Ray Romano Has a Second Date on 'SNL'

[Brett Ferino]

A big part of RAY ROMANO's shtick is pretending he thinks that everybody hates him. Winning an Emmy this year took a little steam out of the act, but he still had a bone to pick with "Saturday Night Live." It had been four years since he last hosted the NBC late night show, so he was convinced he would never be asked back. But this Saturday, Ray returns front and center for the second time.

"It's a show I grew up watching," he tells ET in an exclusive interview. "I was 17 years old when it debuted. We stayed home on Saturday nights to watch it. To get teenagers to stay home, it had to be something special."

The star of "Everybody Loves Raymond" is happy to be back in New York City, his hometown, but admits as happy and excited as he is to be hosting once again, it is not without its downside.

"I only get 10 tickets, and I have about 50 fat relatives," he laughs. "I am not worried about terrorist attacks here, although there is always that, but the SARS has me freaked out. I shook your hand and I can't wait to go wash."

Last time the comic hosted "SNL," he did a sketch in which he played ROBERTO BENIGNI, and also an ESPN announcer. The latter may be resurrected, but as "SNL" rehearses 12 sketches, only eight of which make it into the show, he can't tell us for sure what to look for.

Except for his monologue, which is under his control. "I am not a political comedian," he points out, "so my monologue won't be about the war. You can't say nothing, so there will be something small, but tasteful. I will leave the political commentary to them."

ET also managed to get Ray to give us a spoiler on what's up on "Raymond" during May sweeps: Robert and Amy have set the date, but whether or not they actually do the deed, is something Ray is keeping secret. The season finale will be expanded to 45 minutes to give the audience a little extra bang.