'Everybody Loves Raymond' Remake Becomes Longest-Running Russian Version of a U.S. Show

'Voroniny,' now in its 17th season, will have reached 376 episodes by the end of September, compared with the previous record of 365 held by the Russian version of 'Married…With Children.'

Russian entertainment channel CTC's adaptation of CBS' popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a co-production with Sony Picture Television, has become the country’s longest-running local version of a foreign TV show.

The show -- called Voroniny in Russia, a loose transliteration of Raymond's family name of Barone in the U.S. show -- will have clocked 376 episodes by the time the curtain falls on its 17th season on Sept. 28.

The previous record holder was Schastlivy vmeste, the Russian adaptation of Married…With Children. It ran on TNT network from 2007 to 2013, with a total number of 365 episodes produced, a figure that Voroniny has already topped.

Unlike in the U.S series, where Raymond is a sports writer for Newsday, his Russian alter ego Nikolai is decidedly more working-class and is employed as a builder and engineer. Shooting is already underway for the 18th season, a co-production between CTC and Sony Pictures Television.

Everybody Loves Raymond first came to Russia in 2009 when series creator/producer Phil Rosenthal went to Moscow to produce the local version.

Since the 11th season, Voroniny has been based entirely on original content, featuring the characters initially adapted from Everybody Loves Raymond. The series' popularity in the country is explained by the fact that it features characters ordinary Russians can easily identify with.

The show has also been adapted for other international markets, including the Czech Republic, Holland, India, Egypt and Israel, though nowhere with the success it has achieved in Russia. A Polish adaptation shown on TVN in 2011 ran for only four episodes before being shelved due to low ratings.