After returning to television 21 years after ending its initial nine-season run on ABC and debuting to a season opener to 18.2 million viewers over an hour with back-to-back episodes, ABC has decided to renew it’s reboot of the comedy series Roseanne. According to Variety, an announcement was made on Friday that it has renewed “Roseanne” for what it’s calling the show’s 11th season. The move comes just three days after the multi-cam revival starring Roseanne Barr debuted to massive ratings that shocked the industry and observers and drove national news.
The season opening numbers out-distanced the ratings for the original season series finale in 1997. They also were the best for any scripted broadcast program this season — with the exception of the episode of NBC’s “This Is Us” that immediately followed the Super Bowl. “Roseanne” well outperformed other freshman comedy debuts this season. NBC’s revival of “Will & Grace” drew a 3.0 and 10.2 million viewers for its premiere, while the launch of “Big Bang Theory” prequel “Young Sheldon” drew a 3.8 and 17.2 million viewers. The show is centered on the Conners, an American working-class family family struggling to get by on a limited household income in their home at 714 Delaware Street in the drab fictional mid-state exurb of Lanford, Illinois.
In 2002, Roseanne was ranked #35 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All-Time. Critics attributed the current reboot’s success to the comic’s support for President Trump which was a central storyline in the first episode. But according to the cast, the show will be tackling relevant and timely topics — not straight politics — as the season continues to unfold.
Source: Variety