New series of Roseanne to be made.. *dead*
http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/roseanne-barr-reviving-roseanne-for-new-season-in-2018-w482626
Roseanne is returning to ABC for an eight-episode revival, two decades after the blue-collar family sitcom ended its nine-season run on the network.
The core original cast –
Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky) – will return for the reboot, which premieres in 2018,
Deadline reports.
Sarah Chalke, who intermittently played Becky from 1993 to 1997, will appear as a different character. It remains unclear if Johnny Galecki, current star of CBS sitcom juggernaut
The Big Bang Theory, will reprise his role as David. Tom Werner and Bruce Helford will return to executive produce, alongside Barr and Gilbert.
The original
Roseanne, one of
Rolling Stone's
100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, followed the working class Conner family, who used deadpan humor to counter the struggles of everyday life. The show, acclaimed for its gritty depiction of American life and for Barr's performance as the abrasive matriarch, racked up 25 Primetime Emmy nods (including four wins) during its initial ABC run.
ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey alluded to that relatable spirit in her statement announcing the revival. "The Conners' joys and struggles are as relevant – and hilarious – today as they were then, and there's really no one better to comment on our modern America than Roseanne," she said.
While the story structure remains unclear, the casting of Goodman seemingly confirms that the character is no longer dead. In the series finale, Roseanne's character revealed that Dan's heart attack at the end of Season 8 was actually fatal and his subsequent appearances part of a fantasized coping mechanism. But, as Deadline notes, Barr wrote in a
2009 blog post that she'd concocted a workaround plot – "Dan shows up alive after faking his own death" – in the event of a reunion.
