Richie (played by Larry Romano) with Doug (Kevin James)
Richie Iannucci is an old high school classmate and longtime friend of Doug's that he was regularly seen hanging out with in the early seasons. A FDNY firefighter, Richie, who usually refers to Doug as "Moose" (after the Archie comics character Moose Mason), and is also known for being a big womanizer, and in the past even picked up Carrie and her friend. The friend liked Richie but Carrie did not, so Richie went with the friend and Doug and Carrie got together.
He has an exuberant wife, Marie (Michele Maika), who is disliked by Carrie and outed as a cheater. When Richie and Marie then seek counseling, Marie runs off with the counselor (Season 1, episode #4, "Richie's Song").
He was written out of the show when Larry Romano, the actor who plays the part of Richie, asked to be let out of his contract so he could leave the series as he was offered a role in another sitcom, the NBC-TV series Kristin, which was intended to be a star vehicle for actress Kristin Chenowith, which, unfortunately, for he and the others associated with that show, would only last for six episodes before being cancelled. His final appearance is in "Paint Misbehavin'", his only appearance in Season 3. He could also be briefly seen in the ending montage in the series finale episode, "China Syndrome (Part 2)".
Trivia[]
- Richie dated Doug's sister, Stephanie, twice.