Chuck Lorre Says Roseanne Barr Had 'Malice' Toward Sitcom Writers
The producer recalled a 'built-in animosity' between the comedian and the writing staff during their time working together on the hit ABC sitcom.
Legendary television producer Chuck Lorre stated that Roseanne Barr harbored "malice" toward the writers of her eponymous sitcom, making her "impossible" to work with.
Lorre, who was a writer and producer on "Roseanne" for two seasons, shared his perspective on the "Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson” podcast. He claimed that Barr, who starred in and often influenced the creative direction of the show, "fundamentally hated" that other people wrote the words she would say.
"Roseanne hated that there were writers. Fundamentally hated that other people wrote words that she would say," Lorre recounted. He characterized the dynamic between Barr and any writing staff as having "a built-in animosity."
Lorre attributed this difficulty to Barr's foundational success as a stand-up comedian, where her own voice and material were paramount. "It was the premise of other people putting words in a stand-up comedian’s mouth. It’s fundamentally flawed," he said. "There’s very few comics that can do that."
He further explained that Barr, having become a superstar based on her own writing, struggled to transition to a collaborative television format. "She made herself a superstar based on her words, her writing," Lorre said. "Then transition to a television show where [you] can’t do it alone. It’s impossible. That transition was not going to happen."
Despite the challenging working environment, Lorre, who later created successful shows like "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory," stated that he remained with "Roseanne" due to his precarious career position at the time. "I navigated because I’d had, I don’t know, 15, 20 years of poverty and health issues and all sorts of stuff, and I was not going to go back," he explained. "Under no circumstances was I going to go back to scrambling to pay the rent."
"That is why I put up with it," Lorre added. "60, 70-hour weeks every week."
The original "Roseanne" series aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997. It was revived in 2018, but the reboot was canceled shortly after its premiere due to a racist tweet by Barr targeting former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. ABC subsequently produced "The Conners," a spin-off continuing the story without Barr, which ran for seven seasons.
In a 2011 blog post, Barr claimed she had fired Lorre from the sitcom, calling him "a big drunk on my show" and criticizing his writing. Lorre, in a 2012 interview, described the "Roseanne" set as "a very volatile environment," noting that Barr "just hated" one of his scripts.