ABC in talks to reboot 'Roseanne' centred around Sara Gilbert's Darlene Conner
The much-awaited reboot of ABC's family sitcom 'Roseanne' this past March was received extremely well, premiering to an initial audience of 18.44 million, which then grew to a total of 27.26 million after seven days of delayed viewing. However, the reboot was to be short-lived, with lead actor Roseanne Barr's racist and inflammatory comments on Twitter forcing the network to ax the show.
However, TMZ now reports that the network is in talks for a second reboot, but quite obviously without the involvement of Barr. Instead, it will supposedly be centered around Sara Gilbert's character of Darlene Conner-Healy, who in the initial run had struggled with her femininity as she enters puberty and gets her first period.
The tabloid reports that executives at the network are considering the possibility of re-branding the show and that Gilbert has been calling cast members to gauge their interest in event that the mooted reboot does get greenlighted. John Goodman, who plays Barr's on-screen husband Dan Conner, is said to be 'very interested.'
Tom Werner, who produced the popular sitcom through his company Carsey-Werner, is reportedly fronting the efforts to see the show revived once again around Darlene Conner-Healy, with ABC said to be similarly desperate to salvage the jobs of those affected by its sudden and cutthroat decision to take the show off air last week.
Barr's tweet had left them with little choice. Known for her outspoken support for President Donald Trump, Barr had made racist comments on Twitter in which she likened former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett to an 'ape,' writing: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj."
When it was pointed out to her that her tweet was offensive and racist, Barr doubled down, tweeting: "Muslims r NOT a race" and "ISLAM is not a RACE, lefties. Islam includes EVERY RACE of people."
In the wake of these tweets, ABC was left scrambling to find an adequate response but did not disappoint. In a statement, the network said that Barr's tweet was 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.'
Her co-star, Gilbert, took a similar stance to the tweet, writing: "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."
Following the backlash, the actress did apologize, writing: "I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me – my joke was in bad taste."
She followed that up with "Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs. I sincerely apologise to the audience that has embraced my work for decades," and asked her followers to not defend her actions.
The success of the reboot had meant that 'Roseanne' had been renewed for an eleventh season as well, but the network has since reversed that renewal. The second reboot has been met with a mixed reaction, but there is a cautious optimism accompanying it.