The People Have Spoken, Roseanne is Back

28 Mar, 2018

“Roseanne,” the 1990s television comedy about a working-class American family, scored monster ratings on its return to ABC after 20 years, attracting more than 18 million viewers.

Ratings data on Wednesday showed that the premiere of the rebooted series starring original cast members Roseanne Barr and John Goodman was the most-watched show on U.S. television on Tuesday night with an audience of 18.2 million Americans.

The original “Roseanne” aired from 1988 to 1997. It featured a blue-collar family, the Conners, with overweight parents struggling to get by in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois, and was praised for its realistic portrayal of working-class life.

The revival will deal with politics, topical issues such as opioid addiction and access to healthcare, and features Roseanne’s grown-up daughter Darlene, played again by Sara Gilbert, whose young son is gender fluid.

Barr, who says she voted for U.S. President Donald Trump, has said she wants the revival, in which she is a grandmother who voted for Trump in the 2016 elections, to portray a United States in which half the voters chose him.

Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. was among those congratulating Barr on the success of the premiere, which poked fun at both the left and the right.

“If you’re not too busy already maybe work in a late night show too … seems there’s some demand for an alternate viewpoint,” Trump Jr. tweeted.

Barr, who live tweeted during the premiere, thanked fans on Wednesday.

Reuters

Image THR twitter

Mentioned In This Post: