Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHappy, hungry man Phil Rosenthal is back to travel all across the sea and the land for the fifth season of “Somebody Feed Phil.” Bringing fans to five new scrumptious locations — including Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland and Madrid — the Wednesday release on Netflix will mark the first season to not include the “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator’s father Max Rosenthal, who died in June 2021.For the first four seasons of “Somebody Feed Phil,” Max appeared over video chat to talk with his son wherever he was in the world and to tell viewers at home a joke.

Rosenthal’s mother, Helen Rosenthal, was there alongside her husband Max for the bits in Seasons 1 and 2. She died in 2019.In order to keep his late parents, whom he calls “the best part of the show,” included for the fifth season, Rosenthal came up with the idea for “A Joke for Max,” which sees a different person Zooming in with him each episode to see where he is and what he’s eating and, of course, tell a joke for Max. “I hope you like that, because it really comes from the heart,” Rosenthal told Variety.For the five episodes in “Somebody Feed Phil” Season 5, the “A Joke for Max” guests include Ben Rosenthal (Phil’s son), Judy Gold, Brad Garrett, Paul Reiser and Larry Wilmore.“It was kind of easy.

I asked if they would do it and they said yes. Especially the people that met him or knew him, but even if they hadn’t met him, they knew him from the show.

And so they were happy to do the ‘Joke for Max,’ and I think it’s a wonderful way to honor his spirit and the spirit that I hope the show has, which is we like to have fun.

Phil Rosenthal on ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ Season 5’s ‘A Joke for Max,’ New Cookbook and Tribute Episode to His Parents

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