One of the most highly anticipated TV revivals of all time, Roseanne's return to the small screen has got fans pumped to see what the Conner family is up to 20 years after the first exited primetime. It's almost surprising that casting news is still being revealed, considering the season is presumably set to go public in a couple of months, but we're always excited nonetheless. Now, two more major Roseanne stars' returns have been announced, with Estelle Parsons and Sandra Bernhard set to reprise their respective roles of Beverly and Nancy.
Considering Roseanne's revival season will be nine episodes, as opposed to the longer runs of years past, it's perhaps understandable that we won't be seeing a ton of either of these characters. Estelle Parsons, who's at the ripe age of 90, will be back for two episodes as Roseanne's nag-happy mother Beverly Harris. Often complaining about Roseanne, Jackie or (back in the day) her own mother Nana Mary, Bev was around for all ten seasons of the sitcom's original run, and it'll be interesting to see how her worldview fits into the new season. She'd always put forth a more buttoned-down personality, in contrast to her more progressive family members, although she did come out as a lesbian in that misguided final season. We're assuming the character will remain gay in the revival, even though that reveal was retconned by the ridiculous "it was all part of a memoir" finale twist.
Meanwhile, Sandra Bernhard will bring the sass as Roseanne and Jackie's bisexual friend Nancy Bartlett, though she'll only be back for a single episode of the revival. First introduced in Season 4 as the fiancee of Tom Arnold's sleazy Arnie, Nancy was the co-owner of the Lanford Lunch Box, and during her run, Bernhard bounced from being a regular to a recurring character, depending on how she was needed. Nancy was also a major factor in one of Roseanne's most memorable and controversial moments, the same sex kiss between Nancy's girlfriend Sharon (Mariel Hemingway) and Roseanne, which almost caused ABC to pull the episode from airing.
No details have been given about what to expect from either of these characters' returns, which isn't too crazy, since not a lot of details have come out about anything, beyond the fact that they're basically ignoring the major events of Season 9. However it goes, we're hoping for big laughs and genuine emotions when Bev and Nancy are back on our TVs.
The news that Estelle Parsons and Sandra Bernhard are returning to Roseanne, as reported by TVLine, comes not long after another major casting announcement was made, though perhaps not purposefully. Executive producer Whitney Cummings revealed that current Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki will indeed reprise his role of David Healy, who now has a pair of kids with Sara Gilbert's Darlene. We're hoping the next big reveals involve George Clooney and Fred Willard.
Roseanne's revival still doesn't have a premiere date on ABC, but we're hoping it's coming soon. In the meantime, you can stream Roseanne's whole run on Amazon, and to see what other new and returning shows are on the way in the future, head to our fall TV premiere schedule and our 2018 midseason premiere schedule.
