Posted on 05/30/2018 4:05:46 PM PDT by EdnaMode
With the shock of the swift and sudden cancellation by ABC of its highest-rated series Roseanne — after the series’ co-creator, star and executive producer Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets — finally starting to subside, a question emerges: What’s next?
I hear executive producers Tom Werner and Sara Gilbert, the main driving force behind the revival, are expected to meet with some of the series’ writers, led by executive producer/showrunner Bruce Helford, in a few days — after the raw emotions from the abrupt cancellation have cooled off — to kick around possible ideas for continuing the show without Barr.
The effort to save the show in some shape and form, led by Carsey-Werner, which owns and produces Roseanne, is understandable given the success of the revival and the money at stake. The independent production company already has all actors under contract for next season. The top-notch co-starring cast, led by John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Gilbert, love working together and I hear they are potentially open to returning if the right creative idea is presented to them.
Still, there are a lot of hurdles, from coming up with a concept that will live up to the high creative bar set by the original series to changing the name of the show.
An informed source close to the situation said pulling off an offshoot series with the rest of the Roseanne cast is “possible but not probable.” Another source called it “a long shot.” If it comes together, Roseanne 2.0 would likely not be ready for fall. if it doesn’t, the focus will shift to who will get paid for the aborted Season 11. I hear there have been no conversations yet with the Roseanne cast, writers or crew about compensation but such talks should be forthcoming if the Hail Mary pass to salvage the show does not work.
I hear ABC is currently not involved in any discussions about a potential Roseanne spinoff without Barr. Unlike the case of Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, who was fired by series producer Warner Bros TV after his epic 2011 meltdown but the series was kept alive by CBS until a replacement was found, ABC didn’t just disassociate itself from Barr, it canceled her series. That makes for more complicated conversations should a potential offshoot overcome the first big hurdle — coming up with a concept that the producers and cast like.
And then there is Barr, whose shadow will be looming large in the background. After initially apologizing to Valerie Jarrett for the racist Planet of the Apes comparison, Barr has grown more defiant, re-tweeting up a storm of messages from supporters and indicating she may be ready a fight back.
Roseanne Barr ✔ @therealroseanne you guys make me feel like fighting back. I will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U. 2:54 PM - May 30, 2018
Barr already attacked two of her Roseanne cast members, Michael Fishman and Gilbert, who had condemned her Jarrett tweets. She will likely continue to lob Twitter grenades should the show, which she co-created and headlined for 10 seasons, go on without her.
Proposed Show Title: Investigator Mueller
Premise: A lanky and incompetent prosecutor and his gang of misfits bumble their way thru cases which end in disaster
Sample Dialog:
Mueller: You have that case against the Russians ready?
Minion 1: You bet boss! I've got over 1 terabyte of Russian collusion on tape.
Minion 2: Tape? The 80's called and they want your Betamax back.
(laugh track)
Minion 1: Don't get technical with me! It's all about the numbers. 20 Russians indicted on collusion. 20! A terabyte of audio. The press will eat it up.
Minion 2: Sure. 'Cause you're gonna spoon-feed it to them.
(laugh track)
Minion 3: Get the Times on the line!
- cut to outside of courtroom -
Mueller: What do you mean they showed up?!
Minion 1: The Russians. They showed up for the trial.
Mueller: All of them?
Minion 1: 21 of them.
Mueller: I thought we indicted 20?
Minion 1: We did. I threw in an extra one for good measure. No charge!
(laugh track)
Mueller: I like your spirit!
(laugh track)
Minion 1: There is one other little problem?
Mueller: What?
Minion 1: The tape.
Mueller: It's really recorded on Betamax and we don't have a machine to play it back?
(laugh track)
Minion1: No. It's worse. It was in Russian. And we didn't translate it until now, 'cause we didn't think those crazy Ivans would actually show up. You know?
Mueller: So what's wrong?
Minion 1: Well, we ran it thru Google Translate and it turns out it's not so much Russian collusion. It's actually more of a lunch order.
(laugh track)
Minion 2: A lunch order? It's a terabyte of tape!
Minion 1: Recording
Minion 2: Whatever!
(laugh track)
Minion 1: What can I say. Those Russians like a big lunch.
(laugh track)
Mueller: A lunch order! We can indite a ham sandwich. I can't prosecute someone for ordering a ham sandwich!
(laugh track)
Minion 2: Actually, the order includes 4 Ruben sandwiches and they did ask for Russian rye, so we have something.
(laugh track)
Mueller: What a pickle!
(laugh track)
They will say she died because she couldn’t get Obamacare after Trump was elected.
you want a popular cry to save the show
“It would be interesting to see how they write Roseanne off the show.”
Easy enough for ABC. Suicide. Can’t you see Goodman explaining to the grandchildren that grandma went so far right she lost her mind and killed herself and please don’t be like her.
Juanita Broaddrick just opened up a fight with Sara Gilbert. That’s all Twitter is on about but I was happy to see her put down that person (who has her defenders on FR).
Not really. I don’t care about the show so much. Just commenting on your theory.
Will be interesting to see if Gilbert replies.
suuuuure- go for it- pour all kinds of money into it trying to make it successful-
Gilbert was hoping for some more work and was willing to swallow all her leftist beliefs in order to ride Roseanne's coattails, without which no one would have ever heard of her....if she gets her way and 'revives it w/o Roseanne" then it will not be worth airing....
Does she not control rights to use of her own name? Is she going to have to come up with some weird hieroglyphic like Prince that means “The Comedian Formerly Known As Rosanne?”
I loved that!
“Probably fail worse than “two and a half men” without Charlie Sheen”
Amazing that show lasted four more years without Sheen. I only watched a grand total of one Show with Kutcher, the Series finally. As crude as the Comedy was I get a chuckle out of watching some of the Sheen episodes on re-runs.
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