A NEW ROSEANNE? – AT 11:35 P.M. ET:   Nothing ever seems to die permanently in television.  There is talk of a re-invention of "Roseanne," which was cancelled this week following Roseanne Barr's obnoxious racial tweet.  From Adweek:

Two days after ABC canceled its top-rated series Roseanne following Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about President Obama’s White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, the network is still formulating a plan about what will fill the hole in its schedule this fall.

One possibility, however, would be an iteration of Roseanne without the involvement of Barr, and with a new title: in essence, Roseanne without Roseanne.

There's an old saying in the TV industry:  "Imitation is the sincerest form of television."

As soon as tomorrow, the network could meet with Roseanne executive producers Sara Gilbert (who also plays TV daughter Darlene), Tom Werner and showrunner Bruce Helford to discuss options to bring back some version of Roseanne, according to Variety and other reports.

ABC told Adweek the reports are still speculative at this point, but the idea has been gaining traction, given social media sentiment that the show should continue without Barr—and that the network and Carsey-Werner, which produces the series, are already on the hook for several of the actors’ salaries for next season (including Gilbert, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf).

In an email to ABC staffers yesterday, Disney-ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood, who had joked about Barr’s Twitter feed two weeks earlier while onstage at ABC’s upfront, talked about “the many men and women who poured their hearts and lives into the show and were just getting started on next season. We’re so sorry they were swept up in all of these, and we give thanks for their remarkable talents, wish them well and hope to find another way to work together down the road.”

COMMENT:   I'd imagine that part of ABC's thinking on this, to the extent that there's thinking at all, is to be sure not to insult the conservative part of the audience, who will miss Roseanne.  Even in Hollywood there may be some who realize that there are people out there who do not share Hollywood "values."  And they buy products that advertisers want to sell.

June 1, 2018