Roseanne Barr said to be 'livid' over show's reboot plans around Sara Gilbert
Following the spectacular implosion of ABC's 'Roseanne' and the firing of lead Roseanne Barr, quite a few dedicated crew members were left stranded. But executives reportedly moved quickly to arrange for another reboot, but this time, focusing on the life of her daughter, Sara Gilbert's Darlene Conner-Healy.
Talks have since said to have progressed well and yet another reboot may well and truly be in the works without its titular character. While the production team, as well as the numerous actors employed on the show, will undoubtedly be ecstatic on hearing the news, Barr is seemingly feeling miffed. Radar Online reports that the 65-year-old actress is 'livid' over the news that the show might be going forward without her and she feels without her, the show will not succeed.
According to an ABC insider, the executives at the network feel that a spinoff centered around Darlene 'could do extremely well' and feel that it would be a great way to save the members who were left stranded and jobless by 'Roseanne's careless actions.' However, Barr apparently had a vastly different view of the situation. The insider said: "Roseanne thinks that the spinoff is an absolutely awful idea and she believes that, without her, the show will fail miserably!"
However, the source told Radar that her opinion is not of any concern to the network's higher-ups and that they might be announcing the news of the spin-off as early as this week, adding that the only details left are how to repackage and present the show and how Barr's character will be written off the screen.
"They know that they have to address this and they are trying to come up with clever ways to engage the audience and keep viewers at the same time. Roseanne is such a strong character and was pivotal to the show’s success. No one knows if Darlene could carry the show on her own, but they are all willing to give it a try," the insider said.
For those out of the loop, Barr was fired from the show for making racist comments on Twitter, where she likened former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett to an 'ape,' writing: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj."
Despite being received well on premiere — it attracted an initial audience of 18.44 million which grew to 27.26 million over delayed viewing — the network took the difficult decision to ax the show, announcing in a statement that Barr's tweet was 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.'
Gilbert took a similar stance as well, suggesting that she was 'disappointed' and that the comments were 'abhorrent' and 'did not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show.'
The efforts to revive the show are reportedly being led by Tom Werner, who produced the popular sitcom through his company Carsey-Werner. John Goodman, who plays Barr's on-screen husband Dan Conner, is said to be 'very interested' in the project.