If at first you succeed, try again.
Such was the thinking behind the Roseanne reboot, which took a classic sitcom and revived it for the year 2018… to surprisingly strong ratings.
But then Roseanne Barr opened her often-racist mouth, ABC canceled the series and now a source alleges that executives are contemplating a second line of thinking:
If at first you succeed, and then you try again successfully until your star proves herself to be an irredeemable dirtbag… well… try again. Again.
In other, less complicated:
A Roseanne spinoff is in the works at ABC.
Insiders close to the situation say that network higher-ups are thinking of re-branding Roseanne and centering it on Sara Gilbert’s character of Darlene.
The thinking is that:
- The Roseanne brand still resonates with millions of viewers.
- Gilbert is far, far, far less of a terrible person than Barr.
Gilbert has supposedly been calling co-stars to gauge their interest in such a show, with John Goodman described by TMZ as “very interested.”
These same television sources say Tom Werner, who produced Roseanne through his company Carsey-Werner, is involved in the effort to reboot the show around Sara.
Just three days ago, Roseanne quipped about former White House advisor Valerie Jarrett, saying she was a mixture of an “ape” and the “Muslim Brotherhood.”
In a statement mere hours later, Channing Dungey, president of ABC, did not hedge in the any way, shape or form when she said the following:
Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.
So that was that… until Roseanne blamed the use of Ambien for her racist remark.
She also went after any colleague who dared to call out her awful viewpoints on life, one of whom was Gilbert hereslf.
Here is what Gilbert said the day Roseanne’s Tweet went viral:
Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show.
I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.
Elsewhere, showrunner Bruce Helford said he was “horrified and saddened” by the insult.
Barr was later dropped by her talent agency ICM Partners; while TV Land, Paramount Network, CMT and Hulu all announced that Roseanne reruns were being yanked.
But would there be interest nationwide in a Darlene-centric sitcom?
It would not lack for publicity, that’s for sure.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!!,” Roseanne Tweeted at one point this week, adding:
“I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet.”
Well, not at least one of those talented actors may end up with an even better job.
But why do we doubt Roseanne will be happy for her?