeling great and feeling at the top my game. This is a good time not to rest. This is a good time to keep going."

Score one for Brad Garrett. Who was she kidding?

Everybody loved Heaton as Debra Barone, the role that won her two Emmy awards during the CBS run of "Everybody Loves Raymond." The Bay Village native hopes viewers will keep the love flowing for "The Engagement Ring," a romantic comedy set in California's Napa Valley wine country.

"It's a sophisticated kind of comic drama, but there's nothing in it that would make parents uncomfortable if the kids were in the room," Heaton said. "I think we need more movies like that. The country is struggling with a lot of things right now, and I think people want to watch movies and not only have a good laugh, but to be touched."

The Christmas film begins with the troubled history of two Napa Valley families: the Di Cenzos and the Rosas. Nick Di Cenzo (Tony Lo Bianco) tried to propose to Alicia Rosa (Lainie Kazan) when he was overseas in the Army. He mailed her an engagement ring, but it never arrived.

A hurt Nick thought her silence meant she had rejected him. A heartbroken Alicia believed Nick had found someone else.

About 40 years later, Alicia's daughter, Sara (Heaton), and her fiance (Hunt) are trying to negotiate a deal that will unite the two families and their vineyards. That's when the long-delayed ring and marriage proposal finally get delivered.

TNT is using a three-word phrase with a familiar ring to promote "The Engagement Ring": 'tis the season. Yet the overworked line has three meanings for this story.

It refers to the Christmas season, the wine season and a season for romance.

"The movie really is about family and your history and the importance of that," Heaton said during a telephone interview. "My character says, at one point, 'All I know is, if you don't have roots, you die.' It's very much about that. And it's about, how do you know what true love is? How do you know it when you find it?"

Heaton often credits those Cleveland roots with keeping her grounded in Hollywood. She is sharing that history with her sons, the four boys in the name of her company.

"As time goes by, you realize the value of those roots and of the importance of family," she said. "You try to give your kids the sense that they come from somewhere and that people have sacrificed for them. Starting our own company was kind of about taking charge, but it also was about leaving a legacy for the kids.

"It's also really thrilling to see the Four Boys logo up on the screen for projects like 'The Engagement Ring' and 'The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania.' It really gives you a sense of accomplishment. You feel like you're contributing something in a positive way."

Heaton is no newcomer to TV movies. During the long run of "Raymond," she starred in the CBS film "A Town Without Christmas" and TNT's remake of "The Goodbye Girl." Still, she's looking forward to returning to the regular hours a sitcom schedule permits.

"After doing 'The Engagement Ring,' which I loved, another comedy is looking pretty good to me right now," she said. "Those 12-hour days were a little too much like work. It's very hard to be a wife and a mother and keep up that kind of schedule. That's the downside. The upside is that you get a wonderful story like 'The Engagement Ring,' which I think is going to be a wonderful addition to the holiday season."

The sitcom is being developed for ABC, which is riding high on the success of "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Commander in Chief." Despite the rush of success, however, the network remains challenged in the half-hour comedy form.

"Well, I'm going to fix all that," Heaton said. "ABC is very good at taking chances, but, even so, it has to be the right idea coming along at the right time. Sometimes you can have a great show in the wrong year. The idea we're working on is very much in the infant stages, so we're not at all sure what it's going to look like."

She's also no stranger to hits and misses in the sitcom realm. Heaton had three failed sitcoms - "Room for Two," "Someone Like Me" and "Women of the House" - before "Raymond" became a hit.

"It was sad to leave the 'Raymond' family, but I really felt like we didn't leave any stone unturned," Heaton said. "That made it easier to walk away from 'Raymond.' You feel like you've really done everything you've wanted with the character. And nine years is a great run, but it's also a long time, and it's nice not to have the schedule of that pressure for a little while.

"So I put all this other pressure on myself by producing movies and developing series and starring in them."

Uh-huh. Somebody cue Brad Garrett.