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ABC/Adam Rose(LOS ANGELES) — The debut of the reboot of Roseanne was a huge hit for ABC: the Wednesday night bow of the updated sitcom drew 18.2 million viewers, a huge audience considering modern TV viewing habits.
What’s more, the second episode, which aired right after the first, scored even better: 18.6 million viewers tuned in, Deadline reports.
The show scored on social media, too. It was Twitter’s top trending topic Wednesday night, widely praised for fairly portraying a family with differing political views.
Roseanne herself was adamant that her TV persona be a Donald Trump supporter, one of those working-class Americans derided as “deplorables” by Hillary Clinton — a term the show referenced Wednesday night.
Laurie Metcalf, who plays Roseanne’s sister Jackie, clashes with her on political issues. The rest of the Conner family have various political beliefs, but the show is more about family than politics.
Sara Gilbert, who plays Darlene, tells ABC Radio she’s excited that the new Roseanne isn’t shy about showing views that are different than those are usually seen on TV.
“Each side, we’re both guilty of being so afraid of the other side’s point of view, and not talking to each other and assuming everybody aligns 100% with their candidate, instead of seeing what each individual’s point of view is…”
Gilbert was instrumental in the show returning: the reboot was born from a Roseanne sketch with John Goodman on Sara’s show, The Talk. However, the actress-producer remains modest about her role.
“Honestly, people are giving me credit for getting it together, but honestly it was like kindling waiting to be ignited,” she says. “I think everybody wanted to do it, and it just took somebody asking, ‘Hey, will you do it?’ and everybody just jumped on board.”
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