Racist tweets bring an end to comedy's biggest comeback.
May 29, 2018
Just two months after picking up Roseanne for an 11th season, ABC has reversed the move. The cancellation comes after show star Roseanne Barr took to Twitter with a series of racist and anti-semitic posts. The most offending being a now-deleted tweet calling adviser to former President Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, an offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.”
The backlash that followed was immediate and intense, with numerous celebrities and pundits speaking out against her remarks. Barr subsequently apologized, calling the tweet a joke, but it was too late. The damage had been done.
Comedian Wanda Sykes was the first person involved with the show to make a move, announcing her departure from writing on Season 2 this morning. But that was just the beginning, as mere hours later, ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey announced that the network was cancelling the show due to her "abhorrent, repugnant" words that were "inconsistent with our values."
The decision was obviously not made lightly, as Roseanne's comeback was the biggest success story ever for a revived series. The show's Season 10 premiere in March surpassed all expectations by drawing a massive audience of 18 million viewers with an impressive 5.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. Those numbers are almost unheard of nowadays, especially for broadcast comedies.
But now instead of going on another likely-lengthy run, Roseanne's revival ends after just nine episodes, with the now-series finale airing one week ago.
FUBAR
05/29/18 at 06:48pm
Will ABC never learn? Since this is neither an ABC nor Disney production, there's nothing stopping another network from picking it up. Any network with an opportunity to take over a proven successful show and passes on it is run by fools. Tje same goes for the network that cancels a show for political reasons and ABC is now doubly guilty of that. Are you lstening, ABC? i'm offended by The View every day. Whaen will you be cancelling that to make me happy? Ha!
tirebiter
05/29/18 at 06:40pm
A lot of people on the right need to gain a better understanding of the First Amendment. It clearly doesn't mean what they think it does. Also, they need to realize that prime-time network TV has different constraints than even late night network TV and particularly cable channels. There were very likely specific behavioral clauses in Roseanne's contract that she violated, and probably had been doing all along but they let her "test the boundaries". Most likely they sent friendly warnings to her publicist and the like. Her triple attacks on Jarrett, Chelsea Clinton and George Soros which were debunked lies probably put the network at great risk of losing lawsuits.
Networks operate solely on the bottom line. If it's likely to make money, they go with it. If it's likely to cost them money, they cut their losses. That's what happened with Last Man Standing. ABC leased the show and the production company raised the price too high for the network to keep it on the air. It had nothing to do with Tim Allen's political views.
I'd be nihilistic if it mattered
05/29/18 at 06:20pm
Show sucked anyway.
William Howe
05/29/18 at 05:53pm
She just couldn't keep her mouth shut!
Shawn
05/29/18 at 05:43pm
Not for racism at all, but when that's all anyone looks for in any and all comments, in this PC world I guess that's all that will be found. Funny it doesn't seem to go both ways. Cancel Roseanne, one that has never been known to stay in line, but keep the liberal, comedic late night hacks and day time round tables that spew nothing but hate, anti-white,anti-Christian garbage, day after day, night after night. Roseanne gave it both ways. She wasn't for Trump, she was for America. Whichever side deserved roasting would get it. Unlike most of today's "comics". BTW it's fine for them to refer to our President as an Orangatan.
Huh,
michael dobey
05/29/18 at 05:28pm
Tweeting is the enemy of sanity. It's too fast You can get away with more on facebook for sure. She made some stupid remarks, you never make fun of appearance or race. You go for politics alone. That will keep you out of the frying pan. But others do make bad remarks and have gotten away with it. But she did NUMEROUS ones all in a row.
Tim
05/29/18 at 05:24pm
Good! Never liked her or her show. Roseanne should know better; isn't she about 70. She thought she was back in the 60's.
The Punisher
05/29/18 at 05:22pm
Just because she had an opinion liberals dont like, but they can say anything they like...
Paul
05/29/18 at 05:02pm
#BOYCOTTABC
Leah Lane
05/29/18 at 04:23pm
The View is disgusting, the severed head was gross, that stupid woman is still showing up. Roseanne, it was a comment against the democrats.ops! All done.
Please pick her up fox.When hard working conservative Americans are done working our butts off, we need a few shows.
Democrats can say and do the most vile criminal things.Conservatives and Republicans, get back in line, stay in line. Stay in line people.Stay in line the whole way to the camp gate. Reeducation, stay in line.
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