Roseanne revival trumps Hollywood with epic ratings
The country is hungry for quality shows that embrace all American values, not just the social justice ones.
I was a big fan of the original Roseanne during its original run from 1988 to 1997. So, when I learned that Roseanne Barr would be reviving the show and portraying a very vocal Trump supporter, I made sure to catch it.
It appears that I am not the only one, as the ratings are…YUGE!
The revival of Roseanne premiered to massive ratings Tuesday night.
The return delivered an incredible 18.2 million viewers along with an equally impressive 5.1 rating among adults 18-49.
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).
…The Roseanne hour-long premiere audience also grew slightly from the show’s first episode at 8 p.m. to its second at 8:30 p.m., which is a good sign.
A couple other data points: This is Tuesday’s highest-rated entertainment telecast in six years among young adults and ABC’s best results in the time slot since 2006.
The show did even better than the highly publicized CBS interview with porn star Stormy Daniels.
In real life, Barr’s politics are complicated. She once ran for President, first trying to win the nomination of the Green Party (losing to Jill Stein), then finally leading the Peace and Freedom Party to a 6th place finish in the 2012 election.
In a nutshell, she hates crony capitalism and likes legalized pot. To get a better feel for Barr’s approach to politics, it is worthwhile checking an interview with Jimmy Kimmel that aired before the revival’s premiere.
The best bit was Barr’s smackdown of Kimmel, when he expressed surprise at her choice of Trump because of her socially liberal positions.
“I’m still the same — you all moved. You all went so f—ing far out you lost everybody,” Barr exclaimed.
“A lot of us, you know, no matter who we voted for, we don’t want to see our president fail,” Barr said.
I anticipated a snark-filled show that was politically incorrect, and I was not disappointed. The shows cast still had wonderful chemistry, and Roseanne was unafraid to tread into socially sensitive waters.
The co-executive producer Bruce Rasmussen explained why the decision was made to have the character of Roseanne Conner be a Trump voter.
But the moment we got in the writers’ room with Roseanne, she really wanted to be a supporter of Trump, not because she is one herself, but there are a lot of people in the Midwest who voted for him. We had debates and discussions. [Writer] Dave Kaplan and I were two of the people who had least understood that there are people who voted for him who aren’t misogynists or racists and who felt betrayed by other administrations….
I hope the rest of Rasmussen’s team discover something more about flyover country after the success of the premier, which also featured a grandson who likes feminine attire and talk of a surrogate pregnancy. Time will tell.
Will the rest of Hollywood learn anything from the revival’s clear success? I am doubtful, as a closer look at the numbers indicate that Roseanne mainly appealed to Trump-voting states.
Not surprisingly, the top TV markets where Roseanne delivered its highest ratings were in states handily carried by Trump during the 2016 Presidential election. No.1 was Tulsa in Oklahoma, which Trump won with 65.3% of the vote. It was followed by Cincinnati, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri. The only marquee city from a blue state in the Top 10 was Chicago at No. 5 — that is the area where the series is set.
It is clear that the working class viewers have been as under-served by Hollywood’s glitterati as its voters have been under-served by Washington, D.C.’s politicians. The numbers prove there the country is hungry for quality shows that embrace all American values, not just the social justice ones.
So Roseanne, a Trump supporter on & off screen, delivers stupendous ratings in the rebooted series.
A message there, methinks, for all the screaming Trump-hating liberals: not everyone in America thinks like you… pic.twitter.com/LbrnNVCKr4— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 28, 2018
Wow amazing. Congrats @therealroseanne. If you’re not too busy already maybe work in a late night show too… seems there’s some demand for an alternate viewpoint. #Rosanne https://t.co/JNaLjxS0fs
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 28, 2018
No contest. Roseanne kicks Will and Grace’s ass. Media elites remain totally out of step w much of the country. pic.twitter.com/CDzw8iK5w2
— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) March 28, 2018
One fan, in particular, called to thank Barr for the show.
Trump called a supporter with a large megaphone – @therealroseanne – to thank her and congratulate her after the Roseanne revival. W @patrickhealynyt https://t.co/QLPWbbgUT2
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 29, 2018
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Comments
Show was pointless without Dan. Glad they brought him back. Still… who watches network TV before it goes to Netflix?
Um. At least 18 million do in this case.
You still patronize Netflix after this? —
Susan Rice, ex-Obama official, appointed to Netflix board of directors:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/03/28/susan-rice-ex-obama-official-appointed-to-netflix-board-directors.html
I expected an ignorant portrayal of the right, as per West Wing. I was wrong?
https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/28775/ep-505-are-we-watching-end-journalism
An excellent dissection of why “Roseanne” is NOT remotely conservative, and a fine interview with Ted Cruz who is trying to get stuff done in the Congress.
A conundrum for the producers & writers…do they do what they want to do, and attack President Trump in future episodes, or do they keep the audience (and their jobs) and not attack him?
Why not get writers who are like-minded?
That’s what hollywood has been doing for years: there really is a blacklist within hollywood.
It is a little too early to make any predictions as to the ideological direction that the show will take or its long term popularity.
I never liked the original Rosanne so I have no plans to watch the revival. But, that is a decision based upon taste in comedy, not ideology.
I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m hopping on any ‘Roseanne Barr bandwagon.’ Not now, not ever. I’ve watched this harridan’s antics for over 30 years and I don’t care how pro-Trump she happens to be right this second.
Maybe the show will be really funny. Maybe it will be a very popular thing for years to come. I don’t know. But I do know Roseanne Barr tried to get on the ballot for president with the Green Party. She lost out to Jill Stein. She also was a big supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Who knows what she really believes today or what she will believe in a year?
She’s nutty as a Stuckey’s Log and I’m not going to be giving her any attention.
“She’s nutty as a Stuckey’s Log and I’m not going to be giving her any attention…”
Save for the likes of Clint Eastwood and Gary Sinise, everyone in hollywood is as nutty as a Stuckey’s log.
We’d all do well to not give ANYONE in hollywood any attention, except when they do things our way.
Nick Searcy is a conservative and T-rump critic.
But he’s part of a rather long list of people in Hollywood who you left out.
https://stars.topix.com/slideshow/15185/slide7
Her disgraceful performance of the National Anthem at that baseball game was disgusting. Absolutely appalling. Her vulgar humor is almost equally sickening. Don’t expect me to tune in. I wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire.
I will
Never forget he disgusting performance of the Mational anthem, but she is a microcosim of the average American who has a gay child, a sister who is left winged nut job and who is being squeezed by corporations and the government. Our insurance is in shambles and to the point it is so expensive people will elect to have Medicare for all of something real is not done and soon.
Our children are getting perverse sex education and indoctrination in our schools which we pay for and it’s an everyday fight to draw the line.
Kimmel??????
Are you trying to make us up-chuck????
LOL
Sorry my phone, changes words and spelling all the time.
Dave Kaplan and I were two of the people who had least understood that there are people who voted for him who aren’t misogynists or racists
“How could Nixon win? No one I know voted for him.”
It’s not possible to draw any conclusions from the ratings while the nostalgia factor remains in play. People aren’t tuning in because of the politics, they’re tuning in because “OMG ROSEANNE I LOVED THAT SHOW”. Watch what the ratings do week-over-week. I’m betting you’ll see a steady accelerating dropoff followed by a steady turn towards leftist talking points and shameless pandering to the housewife demographic, and a cancellation after two seasons.