You know how Will & Grace feels like no time has passed since it ended its first run? Well, to me, Roseanne does not feel that way. The cast, the acting, the writing and the plots all seem very different from the show we know and love.
I could not figure out why, and then it hit me while I was doing a Before They Were Famous on John Goodman. When the show started out, Roseanne was a comedian, who just had a big break with an HBO comedy special, but she was still not a household name. John Goodman had been acting for around a decade and still had not had his big break. Same with Laurie Metcalf. Plus, the kids were all kids and this was their first big role.
They were hungry, they knew what it was like to be blue collar, to struggle. Today, they are making barrels of cash because of Roseanne being in high rotation in syndication. They are no longer the average man, they are the 1%. They cannot relate to the viewers anymore and I think the feeling is reciprocal. It is just not the same show.
For example, tonight at 8p on ABC, David is back and we find out why he left Darlene. It was not because they were young and stupid when they got together. It is not because they fell out of love. It is not because one of them had an affair. It is not the reason why most teenage couples grow apart. He left her to build houses overseas for people in need.
WTF? This is not the David we knew. He was a timid little mouse who was too afraid to leave Illinois, let alone the country. Darlene, I could see doing it in spite but not David.
That just goes to show how the writers are not only out of touch with the viewers, they are also out of touch with the show and its character. When it comes to the writers, they were just as hungry. Chuck Lorre did not have his own show on #1 show on TV. Joss Whedon was not a huge movie director. They were just two guys getting rumored to have been belittled by Roseanne.
Now you have successful people like Sara Gilbert, Wanda Sykes and Whitney Cummings writing the show. It changed the tone of the sitcom, and it feels like a whole new comedy with the same cast.
I want the Roseanne I watch on LAFF, We TV and TV Land back instead of what is airing on ABC now. I don’t think it is possible, but that is what I want.
What about you? How do you feel about the revival? Do you think it feels the same or different?
And my feelings have nothing to do with Roseanne’s politics, it has everything to with the show feels so forced now and not natural like it was the first go around.
