ABC announced Thursday that it will go forward with a spinoff of the popular sitcom “Roseanne,” only without the eponymous character. The show’s star,…
ABC announced Thursday that it will go forward with a spinoff of the popular sitcom “Roseanne,” only without the eponymous character.
The show’s star, Roseanne Barr, was let go and the show was canceled abruptly three weeks ago following a racist tweet by Barr, but ABC said in a release that the network is starting a new show about the Conner family without her.
Barr stoked outrage on social media after she compared former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett to an ape, and she will not be involved in the new show, tentatively titled “The Conners.”
“Roseanne Barr will have no financial or creative involvement in the new series,” ABC said.
The show will deal with “parenthood, dating, an unexpected pregnancy, financial pressures, aging, and in-laws in working-class America,” ABC added. “Through it all, the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns—with love, humor, and perseverance, the family prevails.”
Barr agreed to let the show go forward without her and made a statement about the settlement she came to with the network.
“I regret the circumstances that have caused me to be removed from ‘Roseanne,'” she said. “I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved.”
“Roseanne” was a hit in the 1980s and 90s and returned to television last year after a two-decade hiatus. It immediately became the highest-rated series on broadcast television but was cut short after Barr’s tweet led ABC to issue an apology and cancel the show.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” read a statement from ABC after the tweet.
Bob Iger, CEO of ABC’s parent company Disney, personally apologized to Jarrett for Barr’s tweet, leading President Donald Trump to tweet about a double standard because Iger had not apologized for anything ABC commentators said about him.
Barr, who had previously run for office on a left-wing platform, became a supporter of President Donald Trump in real life as well as in the show.
