You mean to tell me that a TV show that includes debate from both sides of the political ideology spectrum did really well in the ratings? Ya don’t say?!
The return of the foul-mouthed, working-class family from fictional Lanford, Ill. scored a huge ratings win on Tuesday, garnering the most viewers for a half-hour sitcom in over three years.
President Trump decided that a congratulatory phone call was in order for the revival of a show that opens up a dialogue between differing political mindsets, ABC’s “Roseanne.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders confirmed the phone call to the New York Times. It was also said that Trump thanked the star of the show, Roseanne Barr, for her support of him.
"It was pretty exciting — I’ll tell you that much,” Barr said on ABC's "Good Morning America on Thursday. “They said, ‘Hold please for the president of the United States of America.’ It was the most exciting thing ever, and that was very sweet of him to congratulate us."
Barr maintained that it was a private conversation, but she did say that she's "known him [Trump] for many years" and that "he's done a lot of nice things for me over the years."
The premiere episode of the return of “Roseanne” received a hero’s welcome with eye-popping 18.2 million viewers.
Deadline Hollywood writer Nellie Andreeva tried to rationalize how a show with lead character who is Trump a supporter could do so well:
While nostalgia was expected to bring in eyeballs, no one predicted such a huge turnout on premiere night for the blue-collar family sitcom with a Donald Trump-supporting protagonist, especially among the younger demographic. But then, few predicted that Trump would become the Republican nominee and would win the presidential election when he first announced his candidacy.
Both Trump and Roseanne were able to tap into the often overlooked and underserved working-class audience. Not surprisingly, the top TV markets where Roseanne delivered its highest ratings were in states handily carried by Trump in the election. No. 1 was Tulsa in Oklahoma, which Trump won with 65.3% of the vote. It was followed by Cincinnati, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri. The only marquee city from a blue state in the Top 10 was Chicago at No. 5 — the area where the series is set.
Just because Barr and her character on the show are Trump supporters, don’t think that the show is a liberal bash-fest. The show tackles topics from all points of view, instead of the typical Leftist drivel we usually get from modern TV shows.
“I just wanted to have that dialogue about families torn apart by the election and their political differences of opinion and how we handle it,” Barr told the New York Times on Tuesday. “I thought that this was an important thing to say at this time.”
This is something that everyone should be on board with, especially if you’re a strong proponent of free speech. There’s nothing wrong with espousing liberal points of view in a TV show, as long as other points of view are represented as well.
ABC has until April 15 to renew “Roseanne” for a second season, according to Deadline Hollywood. The cast already have deals in place for another season.
“Roseanne” is scheduled to produce eight episodes for ABC this season, so it’ll be interesting to see how the ratings shuffle out moving forward.
Just in case you're not familiar with 'Roseanne," here's the trailer for the show: