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.
dr smith
05/30/18 at 12:25pm
They have no problem working with paedos like polaski, but say one racist tweet and your career is over.
tirebiter
05/30/18 at 12:16pm
@Bobbie - That is a false equivalency. While I haven't watched "Full Frontal" in several months, I never saw Bee make any accusation without providing factual evidence to support it. The way journalism is supposed to be. Even when it's slanted. Barr spews debunked conspiracies that have no other purpose then to cause harm to the targets. No evidence is ever given. Plus FWIW, Barr's show is on prime time network TV and Bee's show is on late night cable. And it's billed as a social commentary comedy show. There's an expectation that it will take pot shots at people. If conservatives could sustain similar shows without going full infowars/wnd/alt-right I'm sure they would. Fox News tried it a few years ago. IIRC, the show was gone in less than a month.
I think Barr stepped over the line once too much for ABC execs. They probably felt that the backlash would cost more in money and reputation then they would gain by letting it go.
Alex
05/30/18 at 11:51am
Couldn't agree more 'Okay Then' - "Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences." Sad that it crushes all the other's careers, but they could easily kill her off with the way they ended the 10th season with her going into surgery. So.... ?
Of Course
05/30/18 at 11:22am
Wanda Dykes can call Trump a Orangutan but God forbid anyone call Obama an Ape.Double Standards
John H. Schneider II
05/30/18 at 10:39am
Fox should cancel last man just to be safe.
Real American
05/30/18 at 10:34am
@Big Ern. When conservatives don't get there way they are overly sensitive millennial crybabies who are fragile & melt down over everything. I bet you respond to this obvious bait and melt down over it... proving you are the snowflake. The term is actually a new form of unrespondable insult. When called a snowflake you become one when you respond thus proving the troll.
If you use the term you in support of a republican ideal you are a snowflake, if you use it in a liberal ideal it is irony.
DinMich
05/30/18 at 08:39am
You can bet that if Roseanne was a liberal and said something along those lines about a Trump member, ABC wouldn't have batted an eyelash. I wouldn't doubt there were many furled eyebrows in the ABC executive meetings trying to find a reason to cancel her show from the start. Just like Last Man Standing! C'mon, FOX, pick up Roseanne.
Bobbie
05/30/18 at 08:28am
And yet, they leave a show like Samantha Bee on.....smh
Dont Get Your Panties In A Wad
05/30/18 at 08:24am
*sigh* I saw someone say that liberals have a major double standard in this country. I don't align with either political party so I guess it's easy for me to see that statements like that can be applied to both sides. My conservatives friends threw a fit over comedienne Michelle Wolff's joke about eye shadow at a roast. Demanded she apologize. When Roseanne tweeted a racist comment (and it was racist), they claimed it was a joke and we should understand that she's a comedienne. I've had my liberal friends do the same thing. Yell boycott when a company does something they don't like and then laugh when conservatives do the same thing. Seriously, both sides are ridiculous and can be easily called snowflakes with accuracy. The meltdown's are bigger than a toddler's who wants a new toy but doesn't get it.
As far as Roseanne and her tweets, she's a grown woman and should have known better. Yes, she can say what she wants, but there are consequences. She's finding that out now.
MoeB
05/30/18 at 08:13am
I couldn't care less about what she says. And I don't care that her show was cancelled. Had no intention on watching that garbage anyway. Apparently simple folk get entertained by something they use to watch years ago, but comes back because the characters are older and networks can't think of anything new and creative.
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