I don't care about Roseanne Barr's politics. I knew she was a flake before that crotch grabbing and spitting rendition of the National Anthem 28 years ago. I didn't care about her politics when she was a raving liberal and I still don't care now. I watched and really liked the Roseanne reboot. I wish we could leave it at that.
The old show was good because it had great supporting leads in John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, and Roseanne's biting sarcastic banter always cut right to the heart of the matter without tip toeing around anything. The show wasn't afraid to tackle serious and difficult topics, but it never left me with the feeling that it took itself too seriously. It tackled them with the same twisted and sometimes morbid sense of humor that many of us use to get through some of the tougher things that life throws at us. Who knew that sitcoms didn't have to have the very special episode and all of its saccharine soaked moments to make a practical point about some very real challenges that ordinary people face? Say what you want about Roseanne Barr the actress, comedian, and conspiracy theorist. Her portrayal of Roseanne Conner was and still is damned funny.
I hoped that the reboot would continue in this vein and it didn't disappoint. The Conners are the same family I remember well from the late 80s into the late 90s. And the show is at least as good as it was then, if not better. I laughed my ass off through the entire 2 premiere episodes, and look forward to the rest of the season, and then season 2. Since ~25 million other Americans seem to enjoy the show too, the pundit class has taken notice and now need to explain to me in every editorial page, every cable news political program, and every national publication; what it means about me and what I believe.
If there's a lesson for Hollywood here, it isn't that it needs shows that speak to Trump voters or massage their egos. What makes Roseanne hit, is that it is art imitating life, doing it well, and tackling the difficulty of it by laughing instead of whining. What made it good was the authenticity. It wasn't that Trump voters could relate to it, it was that anybody can relate to it regardless of who they voted for. The show's executive producer, Sara Gilbert who plays Roseanne's daughter Darlene says "the show is not about politics. It's not about anyone's position or a policy, it's really about what happens to a family when there's a political divide, which is something that I think the entire country can relate to and something we need to talk about. So, with our show, it's never about "doing an issue" or "doing politics," it's "how do these things affect a family unit." If the Hollywood braintrust can figure out how to portray what people are really concerned about instead of what it wants us to be concerned about, well they may just find that lightning can strike more than once.
Until then, can I just enjoy the show without Fox and Friends, CNN, the NY Times, and Sean Hannity telling me what the popularity of this show means about me and the people I share my community with?
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