OTHER TECH

Pity Brad Garrett. For 9 seasons on Everybody Loves Raymond and now on the sophomore Fox sitcom 'Til Death, the comic has excelled at playing the put-upon loser, his characters doomed to mope around the three-walled soundstage while suffering various indignities heaped upon them by brothers, mothers, and argumentative wives. In the history of television, it sometimes seems like the only people who've had it worse were the guy who played Corpse No. 2 on that episode of Law & Order and all those ill-fated, red-shirted ensigns on Star Trek.

In real life, however, Garrett is doing pretty well, thankyouverymuch. 'Til Death, a biting look at marriage in which the actor plays a sarcastic history teacher wed to Joely Fisher, will reportedly get picked up for a third season. Meanwhile, Garrett continues to thrive in the place where he got his start in the early 1980s: the comedy clubs.

His unmistakable baritone has also allowed him to work as a voice actor in movies like A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, and Night at the Museum. Most recently, he was the voice of the French chef Gusteau in the Oscar-winning Ratatouille.

His steady flow of jobs and that Raymond money - which was probably delivered to his house in a fleet of dump trucks - have allowed the divorced father of two to live comfortably in his Malibu house, where he recently had his dream home theater installed. The brutally honest Garrett admits he doesn't know much about A/V gear, but that didn't stop him from talking to us about why he loves having a space for hanging out and watching movies.

Joely Fisher says you're always bragging about your home theater.

No way. I talk trash, but not about that. I'm not an audio-visual guy. I'm not a techie. I have a theater that's nice, but I couldn't tell you what one component is. I have a great tech guy [installer Ian Wain] who I told to make it happen. I do have that thing that vibrates your tushy when something gets blown up, but I also have that on my bidet. I think Joely just wants a theater of her own, and she's jealous. She's always welcome to come to mine.

How important is having a room like this?

It's a wonderful escape for me and the family and the kids. It's a great thing to do on the weekend. I watch a lot of kids' stuff, and I'll look at some screeners during the Academy Awards season. But to be honest, I watch very little TV, because I just don't have time. The only time I pop a movie in is when I'm hanging out with the kids on the weekend. What's more important to me than the sound and the screen is the chair, bro. I'm a large guy, and I've got a jumbo can. I have blown through wicker. I'm the type of guy who, when I visit someone at their house, they say, "Garrett's coming over. Hide the wicker!" I have some girth. I'm 6' 8", 250. I walk into a house, the wicker disappears and the cat runs. So I love a good chair.

Want to see more photos of Brad Garrett's home theater? And one of Joely Fisher's too? Just click here.

Why does your screening room have such an old-fashioned vibe?

I'm an old-school type of person. I wanted a place that looked like a bordello. We went with some great red leather and carved oak. I like to go in there and just chill. I'm also old-school with my movies, man. I'm not a blows-'em-up kind of guy. I like the older stuff. I gotta have popcorn, too. It's kind of sad. I'm the type of guy who has literally left a movie theater because the place was out of popcorn. They thought I was insane.

How much input did you have designing the system?

Ian had done some sound for me. You gotta trust your theater guy. You need a great dentist, a great accountant, and a great theater guy. I knew he was honest, I knew he was passionate about home theater and the right equipment. For example, at first I wanted a top-of-the-line projector that was thousands and thousands of dollars. He said, "You don't need it." I said, "I want it." He said, "I'll tell you what, I'll put in something for $5,000 less. If you don't think it's awesome, I'll put in what you want." He also told me, "The speakers you want, you don't need, because you have a smaller theater." I thought, who talks like that nowadays? Who walks into the house of someone who's on television and wants to save them $15,000? By doing that, it just created a trust and a rapport, and he put in some amazing stuff that I love.

What was really cool was the wood craftsman [Greg Lannan from Working Designs]. He had a way of covering the speakers. I always hate the way [in-wall] speakers look. They always come in white. I don't know why. I collect black-and-white photographs, and I have a lot of them in the theater. So he said, "If you want to hide speakers, we'll make a hand-carved oak frame that will cover each one. Then we'll cover them with black mesh stuff. They won't be white, and they'll be next to the other pictures that are framed." It came out so brilliantly. You don't know where the speakers are. They're next to 10 other paintings or photographs that are framed.