In 2018, TV viewers are going to feel like they're back in the '90s, as that's when ABC is bringing the classic sitcom Roseanne back for a most supreme TV revival. While Dan's retconned death is arguably the best change-up coming to the new episodes, one really intriguing element will be the return of both Becky Conner portrayers, Sarah Chalke and Lecy Goranson. Chalke spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets about her Adult Swim comedy Rick and Morty Season 3, and when Roseanne inevitably came up, she actually sounded most pumped about getting to work with Goranson again.
We haven't worked together a lot, so it'll be fun to actually get to work and do scenes with her. Because we only sort of see each other where literally they'll have a Roseanne reunion, and they'll have a photo shoot where we're having an arm-wrestle. These very specific meetings with switched-off parts. . . . And then we did an episode of Inside Amy Schumer together last year.
Considering both Sarah Chalke and Lecy Goranson played the same character during the same run of the same sitcom, logic wouldn't peg them as having shared the screen together on a regular basis in the fictional setting of Lanford, Illinois. Both actresses did get to poke fun at their former gigs thanks to the Season 4 episode "Psychopath Test" from Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer, which depicted a similar series of actress changes. But as far as mixing it up together a bunch on Roseanne itself, well we'll just have to wait and see what the revival delivers on that front.
As fans are all too aware, Roseanne put forth the most infamous set of character casting switch-ups to ever hit the small screen. While Lecy Goranson went four seasons without having an issue while playing Becky, her college education shook things up, and her infrequent appearances gave way to Sarah Chalke's introduction as the new and sometimes-around-again Becky. That is, until Goranson was allowed to return on sporadic occasions in later seasons, creating a strange revolving door of Beckys that the writers weren't afraid to directly address in the dialogue. One would hope that Chalke's placement in the revival episodes will also draw some laughs by referencing all those character swaps.
Unfortunately, Sarah Chalke wasn't too keen on letting anyone listening know exactly where things were headed. In her words:
So, I am not able to say what the part is that I'm doing, but I'm so excited. It's so genius that they're doing another eight episodes of that. I just think it's so timely to go back into that family, right now specifically.
Nothing is stated overtly, of course, but the bare minimum that we can glean from this comment is that Roseanne will likely be playing up the Conner family's financial situation. And going heavy on class issues in 2017 is a lot different from doing such a thing when Roseanne was still in its original run. Of course, a lot of things are different.
The Roseanne revival will be introducing some new characters to the ensemble, mostly in the form of children who were born near the end of the series' run and then beyond it. Darlene and David will have two youngins, and it's possible that one will be used to reference the passing of cast member Glenn Quinn, who played Becky's husband Mark.
At this point, Roseanne doesn't have a specific release date locked in, but we can all expect to see the eight-episode season premiere during the midseason months of early 2018. While waiting on that, though, you can hear Sarah Chalke in the long-awaited Season 3 of Rick and Morty when it properly premieres on Adult Swim on Sunday, July 30. And in the meantime, head to our summer premiere schedule to see everything else yet to debut.
