Ray Romano

Sawyer Sweeten, the 19-year-old former child star, who began his career playing one of the Barone twins on Everybody Loves Raymond, has committed suicide.  His family confirmed that Sweeten had “taken his own life” on Thursday. 

Sawyer played Geoffrey Barone in the hit show, which also featured his twin brother Sullivan as Michael Barone and older sister Madylin as Ally Barone.

Based on lead actor Ray Romano’s stand-up routines, the show focused on the title character – Ray Barone’s – strained relationship with his parents and older brother. Everybody loves Raymond ran successfully between 1996 - when Sawyer and Sullivan were just 16 months old - and 2005.

Continue reading: Former "Everybody Loves Raymond" Child Star Sawyer Sweeten Dies In Suicide

British comedy stars Lee Mack and Catherine Tate have signed on to appear in a British remake of Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the most successful US sitcoms of all time. The Smiths will be set in Cheshire and follows a successful sportswriter who lives across the street from his overbearing parents and socially inept older brother. The BBC One pilot has been written by Mack and will be produced by Silver River, the team behind Pulling.

Image: Catherine Tate

Continue reading: Lee Mack And Catherine Tate Sign Up For UK 'Everybody Loves Raymond'

Ashton Kutcher has been named TV’s highest paid actor. The Two and a Half Men star may have disgraced himself in the celebrity gossip world, by allegedly cheating on his partner Demi Moore, but in the world of television, he’s still hot property and commands a staggering fee for his appearances in the show.

According to Forbes’ annual survey of the highest paid television actors, Kutcher earned $24 million between May 2011 and May 2012. His predecessor on Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen (who left the show in a pretty dramatic fashion after suffering what appeared to be some kind of mental breakdown) did not even make the Top 10. That said, when Sheen was at the top of his game, he out-classed Kutcher significantly, with earnings of $40 million. Sheen wasn’t the only big name star to mysteriously disappear from the Top 10 though. Steve Carell, who proved to be a massive hit on the small screen with the US adaptation of Ricky Gervais’ The Office, also dropped off the list.

Snapping at Kutcher’s heels at the top of the list was Hugh Laurie, who ranked second with $18 million, largely for his role in House. Ray Romano earned an equal amount, and still appears to be raking it in with re-runs of his classic Everybody Loves Raymond comedy. Alec Baldwin’s in next with $15 million, still charming TV audiences with his role in 30 Rock.

Two-and-a-Half Men is the show that forks out the most for its lead actors; last year Charlie Sheen topped Forbes' list of TV's Highest-Paid TV Actors list with $40m and this year its new lead Ashton Kutcher has taken over the prestigious spot, albeit with a decidedly smaller sum of just $26m.

Hugh Laurie for his role in 'House' and Ray Romano, for a now cancelled 'Men of a Certain Age' were runners up to Kutcher, each raking in $18m. We'd all be happy to plum for second place in this race. Aside from Laurie, it was entirely sitcom actors that scored the bigtime in this list, with stars of 30 Rock, Last Man Standing, Men, and The Big Bang Theory - Alec Baldwin, family favourite Tim Allen, Jon Cryer, and Jim Parsons and Alan Galecki, respectively, all managing to make it into the top ten.

However, as much as it's always great to celebrate in the successes of others, for women in the equivalent category, financial success seems to not be quite so easy. Sophia Vergara from Modern Family is this year's female top earner, but at just (ha! just?) $19m, she's lagging behind Kutcher by $7m! Plus, the genres in which these women find their careers is far more varied than men - still including comedy, but also drama, reality and medical dramas all find their way into the list. Desperate Housewives is one show that truly shows women multitasking, and Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria, two stars of the show, both appear in the top ten. Although men still earn more than women, it seems the ladies can take the prize for versatility.