Roseanne Cancelled

[SciFiFisher]

Everyone remember the great comeback of the Roseanne Show? It's over.
The short version:

1. Roseanne is brought back to network television by ABC in an attempt to reach the demographic that voted for Trump and others.
2. The show is a big hit with huge ratings and lots of advertising revenue.
3. ABC announces that season 2 is a go.
4. On May 29, 2018 Rosanne Barr tweeted a very racial offensive tweet claiming that Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor/aid to President Obama, was what happens when the Muslin Brotherhood mates with Planet of the Apes.
5. Rosanne apologized for making a "bad joke".
6. The backlash started almost immediately with Wanda Sykes announcing she was quitting the show.
7. ABC cancelled her show later in the day.
It was an unprecedented move by a major television company. They are literally canceling a show that was projected to earn over $60 million in ad revenue next year.
8. Rosanne is now claiming that it was because she was taking the sleeping medicine Ambien
9. The maker of Ambien has already issued a statement that Ambien does not cause racism
10. Rosanne has a history of making offensive and controversial statements.

Unfortunately, she is not the only one without a job now. Everyone on the cast and the crew are now unemployed.

[Rommie]

I saw the headline, went to read the Tweet, and thought “oh come on now who thought this was a good idea.”

Never did like the show much, I admit, so hadn’t followed it being back, but geez.

[SciFi Chick]

I loved the show - then and now. I think they should have sent her to sensitivity treatment. Have the character go to rehab. Then deal with the racism on the show. But nooooo, it's so much better to put lots of people out of work to show how awesome ABC/Disney is. No knee jerk reactions here. *eye roll*

[SciFiFisher]

Valerie Jarrett stated it was a teaching moment. Unfortunately, ABC/Disney had done a lot of ground breaking work with people of color in diverse roles and had a lot of investment in shows that were about diversity and changing racial stereotypes. The article I linked to from the NYT states that they risked undoing all the good they had achieved if they did not do something fairly significant about the blatant racism in Barr's tweet. I think it did not help that Barr has a history of making offensive and controversial tweets/statements.

But, no one expected ABC to pull the plug on the show. And they definitely did not expect them to react so quickly. They did expect them to assess the damage and try to do some damage control. Having said that... The tweet was pretty blatantly offensive and racist. I think people were expecting something that would show that ABC values something besides ratings and advertising dollars.

I have not watched any of the re-boot. I did enjoy the show two decades ago but never really got to watch it a lot. I also know that it was considered ground breaking at the time and was applauded for breaking some barriers. IIRC it was the first prime time show to feature two women kissing each other.

[Swift]

9. The maker of Ambien has already issued a statement that Ambien does not cause racism

That was absolutely my favorite part of all this.

Here is the tweet
https://twitter.com/SanofiUS/status/1001824999496404992

People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.

[Rommie]

I think it did not help that Barr has a history of making offensive and controversial tweets/statements.

Ding ding ding

I think context in this case matters. If she didn't have a history, I'm sure what SFC says is what would have happened. But I think after a point, when people keep telling you they are a certain way, you should just believe them.

It also occurs to me that we have no idea what conversations ABC has already had with her and what is/isn't acceptable. If someone was already on thin ice and already had done some sensitivity training stuff discretely, there is a good chance we wouldn't know about it.

[SciFi Chick]

The original was ground breaking, as Fisher pointed out. The reboot had really sharp writing and was quite funny.

Based on the swift reactions from most of the cast, I think Rommie brings up a valid point about things going on behind the scenes.

What bothers me is how her behavior has put dozens of people out of work. It just bugs me. Then again, not sure how good the show would be without Wanda Sykes. I'm a big believer in writing being the important foundation of a show. Without it, it doesn't matter how talented your cast is.

[Loresinger]

they could have had a teachable moment true, or they could just take her out and call the show DAN...

Having said that if the NFL is going to penalize players for kneeling during an anthem - her crotch grabbing and on-going (as my mom would say) potty mouth behavior - she deserved this. I do feel sorry for the cast and crew but suspect that ABC will endeavor to move them into other places. I have always disliked her behavior. You can just spread shit around and not expect that some of it lands on you.

[SciFiFisher]

Apparently there was a suggestion on the twitterverse or somewhere from fans of the show. It goes like this. Rosanne dies. Some sort of horrible tragedy that was sudden and fatal. Then ABC could re-brand the show as "The Conner Family" and keep all the rest of the cast.

Because the show really revolved around her as the central character I am not sure how it would be received. Other shows have done it but usually not with the MAIN character. Brite gave me the example of Bewitched. They switched husbands and the show went on with good ratings.

[pumpkinpi]

Apparently there was a suggestion on the twitterverse or somewhere from fans of the show. It goes like this. Rosanne dies. Some sort of horrible tragedy that was sudden and fatal. Then ABC could re-brand the show as "The Conner Family" and keep all the rest of the cast.

Because the show really revolved around her as the central character I am not sure how it would be received. Other shows have done it but usually not with the MAIN character. Brite gave me the example of Bewitched. They switched husbands and the show went on with good ratings.

Valerie-->Valerie's Family-->The Hogan Family

Valerie Harper (Rhoda) was butting heads with the show producers over control of the show. They fired her, and killed her off in a car accident. Later they brought in aunt Sandy Duncan (Peter Pan) as the replacement.
(I am not going to comment on whether NBC was justified or not. I can't find enough credible information about it.)

I loved that show. The dynamic of the twin brothers: one goody-goody, and one bad boy. I was partial to the goody-goody.

And older brother Jason Bateman. Need I say more?

It's so funny--I just saw an episode of this within the last couple weeks, after not having seed it in decades!!

[SciFi Chick]

I think this is a GREAT idea, especially if they can get Wanda Sykes back as a writer. I'm a fan of the show not just the main character.

[Rommie]

I don’t know if this is true vs something I read yesterday online, but I think the issue is she owns the characters or some such.

[Thumper]

I wasn't a big fan of the show but watched some back when. I later began to think that it was an interesting tragic comedy and showed the irony of the blue collar, under educated, lower middle class, who make up a large part of the republican's base, while being the population most hurt by their policies. The reboot apparently tried to hammer this home while continuing to show support for the current administration both in front of and behind the camera, and I just wasn't interested in seeing that anymore.

As for the canceling, most everybody involved knew here history, racist statements, disrespectful non predictable behavior. This could have happened at any time. So whether you hired her, or decided to work for her, you pretty much knew something like this was a distinct possibility.

Another discussion that we could have: Comparing her "performance" of the national anthem to those in the NFL who choose to kneel. Which one disrespects the flag and the country? Which behavior offends you?

[SciFi Chick]

For the record, her voting for Trump was only mentioned in the first episode. The rest of the show, as in seasons past had a liberal slant to it.

[squ1d]

The Connors confirmed

[SciFiFisher]

The Connors confirmed

New episodes will be aired this fall.

[Cyborg Girl]

The Connors confirmed

sarahconnorterminator1.jpg

[Thumper]

I'd watch that.

[SciFiFisher]

Well, it took longer than usual to de-rail a thread.

[SciFi Chick]

I know some (maybe all?) of you won't be interested in any explanation that Roseanne might have. I watched this interview - had to put up with Sean Hannity to do it *shudder* - and I believe her. Whether you watch it or not - it's 45 minutes long - I thought it was relevant to this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t6t_r611yI

[SciFiFisher]

I know some (maybe all?) of you won't be interested in any explanation that Roseanne might have. I watched this interview - had to put up with Sean Hannity to do it *shudder* - and I believe her. Whether you watch it or not - it's 45 minutes long - I thought it was relevant to this thread.

In the interest of fair disclosure I am going to tell you that I did not watch the video. I boycott any views, clicks, or videos that lead to FOX produced content. I refuse to give them any support even if it is a miniscule rating number. I did find this nice summary on People via MSN.

I believe that Rosanne may not be a classical racist. But, she said something offensive. And not just once. She had an ongoing pattern of saying controversial offensive things. And she discovered that being a celebrity does not always shield you from the consequences of saying offensive things.

It doesn't matter if Rosanne is or is not a racist. She was making ABC look bad. And the demographic who liked her wasn't enough to save her from her bad behavior.

she offers several different defenses of her tweet about Jarrett. She claims she did not know she was African American, she was on Ambein, and people misunderstood her tweet that it was political not racist. She then tries to offer the rationale that she was defending Trump, stating a political opinion, and that she is brown too so we should try to make this a teaching moment. She also throws out that she was fired for voting for Trump.

I don't think she really is taking responsibility for her actions. But, it really doesn't matter what I think. She pissed off the people who bankrolled her show. She bit the hand that fed her(insert a few more pithy allegories). And it is what those people think that matters. And I think they think she is a liability they can't afford. Even if she does have african american kids in her family.

[Loresinger]

I would add that she was blinking a LOT during parts of the interview which generally indicates a lie

[SciFiFisher]

I think Rosanne may also be an example of someone who has not changed with the culture. When she first started in comedy being offensive was almost de jure for her type of comedy. As far back as 1980 she was offending people. She sang the national anthem in a deliberately shitty manner, grabbed her crotch, and then spit. Was she emulating baseball and male culture or just being raunchy? Over time the audience changed but in many ways she did not. Things that people might have been willing to ignore or found funny in 1980 won't fly today.

[geonuc]

In the interest of fair disclosure I am going to tell you that I did not watch the video. I boycott any views, clicks, or videos that lead to FOX produced content. I refuse to give them any support even if it is a miniscule rating number.

As do I. Boycott FOX, that is. Particularly Hannity.

As for Barr, she has two strikes against her because she voted for Trump and is proud of voting for Trump. That puts her among a group of people for whom my default assumption is that they are racist bigots, among other things. That's an assumption only, which can be overturned with clear evidence to the contrary. An interview with Hannity is not likely to change my opinion. It is likely to solidify it.

[Rommie]

I think Rosanne may also be an example of someone who has not changed with the culture. When she first started in comedy being offensive was almost de jure for her type of comedy. As far back as 1980 she was offending people. She sang the national anthem in a deliberately shitty manner, grabbed her crotch, and then spit. Was she emulating baseball and male culture or just being raunchy? Over time the audience changed but in many ways she did not. Things that people might have been willing to ignore or found funny in 1980 won't fly today.

I think this is very important to remember. Like, I remember as a kid in kindergarten learning a song where we went around in a circle in paper feather headdresses doing "war whoops" as part of a song about how Indians beat big drums, in broken English. In a really nice suburban school, in the early 90s. I'm pretty damn sure they don't do that anymore.

Just a random example off the top of my head of things that have changed in my lifetime in terms of cultural awareness.