Is 'Roseanne' Revival Worth Watching?
by EG
ABC's revival of Roseanne will dive into the new world of Trump and cultural warfare, just like you would expect it to. The question is whether or not it does so in a way that's funny of interesting. Read on for one reviewer's assessment of the new series.
To address the elephant, politically speaking, in the room: Yes, the premiere episode of ABC's revival of Roseanne spends a fair amount of time on the main character's support for Donald Trump. And yes, the fights between Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Hillary supporter Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) over that vote are awkward and uncomfortably familiar.
Now imagine, if you would, a world in which social media hadn't made it possible to know Roseanne Barr's every hateful thought about Hillary Clinton or which bizarro conspiracy theories she was peddling to hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. In that world, wouldn't you find it perfectly reasonable that the Conners, who spent nine seasons from 1988 to 1997 as TV's best representatives of blue-collar economic anxiety, might fall somewhat into a Trump-friendly demographic? And wouldn't you think that it was potentially the highest of praise for a revival of Roseanne to hear that the show still isn't flinching from addressing uncomfortably familiar aspects of contemporary life?
Through three episodes sent to critics, the 10th season of Roseanne has put itself squarely in the camp of revivals that have no trouble justifying their purpose in 2018. Barr and showrunners Bruce Helford and Whitney Cummings have made a show that has its own recognizable perspective on the 2016 election, exploding health care costs, the opioid epidemic, changing perspectives on gender and sexuality and more. The show's biggest liability is its own influence even at its own network, as shows like Speechless, The Middle and Black-ish are doing a lot of the same things as Roseanne used to do but with more freshness.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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