The Challenge Will be to Keep it Funny

Roseanne's 2018 cast (eonline)

Like most subjects these days the revival of Roseanne was forced Manichean-ly (maniacally?) through the prism of whether it was pro- or anti-Trump. (Star Roseanne Barr is one of the few celebrities who had spoken favorably about the President.)

The pilot episode attracted 18.4 million viewers, which enabled ABC to win the week. As expected, there were political jokes, but unlike other heavy-handed comedies the pro-Trump Roseanne character gave as good as she got.

Two weeks later the hoopla has diminished. Viewership dropped to 13.5 million, still #1 and still considered a ratings hit (it's already been renewed for next season). The apolitical plot concerned whether Roseanne's older daughter would become a surrogate mother and earn a badly needed $50,000.

I'm glad that Roseanne isn't scripted like All in the Family, which had a usually-hilarious debate on the controversial topic of the week. The show is like All in The Family, though, in that it's centered on the lives of a white working class family whose characters struggle paycheck to paycheck. There's a laugh a minute, but pathos lurks in the background.

I suspect that the show will end up being a richly textured look at working-class America, maybe with a little politics to fire up viewers occasionally. The challenge will be to keep it funny.