Roseanne is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr, which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27 to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseanne Conner and revolves around her family in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. Lauded for its realistic portrayal of a working-class American family, the series reached No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings from 1989 to 1990 in its second season.
During the initial run, the series remained in the top four for six of the nine seasons, and in the top 20 for eight. During the short-lived revival, the series reached No. 3, with an average of 18 million viewers per episode within the span of its nine episodes. In 1993, the episode "A Stash from the Past" was ranked No. 21 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[1] In 2002, Roseanne was ranked No. 35 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[2] In 2013, it was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's 60 Best Series of All Time.[3]
On May 16, 2017, ABC announced it had greenlit a revived, 10th season of Roseanne as a mid-season replacement in 2018, with the original cast returning. In November 2017, ABC requested an additional episode, bringing the total to nine.[4][5] It premiered on March 27, 2018, to an initial audience of 18.44 million, which grew to 27.26 million total viewers following 7 days of delayed viewing. On March 30, 2018, following the success of its premiere, Roseanne was renewed for an 11th season of 13 episodes.
ABC reversed its renewal decision and canceled Roseanne on May 29, 2018, after Barr likened former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett to Planet of the Apes, in a comment on Twitter that was described by the network's president as being "abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values."[6][7][8][9][10][11] On June 21, 2018, ABC announced plans to re-tool the show as a spin-off involving the Conner family without Roseanne Barr, entitled The Conners.[12] The new program premiered in October 2018.