Just two episodes in of the Roseanne revival and already ABC has renewed the show for a second season—Season 11 if you’re counting since the first one, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The return of the show has been a controversial topic among viewers since Roseanne Barr has been open about her political agenda and her support for the current president. She even told Jimmy Kimmel to “zip that lip” about Trump in a recent interview while sitting on the iconic Roseanne couch. You can see that clip here:
Tuesday’s premiere garnered record-breaking ratings that had fans of the original series feeling a sense of nostalgia as the characters we once knew in the 90s were still hitting the comedic marks despite the highly topical themes. The hour-long premiere had 18.1 million viewers and has risen to 21.9 million who have watched it after the premiere date thanks to streaming and downloading platforms.
Many online have been against the return of the show because of their distaste of Roseanne’s political position and her blatant conspiracy theories and Islamophobic posts. I was a huge fan when the show was originally on the air (dare I say, it still tops my list as one of my favorites) and while my political views don’t align with Roseanne Barr’s I tuned in to see how the show measured up. I always found Laurie Metcalf’s “Jackie” the funniest and most compelling character as she was the underdog with witty and physical humor and she did not disappoint. But the show has a huge elephant in the room that carries from scene to scene—I loved it, but I felt guilty watching.
In a time when revivals and reboots have changed the media climate, Roseanne has come forth to shake things up in portraying a character that could potentially be hated for their views but that shows a compelling side to what we think is a conservative mentality. It’s an opportunity to check in with characters that once represented working class white America but decades later and see if they address any of the real matters that are affecting millions of lives.
While the set hasn’t changed much, the characters seem to have evolved and reflect current events. But just like the revival of Will & Grace, many of the current issues felt forced into plot—with others still begging curiosity. It will be interesting to see how the show moves forward in tackling some serious issues that we have already been introduced to such as gender identity, race (which was not touched at all given that DJ’s daughter is black), and the blatant bi-partisan conflicts that exist between Roseanne and Jackie.
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey shared:
We’re thrilled that America has welcomed the Conner family back into their homes. The show is as fresh and relevant today as it was when it left the air 21 years ago. We can’t wait to see what the Roseanne team has in store for next year.
It will be great to see if show favorites like Martin Mull, Johnny Galecki, and Sandra Bernhard will add to the show’s new platform. Sandra Bernhard, in fact, just shared with MSNBC about her own political views:
A lot of women have compromised, given in, raised their kids and not had the luxury of being able to think for themselves. And when you sacrifice that in your life and say I don't think I'm going to lean on somebody else financially that means you've got to get up every day and go work.
All that aside, Sandra Bernhard has confirmed that Nancy will be back on the show…even for one episode:
Let's see how this character will come back in this modern-day Conner life.
Roseanne won’t have the 22-episode seasons that it once had due to busy professional lives by many of the cast members. Instead, the network has agreed that they would be happy having 10-12 episodes per season.
So watch it or don’t, but there is no denying that Roseanne is back and shaking things up at 714 Delaware Street in a new way.
This was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect the opinion of Instinct Magazine or the other Contributing Writers when it comes to this subject.
I watched the first one,
I watched the first one, mostly because I wanted to see how the two Beckys would be handled and how Michael Fairman had grown, but I doubt I'll watch it again. I never really liked it, and at the time Laurie Metcalf grated on my nerves. I have great respect for her as an actress now, mostly because she's gone and done so much theater, but this was always a lazy show and it still is. There was no real spark in it for me.