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At 18m viewers Roseanne is making American revivals great again

Roseanne revival debuts with more US viewers than Young Sheldon or Will & Grace revival.

In a win for network television in the US the revival of Roseanne has debuted with a whopping 18.2m viewers.

That puts it ahead of Young Sheldon on 17.2 million and Will & Grace‘s return on 10.2 million viewers. Variety notes it drew “a staggering 5.1 rating in adults 18-49.”

Given Roseanne Barr is a supporter of Donald Trump, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey was asked if the bumper figures were a result of nostalgia or politics?

“It was a combination of both. When you have a show that was as beloved as Roseanne was during its run, the Conner family was a family that audiences were really anxious to reconnect with after all this time and see how they’re doing. It’s like welcoming old friends back. There certainly was a big part of that from the nostalgia end of it,” she said.

“We were hopeful about this going in and it has borne out, given the current political climate, there’s a hunger for this kind of conversation. When you look at the back and forth that takes place in the pilot between Rosanne and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), there are a lot of living rooms around the country that look and sound very much like that. The opportunity for that dialogue to happen against a comedic backdrop was very welcome.”

Nine episodes of the reboot are coming, with ABC yet to confirm any more.

TEN is promoting the series as coming soon but is yet to announce a date.

Source: Variety, Hollywood Reporter

25 Responses

  1. The promos ten are running make the show look dreadful and unfunny. But that hasn’t stopped comedies becoming huge hits in the past. I think this would appeal to the same audience as 2.5 men.

  2. I know this is completely off topic but i can’t help notice it. There are two types of people on the internet. Those who use full stops to end their posts and ones who don’t.

    1. First theirs Apostrophe-Man, hten Dislexic-Man, coming b4 teh newrotic Spell-Checker n Grammar-Man, sixthly theres PC Person closely follow’d by the hyphen daemon but always coming last is our naughtical full-stop person adrift in a life-baot without an or
      If typos or homophonous grammar errors cause annoyance, a sip from Vat 69 may help.

  3. You would think Ch10 would be smart enough to replay the original series and rest some of the re runs they have been thrashing for the past year….

  4. In the case of ½ hour comedy shows like Roseanne continuations can work, if handled correctly. From what I’ve seen the producers have maintained the original actors and the set itself hasn’t changed. This is clever thinking from those behind the scenes. However, there are just as many failures as successes when it comes to continuations or reboots; Knight Rider, Charlie’s Angels, Dallas and the current reincarnation of Dynasty spring to mind.
    I’ll watch Roseanne when it airs on 10 because I thoroughly enjoyed the original.

    1. if they stray to far from the formula they will fail. people would rather see the original actors (and in the case of KR, car) have the shows be like they were.

  5. Yep they came from viewers who were children or not even born during Roseanne‘s initial run and it delivered the highest demo rating(18-49) for any comedy telecast in 3 1/2 years, since the season seven premiere of The Big Bang Theory.

    They are amazing figures with all that, the generation that have supposedly ditched TV tuned in in their droves. Wonder how many Big Bang Theory people tuned in to see Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert, in different roles there ws no Johnny Galecki of course but still, makes me wonder.

      1. Yep , was referring to those two episodes and most knowing he is back for one later, so while some may have tuned in to see Sara and Laurie, I was saying it wouldn’t be for Johnny. Though I expect a bump when he does as seeing Darlene Conner and David Healy vs seeing Leslie Winkle and Leonard Hofstadter, could peek some TBBT fans interest.

  6. Clearly people want to see ordinary people like them on television. Roseanne’s rough as guts persona, straight talk and depiction of working class ups and downs is what makes it engaging.

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