The Rise & Fall Of ‘Roseanne’: ABC Defines Its Red Line
May 29, 2018The Rise & Fall Of ‘Roseanne’: ABC Defines Its Red Line
It was a day no one could have anticipated except anyone who has been online in the past decade. ABC said Tuesday afternoon it was canceling the one of the most popular comedy series in America after star Roseanne Barr spent the morning spewing racist and anti-Semitic remarks on Twitter against former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Chelsea Clinton, etc.
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ABC’s announcement, made by the country’s first ever African American Entertainment division chief Channing Dungey, seemed to shock Reporters Who Cover Television, who had been for years listening to industry “you can’t stop Roseanne from being Roseanne” arguments.
Even some of those industry execs seemed surprised that Roseanne’s morning tweets crossed an ABC red line in a way her previous racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic remarks had not, when the network was deciding to get back into business with her on a revival of her hit 1990s sitcom.
Exactly two weeks earlier, ABC’s annual Upfront presentation was staged as a 90-minute love letter to Roseanne, in which she kicked things off by pointedly singing the song “My Way” after which Disney-ABC Television Group President Ben Sherwood gave her a big hug and told advertisers to give a big round of applause to “a woman who has always done it her way.”
Which seemed to be the nose-holding, focus-on-the-ratings way the industry handled Barr, until today, when Dungey said in a succinct statement, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
ABC-parent Disney chief Robert Iger shed no light as to what caused the Roseanne Risk/Reward to stop working for the company this morning, tweeting modestly, “there was only one thing to do here and that was the right thing.”
It’s unclear how much ABC might be on the hook for, financially, in its extraordinary decision to abruptly pull the the plug on the 2017-2018 TV season’s biggest hit, a move that is very much against its own commercial interest. On the other hand, reports surfaced that some advertisers became alarmed by the morning’s tweets, triggering speculation ABC might have trouble selling the show going forward.
ABC execs have acknowledged the show reboot was an effort to reach Donald Trump’s America. In the revival, Barr, an outspoken Trump supporter, returned to TV to play Roseanne Connor, now also a vocal Trump supporter. Being the darling sitcom of Trump’s base, blow-back over the cancellation is expected to begin in 3, 2, 1 – already started:
Goodby free speech #BoycottABC
— Conner (@Conner2052) May 29, 2018
#BoycottABC They are clearly as stupid as most liberals if they can’t separate the opinions of an actor and the show they are on. Ridiculous. The left says far worse things.
— Mason James (@MaseJames1125) May 29, 2018
ABC was already receiving pressure from the liberal left to cancel @therealroseanne show! They are using her comments as an "easy out" excuse to satisfy #TheResistance #BoycottABC
— NEWS HUNTER USA (@NewsHunterUSA) May 29, 2018
No word yet, however, from Trump himself, who, back when the show launched with a whopping 18.2 million viewers in Live+Same Day ratings, raved at a rally, “Look at Roseanne! Look at her ratings!….Over 18 million people. And it’s about us!”