"Roseanne" Will Stress Family over Politics in New Season, Channing Dungey Says
by Lisa de Moraes
May 15, 2018


ABC expects "Roseanne" to continue on its path away from politics and focus on family in Season 2 storylines, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey told reporters this morning.

Returning "Roseanne" will kick off Tuesdays in the fall, leading into new 70’s-set single-cam comedy "The Kids Are Alright", about a large working class-family sharing close quarters.





"Roseanne" was the biggest hit of the 2017-18 broadcast season, despite – or because of – being a 30 year-old show headlined by an outspoken Trump supporter, playing a character who is an outspoken Trump supporter.

Its debut ratings were so stunningly large, President Donald Trump called Roseanne Barr to congratulate her – and then took credit for her numbers.





This season’s first episode “did touch on some of that in the first episode in a very funny way,” Dungey acknowledged of the star/character’s Trump support in a phone presser before her Upfront presentation.

But, the ABC Entertainment chief insisted, that was in perfect keeping with conversations you’d expect Roseanne Connor and sister Jackie to have had after the election, reflecting issues and conversations real American families were having at dining tables across the country.

“That said, having touched on that in the first episode of the season,” ABC will look for Season 2 to focus not so much on politics as “family trials and tribulations,” she said.

But she acknowleged Roseanne Barr’s personal politics impact the series’ reception, saying “I do think there is a little bit of that.”





Despite Roseanne’s runaway success, ABC’s new schedule is not thick with multi-cam comedies. The network was far along in this season’s development and pilot ordering before it re-launched "Roseanne" and realized it had a ratings behemoth on its hands, Dungey explained.

“We at ABC have not had as much success with [multi-cam comedies] traditionally as competitors,” she noted. “Roseanne changed the game in that respect,” she observed. But, she’s looking forward to going into the next development season and looking at doing more.

"Roseanne" is in keeping with ABC’s longstanding emphasis on family comedies, and fits well into the network’s Tuesday comedy block already in place, the exec said.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/roseanne-donald-trump-family-over-politics-sason-2-channing-dungey-upfronts-1202391297/

ABC upfronts cemented that Roseanne Barr is the face of ABC -- "an imperfect face" (http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/abc-upfront-five-takeaways-1202811725/)
Roseanne Barr was lavished with praise at Tuesday's upfronts. The Roseanne revival, ABC executives said, is the network's first No. 1 show in the key 18-49 demo in 24 years. Yet the upfronts showed that Barr is an "imperfect face" for the network, says Daniel Holloway. He noted that minutes after Barr took the stage, ABC sister network Freeform showed a sizzle reel containing Parkland high school documentary footage of shooting survivor David Hogg, whom Barr once accused of giving the Nazi salute. "With numbers rare to broadcast, ABC can’t be expected to not make Roseanne its hood ornament," says Holloway. "But the content surrounding Roseanne at the upfront laid bare what an odd fit the show is for that role. ABC spent years overtly linking its brand to inclusion with shows like Modern Family, Black-ish, Speechless, Fresh Off the Boat, and How to Get Away With Murder. Roseanne over-indexes in Midwestern states where Donald Trump performed well in 2017 and broadcast TV has struggled to connect with mass audiences. The schedule ABC touted at upfronts was short on similarly designed programs. The only new series it appears to have positioned to play well with Roseanne is Nathan Fillion cop drama The Rookie."

ALSO:

Darlene’s fate in the Roseanne revival is so tragic, especially for a character once seen as a ray of hope (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/roseanne-recap-darlene-writing-roseane-opioids)
ABC says one in 10 Americans watched the Roseanne revival premiere (https://twitter.com/KateAurthur/status/996493825760727040)
Roseanne succeeds because it's not overtly political -- it engages people based on who they are, not how they vote (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/opinion/roseanne-america-trump-polarization.html)
John Goodman will be the voice of ABC News' new "Straightforward" campaign (https://twitter.com/alexweprin/status/996487177272987649)

"Roseanne" Will Stress Family over Politics in New Season, Channing Dungey Says
by Lisa de Moraes
May 15, 2018


ABC expects "Roseanne" to continue on its path away from politics and focus on family in Season 2 storylines, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey told reporters this morning.

Returning "Roseanne" will kick off Tuesdays in the fall, leading into new 70’s-set single-cam comedy "The Kids Are Alright", about a large working class-family sharing close quarters.





"Roseanne" was the biggest hit of the 2017-18 broadcast season, despite – or because of – being a 30 year-old show headlined by an outspoken Trump supporter, playing a character who is an outspoken Trump supporter.

Its debut ratings were so stunningly large, President Donald Trump called Roseanne Barr to congratulate her – and then took credit for her numbers.





This season’s first episode “did touch on some of that in the first episode in a very funny way,” Dungey acknowledged of the star/character’s Trump support in a phone presser before her Upfront presentation.

But, the ABC Entertainment chief insisted, that was in perfect keeping with conversations you’d expect Roseanne Connor and sister Jackie to have had after the election, reflecting issues and conversations real American families were having at dining tables across the country.

“That said, having touched on that in the first episode of the season,” ABC will look for Season 2 to focus not so much on politics as “family trials and tribulations,” she said.

But she acknowleged Roseanne Barr’s personal politics impact the series’ reception, saying “I do think there is a little bit of that.”





Despite Roseanne’s runaway success, ABC’s new schedule is not thick with multi-cam comedies. The network was far along in this season’s development and pilot ordering before it re-launched "Roseanne" and realized it had a ratings behemoth on its hands, Dungey explained.

“We at ABC have not had as much success with [multi-cam comedies] traditionally as competitors,” she noted. “Roseanne changed the game in that respect,” she observed. But, she’s looking forward to going into the next development season and looking at doing more.

"Roseanne" is in keeping with ABC’s longstanding emphasis on family comedies, and fits well into the network’s Tuesday comedy block already in place, the exec said.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/roseanne-donald-trump-family-over-politics-sason-2-channing-dungey-upfronts-1202391297/

Roseanne Barr: "Press has misrepresented" ABC boss' remarks on Roseanne becoming less political in Season 2 (https://www.thewrap.com/roseanne-barr-press-misrepresented-season-2/)
“I think that they’re going to stay on the path that they were on toward the end of last season, which is away from politics and toward family," ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said on Tuesday. Barr responded on Wednesday by tweeting: "ABC has been nothing but supportive to me and my show and all of our ideas. The press has misrepresented what ABC President said about our new season."

Roseanne Barr: "Press has misrepresented" ABC boss' remarks on Roseanne becoming less political in Season 2 (https://www.thewrap.com/roseanne-barr-press-misrepresented-season-2/)
“I think that they’re going to stay on the path that they were on toward the end of last season, which is away from politics and toward family," ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said on Tuesday. Barr responded on Wednesday by tweeting: "ABC has been nothing but supportive to me and my show and all of our ideas. The press has misrepresented what ABC President said about our new season."
Fake news. lol

I call BS. It's going to be just as political, if not more.

I call BS. It's going to be just as political, if not more.
I think you're right. Even in the original run, they talked politics. Remember the episode where they were closing the bike shop due to bankruptcy, and a local politician stopped by to ask for their vote? :lol:

I think you're right. Even in the original run, they talked politics. Remember the episode where they were closing the bike shop due to bankruptcy, and a local politician stopped by to ask for their vote? :lol:

Yep! I'm in the process of re-watching the original episodes of the show and I remember seeing that one.

Also, the soundbite from the ABC president in the headline just goes to imply that the tenth season put politics over family. In the original episodes, politics were very seldom mentioned, now it just feels like every episode is ripped from headlines. Hopefully next season will be better.

Guess this is all moot now

Guess this is all moot now

I believe so. I feel very bad for the rest of the cast and crew, who have all just lost their jobs, due to one big mouth. :eek:

Yeah, this is very frustrating to see that season 11 won't happen. I was looking forward to seeing other characters from the old series return. Also, I don't think the show really got a proper send-off. So yeah, all around it sucks but it was bound to happen given Roseanne Barr's racist alt right political beliefs.

The title of this thread needs to be changed to Season #11…or should that be Season #not happening now!

Did having Roseanne Conner be a Trump supporter (just like Roseanne Barr in real life) betray the character from the original run? I mean, wasn't Roseanne Conner written as someone who detested many men, PARTICULARLY those who were abusive, as they reminded her of her own father. She therefore, would have NEVER respected someone as brash, abusive and authoritarian as Trump. It just doesn't mesh with her character.

I think that even John Goodman and other castmembers who worked with her felt that Roseanne's suddenly embrace of Trump both in REAL life and in the show seemed contrary to how both the actress and character operate.