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ABC Has Renewed The Roseanne Reboot For A New Season

Madison Medeiros
March 30, 2018, 7:30 PM
Photo: Courtesy of ABC
ABC has officially decided to renew the Roseanne reboot after an astonishing 18.2 million viewers tuned in on Tuesday, E! News reports.
The series, which is a continuation on the '80s original, tells the same story about Roseanne Conner's working-class family who struggle to make end's meet and grapple with the cultural and political changes happening in the United States. Instead of living in the Clinton era, the Conners are now surviving (yet, not thriving) in a world dominated by all things Donald J. Trump. And, just like the rest of the country, the family seems divided.
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Roseanne (both her character and the actress) whole-heartedly supports the 45th president, while her TV sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) sports a pussy hat and passionately argues about what constitutes "real news." The decision to show the Conners engaging in classic Thanksgiving-table talk was quite calculated. ABC executives told The New York Times that they brought back the series in an effort to diversify their viewership.
"We had spent a lot of time looking for diverse voices in terms of people of color and people from different religions and even people with a different perspective on gender," Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment said. "But we had not been thinking nearly enough about economic diversity and some of the other cultural divisions within our own country. That's been something we've been really looking at with eyes open since [the 2016 election]."
This strategy seems to be working for some who feel that the "mainstream media" often overlooks working-class and/or conservative families. Even Trump seemed to appreciate the revival. A day after the premiere, he reportedly called Barr directly to congratulate her on her massive success.
Others, however, can't separate Barr's personal views (she's spread conspiracy theories and once dressed up as Hitler) from her character's. Some, like New York Times opinion columnist Roxane Gay have even claimed that the series attempts to normalize dangerous beliefs and actions.
So, while the show may have done well on its first night back, it's unclear just how many viewers will stick around going forward. What does seem obvious, however, is that not even TV can mend these divisive times.
Read These Stories Next:
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Why Roseanne Barr Was Dressed Up As Hitler In A Photoshoot
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