It is a widely accepted fact that comedy is a very localized phenomenon and as a consequence one of the hardest genres to export. Today most Hollywood movies are made with the international market in mind; it is not unusual for movies to make most of their money outside their country of origin (Hollywood or not). Comedy remains as the exception. However this hasn’t stopped the business from trying to adapt its most successful sitcoms for audiences abroad. Exporting Raymond is the story of Phil Rosenstal, the show runner of Everybody Loves Raymond, traveling to Russia to help a team of Russian writers adapt the sitcom into their own Everybody Loves Kostya. And in the process he makes the attempt to argue that comedy in is most specific form is in fact a universally relatable genre. It is a bold undertaking but Rosenthal makes an incredibly persuasive argument.
