The Roseanne revival was a huge hit for ABC as soon as it debuted back in March, breaking ratings records right off the bat. Despite a renewal for Season 2, Roseanne was officially cancelled by ABC on May 29 after a controversial tweet fired off by Roseanne Barr herself. Although Barr later stated on Twitter that the tweet was a result of Ambien, the odds are that she won't be back on ABC as star of her own series again. A big question now is whether the rest of the cast could reprise their roles in a Roseanne spinoff. Here's what we know.
Executive producers Tom Werner and Sara Gilbert (who also stars as Darlene Conner) are slated to meet with some of Roseanne's writers, and showrunner Bruce Helford will lead the talks, according to Deadline. The topic of conversation will be whether there is a way for Roseanne to continue in some way, shape, or form without Roseanne Barr on board. Other key members of the Roseanne cast -- including John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf as well as Gilbert -- are reportedly open to continuing as their characters if a satisfactory creative direction is pitched.
ABC is evidently not involved in current talks about a Roseanne continuation, and the push to potentially craft a spinoff comes largely from independent production company Carsey-Werner, which has already invested a hefty chunk of change in the series. Carsey-Werner owns and produces Roseanne, and already had the cast under contract for the second season and could theoretically bring them back for a spinoff.
All of this said, fans of the Conner family other than Roseanne herself shouldn't get their hopes too high that the original cast will reprise their roles for a spinoff. Roseanne has created a lot of negative buzz in the aftermath of Roseanne Barr's controversial tweet, with members of the cast and other folks from the show openly criticizing Barr for her comments. ABC was quick to pull the plug on the second season, and the show's page on ABC's website has already been taken down. The network may not be inclined to produce any kind of show associated with Barr after the uproar, and Carsey-Werner might be hard-pressed to find another network or platform willing to associate with the show at all.
Only time will tell if there is a future on the small screen for any of the Conner family. Television nowadays is in an era of reboots, remakes, and revivals, so nothing is necessarily out of the question. Still, fans should probably not get their hopes up that any version of Roseanne -- with or without the leading lady -- will be back on the airwaves at any point. We'll have to wait and see. For what you can watch in the not-too-distant future on the small screen, check out our summer TV premiere guide, our 2018 Amazon Prime schedule, and our 2018 Netflix premiere rundown.
