Revivals are all the rage on networks large and small nowadays, and some have been much bigger hits than others. The latest revival to hit the airwaves was none other than Roseanne on ABC. While there were plenty of people talking about the Roseanne revival in the weeks and months ahead of its premiere, it was difficult to gauge how well it would perform in the ratings. Well, it turns out that a ton of people tuned in to watch the premiere, and the ratings were staggeringly high. Sara Gilbert, who plays Darlene in the series, shared her feelings on the premiere's massive ratings:
I knew that we performed better than people expected, but I didn't understand that they were such phenomenal numbers at first. It took me a minute. . . . You want people to connect and want to reach your audience and so often in this life and in this industry you fall short of achieving of what you want. I'm just thrilled that people let us into their homes. I never expected this kind of response and I feel beyond grateful. There are no words because the words all sound cliche. I think the entire cast and producers, we're all extremely grateful that America showed up.
Apparently, even one of the stars of the revival didn't imagine how well the premiere would perform in the ratings! Sara Gilbert's comments to Variety indicate that the goal was to form a connection with viewers, and nobody expected the numbers for the premiere. In Live+Same day calculations, Roseanne was watched by more than 18 million people, which is a larger audience than that which watched the much-panned finale that was originally intended as the series finale. Viewership for the Roseanne premiere was only just behind the viewership for CBS' NCIS and NBC's The Voice... combined. The premiere also scored a 5.1 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. And that's without George Clooney!
Something tells me that ABC will be more than willing to sign off on more than one season of the Roseanne revival! Leading lady Roseanne Barr has already stated that the cast is down to do more seasons. Who knows? Perhaps more seasons could feature Johnny Galecki more than a single episode. The Big Bang Theory can't last forever, and he's spoken positively about the renewal. We can only wait and see.
New episodes of Roseanne air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. There's still plenty to come, what with David reuniting with Darlene to complicate things, the original Becky actress acting as surrogate to Becky 2.0's actress, and occasional commentary on current events and politics. If you need to know your other TV options now and in the coming months, be sure to swing by our midseason TV premiere schedule and our summer TV premiere guide. If streaming is more your style, we have a handy Netflix premiere schedule and a 2018 Amazon Prime guide. For the shows that have already gotten the axe this season, check out our rundown of cancellations and renewals.
