Despite Controversy, Roseanne Revival Premiered to 18.2 Million Viewers

With Roseanne Barr’s recent years being filled with controversy, from her transphobic comments to her support of Trump, there was some doubt as to if the revival of Roseanne would do well. Tim Allen last year caused a whole stink about the fact that being a conservative in Hollywood screwed you over.

Well, Tim Allen … it may just be you. Not only did Roseanne‘s numbers perform well, they outperformed the Will & Grace revival’s numbers. Roseanne got 18.2 million viewers and 5.1 rating among the coveted 18-49 demo. Will & Grace got 10m with a 3.0 rating 18-49 according to EW.

Additionally, according to ABC, this is the highest-rated comedy telecast on any network in nearly four years, since a premiere episode of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory from 2014.

I did not tune into this revival, but I own the complete series of Roseanne and started rewatching that instead. It is a show that still makes me laugh and smile and is sad at times. The comedic timing and chemistry between John Goodman’s Dan and Roseanne make them one of my favorite television couples of all time. That being said, having watched Barr’s interviews during the press tour for the show has just turned me off of supporting the revival myself.

And no, it’s not just that she voted for Trump. She was spouting problematic things before then, but her defense of Trump and his racism/sexism just reinforced for me that she is okay defending these man’s actions. That’s gonna be a no for me.

I will still enjoy the original series. I already own it so them’s the breaks, but for me, I’m not interested in seeing Barr bring her pro-Trump views to television. Not when she defends the indefensible while wearing a black dress at the Golden Globes in support of #MeToo.

For those of you who checked out the revival series, what did you think of it? Does it hold up? How many times did John Goodman make you smile? And will the success of Roseanne make conservative actor dudes stop crying about how hard it is for them?

(via EW, image: ABC)

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