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‘Roseanne’ ends season with a hopeful note as storms brew
By MARK KENNEDY, AP Entertain- ment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The reboot of “Roseanne” ended the season Tuesday with a flood, a feast and a prayer. It was a hope- ful climax to a show that’s been popular and yet also divisive.
Roseanne Barr, who plays the titular character on the hit ABC show, plans to go to the hospital for knee surgery when her family surprises her with a goodbye meal that includes ham, cake and casserole. Outside a storm is raging.
The flooded community has been declared part of a presidential state of emergency. So Roseanne’s husband is sud- denly flush with construction work and the family can pay for her surgery. “I hope to see my husband’s face and not yours,” she prays to God. “No offense.”
“It’s about rain and health care and God,” Barr told The Associated Press on the eve of the finale’s airing. “We’re wrapping up
the season in a great way that kind of gives the idea that government can really help people. That’s something that I wanted to end on.”
Barr said she was thrilled that so many people have tuned in every week and that many of the hot-button issues that were raised in the reboot will continue in the coming season.
“The show did great. Scrutiny is always good — it’s part of being successful,” she said. “It gives everyone something to talk about. And everyone gets to express their opinion, too.”
Politics made an immediate impact in the first episode, when it was clear that Roseanne Conner embraced President Donald Trump, while her sister, Jackie, was a staunch opponent. In the series finale, the show mocks Trump for his inability to spell “Illinois” in a tweet.
The Trump factor earned the show a wealth of media and other attention,
including from the president himself. He called to congratulate Barr on the show’s 18 million-plus debut audience and in a speech said the show “was about us.”
“Roseanne” has tackled hot-button top- ics such as the opioid epidemic, single par- enting, undocumented workers, unions, military veterans, debt and the struggles facing lower middle-class families.
“We want to be brave. We want to tackle things that other shows are worried they can’t either make funny or will make peo- ple uncomfortable,” said executive produc- er Bruce Helford, who also worked on the original series, which ran from 1988-97.
The reboot also has prompted some out- rage, including a joke about two other TV shows featuring minority characters that was deemed dismissive, and an episode some people called Islamophobic.
Sara Gilbert, who has returned to play Roseanne’s daughter, Darlene, and is also an executive producer, said the negative
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