Roseanne reboot is exactly what you’d expect
The Conners were never apologetic when we first met them, and they’re aren’t now, either.
For nine seasons, “Roseanne” broke ground in what a network sitcom could portray. Its working-class family, struggling to get by, and in-your-face humour felt revolutionary in 1988.
Thirty years later, ABC’s revival (beginning March 27, Tuesdays at 8 p.m.) isn’t revolutionary. In fact, the series feels as though it’s frozen in time. The cast is the same. The house is the same. The fat jokes are the same. The struggle is the same. All that’s changed is their age.
Of course, the world is different since Roseanne signed off in 1997. ABC is marketing the revival as a nostalgia trip, a return to simpler times and values. But can Roseanne remind us of the past without pretending we’re actually living there?
No, and yes. Wisely, new episodes mostly ignore the muchderided Season 9 (except for a glancing mention of the story Roseanne wrote) and set up the Conners’ new reality.
Daughter Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and her two kids have moved back home, ostensibly so she can help care for her aging parents, but also because she’s struggling as a single mom. Becky — played by original actress Lecy Goranson — is a widow, a waitress and adrift. Son DJ (Michael Fishman) has returned from a stint in the Army, but his wife is still overseas. And Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Dan (John Goodman) are just as in love and just as cynical, although Dan is no longer dead, in an undoing of the series finale.
Like Will & Grace’s return on NBC, Roseanne kicks off with an episode that tries to jam the old comedy and aging stars into the modern era. Both sitcoms do this by leaning on the 2016 election.
The première reveals that Jackie and Roseanne have been feuding about politics for more than a year, which leads to unbearable arguments using stilted buzzwords. There’s been some controversy over the decision, pushed by Barr, to make Roseanne a supporter of President Trump. But regardless of your political beliefs, you have to think they could have incorporated the discussion without making the sisters’ dialogue sound so unnatural. We love them because they’re people, not talking heads.
There are moments in the opener when it feels like the adult cast is phoning it in. Goodman, in particular, takes a few episodes to get back into the groove as Dan. Everyone’s comedic timing is a bit off at first, and you can even hear the studio audience not-quite laughing at many of the tired punchlines.
In later episodes, everyone relaxes a little and the chemistry that made the show so successful is at least partially recaptured. The jokes land better, and the new realities of their lives feel more, well, lived-in.
Even so, “Roseanne” is never quite as laugh-out-loud funny as before, but it rides nostalgia as far as it can. It’s still a series about family and love and acceptance, and if you’re looking for familiar faces and easy watching, “Roseanne” will probably satisfy.
For those looking for something sharper, ABC has plenty of other family comedies to choose from.