When Roseanne returns to ABC for its revival season in March, the creative team is retconning the "It was all in Roseanne's memoir" outcomes, including Dan's death. So the show very easily could have sidestepped its other big oddity: two different Beckys. While Lecy Goranson is back to reprise O.G. Becky for the revival, it was also known that her replacement (and future Scrubs star) Sarah Chalke would be involved in the main storyline. And now it's finally been revealed how that will go down: Goranson is going to have Chalke's baby! Well, sort of.
In order to fit Sarah Chalke in with her former co-stars, creator and showrunner Bruce Helford and the executive producers crafted a storyline where Lecy Goranson's Becky will be hired as a surrogate for a married and middle-class woman named Andrea, to be played by Chalke. Perhaps it's to be expected that Becky's life-changing new job sparks some heated conversations between her and the rest of the family. But we can probably expect to see some self-aware comedy within this story as well, to pay homage to both actresses during their first time sharing the screen together on Roseanne. (They did an episode of Inside Amy Schumer together, though.) And it's right in line with what Chalke had told CinemaBlend she wanted from her time on the revival.
As everyone might imagine, Sarah Chalke is pumped to return to the role that made her a household name to millions of people. Here's how she put it to EW.
I love the part! It's such a fun part to play! I was so excited to hear that it was coming back. I think the timing is perfect. I think it's exactly what is needed right now. Right now when the country is so divided, I really think it's a show that brings people together. The writing is so unbelievable. It's so funny.
She sadly didn't give anything else away right there, but Sarah Chalke's enthusiasm is still passed on in a big way. It's a smart plan to get the two actresses together, since the writers could have just phoned it in and cast Chalke as a funny friend or an annoying neighbor or something. But how will this situation match up with the fate of Glenn Quinn's Mark Healy? And will Andrea's husband also be played by someone recognizable?
It's interesting to hear Sarah Chalke reiterate the idea that Roseanne is not going to ignore the societal divide happening in America right now. The new season -- which has star Sara Gilbert, Whitney Cummings and Tom Werner as executive producers -- will keep the focus on how the Conners have remained a paycheck-to-paycheck family in the years they've been away from our TVs. Considering how much the economy (and everything else) has changed since the show ended its run in 1997 -- as well as how politically assertive Roseanne Barr still is -- we're pumped to see where its comedy lands on audience's ears. Give 'em hell, Bev.
With former stars like Estelle Parsons, Sandra Bernhard and more returning, Roseanne will make its long-awaited return to ABC on Tuesday, March 27, at 8:00 p.m. It'll be a one-hour special, too, so get ready. And while you're waiting, head to our 2018 midseason premiere schedule to see all the other new and returning shows that are on the way.
