[This story contains spoilers from the “Roseanne Gets the Chair” episode of ABC’s Roseanne revival.]
Following a week of headlines — some good, some less so — ABC’s Roseanne revival returned Tuesday with its third episode of the season.
The latest installment featured Darlene’s (Sara Gilbert) teenage daughter Harris (Shameless‘ Emily Kenney) clashing with Roseanne (Roseanne Barr), prompting a frank discussion about parenting styles among the Conner family. Meanwhile, Roseanne refuses to acknowledge that she’s “old,” and won’t use a mechanical chair to help her climb the stairs as she battles knee pain.
It arrives as ABC — and, incidentally, President Donald Trump, whom Barr heard from post-premiere — is taking a victory lap. After all, the revival starring the Trump supporter (on air and off) delivered the jaw-dropping ratings at a time when little else has been able to cut through. In fact, with three days of DVR returns factored in, Roseanne‘s premiere episode viewership is now bigger than the Oscars.
Here, co-showrunner Bruce Helford — who ran one season of the original series — talks with The Hollywood Reporter about this week’s episode, his controversial star (and her controversial tweets), hopes for season two and what he hopes the show will accomplish.
The size of it. People want to see this dialogue. They want to see a family they can relate to. They wanted to see the Conners again. And it was incredibly gratifying — beyond anything anyone expected — to have this many people watch. It’s up to 25 million and we haven’t even had the plus-seven [DVR returns] yet.
That’s more than the Oscars.
It’s a great tribute to the legacy of the show, which was a beloved show back in the day. I was surprised by the number of young people watching it — 7.3 [in the coveted adults 18-49 demo]. I was glad to see that “Oh, networks can’t possibly beat cable and raise those kinds of numbers again” is not necessarily the case. I believe that the audience will find a good show wherever it is, which is surprising to say about broadcast because it used to be what people used to say about cable.
Did ABC send you champagne for those kind of numbers?
No, we got a lovely renewal. (Laughs.) That was the big gift. [Exec producer] Tom Werner sent us cookies in the shape of the couch and the crazy chicken shirt the night before. But ABC congratulated us. I think everyone was a little stunned as the numbers started coming in.
How did you feel having Trump take credit for your ratings?
(Laughs.) I remember back in the day on Family Ties [which Helford wrote on], President Reagan wanted to appear on the show. And [creator] Gary David Goldberg, who was a staunch liberal Democrat, said, “No way.” The network [NBC] was like, “Are you kidding us? It’s the President of the United States who wants to guest star!” I remember Richard Nixon, before he became president, was on Laugh-In. It’s always weird when someone at that level weighs in on these kinds of things. In any case, everybody wants to be part of a winner, so everybody sort of jumps in.
I really don’t know. I don’t discuss her politics, that’s her private business. There’s Roseanne Barr and then there’s Roseanne Conner. There are some similarities and plenty of differences. I honestly think this really was about the show come back into people’s lives. There is a nostalgia factor and the feeling of being accepted among the Conners.
This week’s episode touched on a lot of different subjects, namely how parenting strategies have evolved. What do you hope viewers take away from that storyline?
We were excited to deal with how Roseanne perceived Darlene as a parent because she was hell on wheels as a child. We took into consideration where she’s at emotionally, having to come back home from Chicago after having had things not go so well there. I personally related because when I was 15, my father lost his job and we had to move from Chicago, where I grew up, to Philadelphia. I remember my father writing me a letter because I was upset at being pulled away from my friends. I remember how important it was to my father that I accepted the change. There is a lot of that going on here with Darlene, having pulled her kids back to a place that’s much different than Chicago. The storyline is about what your obligations as a parent are to your kids if things don’t go the way that you want and how you deal with that.
There was also
[This story contains spoilers from the “Roseanne Gets the Chair” episode of ABC’s Roseanne revival.]
Following a week of headlines — some good, some less so — ABC’s Roseanne revival returned Tuesday with its third episode of the season.
The latest installment featured Darlene’s (Sara Gilbert) teenage daughter Harris (Shameless‘ Emily Kenney) clashing with Roseanne (Roseanne Barr), prompting a frank discussion about parenting styles among the Conner family. Meanwhile, Roseanne refuses to acknowledge that she’s “old,” and won’t use a mechanical chair to help her climb the stairs as she battles knee pain.
It arrives as ABC — and, incidentally, President Donald Trump, whom Barr heard from post-premiere — is taking a victory lap. After all, the revival starring the Trump supporter (on air and off) delivered the jaw-dropping ratings at a time when little else has been able to cut through. In fact, with three days of DVR returns factored in, Roseanne‘s premiere episode viewership is now bigger than the Oscars.
Here, co-showrunner Bruce Helford — who ran one season of the original series — talks with The Hollywood Reporter about this week’s episode, his controversial star (and her controversial tweets), hopes for season two and what he hopes the show will accomplish.
The size of it. People want to see this dialogue. They want to see a family they can relate to. They wanted to see the Conners again. And it was incredibly gratifying — beyond anything anyone expected — to have this many people watch. It’s up to 25 million and we haven’t even had the plus-seven [DVR returns] yet.
That’s more than the Oscars.
It’s a great tribute to the legacy of the show, which was a beloved show back in the day. I was surprised by the number of young people watching it — 7.3 [in the coveted adults 18-49 demo]. I was glad to see that “Oh, networks can’t possibly beat cable and raise those kinds of numbers again” is not necessarily the case. I believe that the audience will find a good show wherever it is, which is surprising to say about broadcast because it used to be what people used to say about cable.
Did ABC send you champagne for those kind of numbers?
No, we got a lovely renewal. (Laughs.) That was the big gift. [Exec producer] Tom Werner sent us cookies in the shape of the couch and the crazy chicken shirt the night before. But ABC congratulated us. I think everyone was a little stunned as the numbers started coming in.
How did you feel having Trump take credit for your ratings?
(Laughs.) I remember back in the day on Family Ties [which Helford wrote on], President Reagan wanted to appear on the show. And [creator] Gary David Goldberg, who was a staunch liberal Democrat, said, “No way.” The network [NBC] was like, “Are you kidding us? It’s the President of the United States who wants to guest star!” I remember Richard Nixon, before he became president, was on Laugh-In. It’s always weird when someone at that level weighs in on these kinds of things. In any case, everybody wants to be part of a winner, so everybody sort of jumps in.
I really don’t know. I don’t discuss her politics, that’s her private business. There’s Roseanne Barr and then there’s Roseanne Conner. There are some similarities and plenty of differences. I honestly think this really was about the show come back into people’s lives. There is a nostalgia factor and the feeling of being accepted among the Conners.
This week’s episode touched on a lot of different subjects, namely how parenting strategies have evolved. What do you hope viewers take away from that storyline?
We were excited to deal with how Roseanne perceived Darlene as a parent because she was hell on wheels as a child. We took into consideration where she’s at emotionally, having to come back home from Chicago after having had things not go so well there. I personally related because when I was 15, my father lost his job and we had to move from Chicago, where I grew up, to Philadelphia. I remember my father writing me a letter because I was upset at being pulled away from my friends. I remember how important it was to my father that I accepted the change. There is a lot of that going on here with Darlene, having pulled her kids back to a place that’s much different than Chicago. The storyline is about what your obligations as a parent are to your kids if things don’t go the way that you want and how you deal with that.
There was also
