ABC has announced they are CANCELING the recently rebooted Roseanne! That's right...even though it's been rated as the No. 1 TV show each week, ABC is kicking Roseanne Connor and her family to the curb. Why? Apparently, it has to do with a racist tweet sent out by its star, Roseanne Barr, about Valerie Jarrett (she was former president Barrack Obama's aide).
Here's my take: First off, ABC knew what they were getting when they agreed to sign on to the show. It's not like Roseanne has never said racist things before...so, to be "shocked" by her behavior is a little disingenuous. As long as it didn't become a big story, ABC was happy to sign up for the show...and make all that money.
I'm definitely not excusing what she said. There's no excuse. However, the show just got picked up for another season. When the show originally got "rebooted," I remember seeing articles saying that it would ONLY be for 7 or 8 episodes and that was it. Sara Gilbert was actually the one who kind of put the show back together and talked everyone into coming back. Could it be that Roseanne Barr really didn't want to do yet another season of the show...so, by suddenly making some abhorrent posts on Twitter, she knew ABC would can the show and she'd be off the hook? Conspiracy theory, probably.
A Facebook friend of mine (Greg G.) had a good idea: Why not kill off Roseanne, but not cancel the show? Kind of like NBC did with Valerie Harper all those years ago. Remember "Valerie?" She quit or got fired...they replaced her with Sandy Duncan...and renamed the show "Valerie's Family"...then, after a year, they renamed it "The Hogan Family." There are typically about 50 to 100 people that work on a show behind the scenes...lighting, sound, cameras, wardrobe, makeup, marketing...not to mention the other actors. Why punish them? Plus...you gotta admit, ABC killing off Roseanne would be kinda funny...
Either way...I enjoyed the show, but considering what the main star was putting out there, it's understandable that ABC would cancel the show. Maybe they shouldn't have brought it back, to begin with.