The cast of Roseanne at the 2008 TV Land Awards. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TV Land)
With television networks high on a big dose of nostalgia, a revival of Roseanne seems like a foregone conclusion. Now, it’s happening with the entire cast in tow, including Roseanne Barr and John Goodman. The project still doesn’t have a network attached, but it might not need one since Netflix is interested.
Here’s what you need to know about the revival.
1. Sara Gilbert, John Goodman & Roseanne Barr Are All Coming Back
Deadline broke the news about the revival, which will also have Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert. Other members of the cast, hopefully including Michael Fishman, are in the “process” of signing back on.
The original executive producers – Barr, Tom Werner and Bruce Helford – are also coming back in those capacities. They also hope to get Johnny Galecki back, but he might be busy with a little show called The Big Bang Theory (which Gilbert also appeared on).
The revival will only run eight episodes.
2. ABC Is a Front-Runner to Land the Revival
Roseanne Barr in 2015. (Getty)
Since the original series aired on ABC, the alphabet network is considered the front-runner for the revival. However, since Netflix has built a reputation as a home for long-awaited revivals like Fuller House, One Day At A Time, Arrested Development and Gilmore Girls, it is considered to be in the running.
NBC also revived Will And Grace, while ABC recently revived The Dating Game and Tell The Truth game shows. ABC is also developing a Gong Show revival.
NBC greenlit the Will and Grace revival in January 2017 with the full cast returning. The revival will run 10 episodes.
Fox has also been successful with revivals of Prison Break, The X-Files and 24.
3. Goodman & Gilbert Starred in a ‘Roseanne’ Spoof in March 2017
Coincidentally (or not), the news comes just a few weeks after Gilbert and Goodman filmed a Roseanne spoof for CBS’ The Talk. While on the show, Goodman said he’d definitely be interested in a Roseanne revival, as is Gilbert.
“Oh, hell yes… if we could get everyone together,” Goodman told Julie Chen. “The big ‘R’ (Roseanne Barr) and I did a pilot about five years ago that didn’t go anywhere…but we were very happy to work together.”
“I would,” Gilbert said when asked for her opinion. “Your only fear is you don’t want to do a bad version, because you don’t want to damage what’s been done.”
As The Guardian notes, Barr once called Goodman “the funniest and deepest actor in the world.” Unfortunately, he’s only won a Golden Globe for Roseanne and won an Emmy for his guest role in the short-lived Aaron Sorkin show Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Despite his long list of amazing film work, he’s never earned an Oscar nomination. This year, Goodman starred in Kong: Skull Island and was in Patriots Day and 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016.
4. Barr Also Wrote Her Own Idea for a ‘Reunion Show’ in 2009
(Getty)
Barr also had her own twisted idea for a “reunion show.” In 2009, she wrote on her website how she envisioned where all the characters on the show would end up. Here’s what she wrote:
dj gets published
mark dies in iraq
david leaves darlene for a woman half his age
darlene meets a woman and they have a test tube baby
becky works at walmart
roseanne and jackie open the first medical marijuana dispensary in lanford illinois, and pay off the mortgage before the house is foreclosed on.
arnie becomes the best friend of the governor of Illinois
mom sells a painting for ten grand
nancy and arnie remarry
jerry and the grandsons form a band like the jonas brothers
dan shows up alive after faking his death.
leon has a sex change op.
bonnie gets busted for selling crack.
On March 16, Barr tweeted out of nowhere that the cast is “up for a reunion show.”
But agreeing to make this revival would be a big switch for Barr, who told Indiewire in June 2016 that she was done with scripted entertainment.
“Here’s what I heard,” she said of the times she would try to create a new character or start another project. “‘Well, do you have any samples of your writing?’ That’s what they’d ask me. ‘Do you have any samples of your writing so that we could help you get a job?’”
Barr said she realized that her brand of comedy just wasn’t welcome in Hollywood any longer.
“They’re like 14 years old, running the agency because their dad did,” Barr told Indiewire of her meetings. “That was the last time I took a meeting. It was just unbelievable to me.”
5. It’s Been 20 Years Since the ‘Roseanne’ Finale Aired
John Goodman at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in March 2017. (Getty)
It’s been 20 years since the famous Roseanne finale aired. The show ran from 1988 to 1997 and was seen as revolutionary in its day because it showed a realistic, working class family struggling to make ends meet.
The show was a critical and ratings success. During its run, the series won three Golden Globes, all in 1993. That year, the series won Best TV Comedy/Musical Series, Best Comedy/Musical TV Actress for Barr and Best Comedy/Musical TV Actor for Goodman. It was even more successful at the Emmys, where Metcalf won three Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy and Barr won once for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Despite the sour taste the finale left in some mouths, the show remains popular in syndication. In the season finale, it was revealed that the whole show was a book Roseanne wrote about her life and had changed a few details. One of them was that Dan (Goodman’s character) was really dead from a heart attack he suffered during the events shown in season eight.
Roseanne was created by Matt Williams, who isn’t mentioned in Deadline’s report. Williams earned six Emmy nominations, all for his work on The Cosby Show and Home Improvement. He recently worked on Saint George, a short-lived series with George Lopez.
You can see the entire cast reunited on Barr’s short-lived 1998 talkshow below.
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‘Roseanne’ Revival: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know