Roseanne Barr Seeks Hollywood Comeback with Self-Funded Sitcom
Eight years after her controversial exit from "Roseanne," the comedian is pitching a new show, "Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable."
Roseanne Barr is seeking a return to television with a new, self-financed sitcom titled "Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable." The comedian, who was fired from the hit reboot of "Roseanne" eight years ago, has been actively pitching the show to networks and streaming services.
Barr told The Hollywood Reporter that she is offering the sitcom "to anybody who wants a number one show and is smart enough to take a number one show." She expressed bewilderment at Hollywood's apparent reluctance, stating, "I don’t know why they don’t want a number one show and why they would destroy a number one show."
The "Roseanne" reboot was a significant ratings success, concluding its first season as the top-rated primetime sitcom in the crucial 18-49 demographic. Barr also mentioned attempting to pitch "Meemaw" to Elon Musk, though she indicated no response from the tech mogul.
"Meemaw" centers on the matriarch of a mixed-race family in Texas who are preppers, described by Barr as individuals prepared for the end of the world. She noted that the show is partly autobiographical, stating, "I’m a prepper. I live in Texas. Everybody’s a prepper here."
The cast includes Drea de Matteo, Omar Gooding, and Randy Quaid, who plays Barr's love interest. Barr joked about her on-screen chemistry with Quaid, saying, "I’m in love with him and I wish he would leave his wife and marry me. I enjoyed making out with him so much that I wrote extra scenes where we would make out."
Barr described the new show as "the funniest s--- I’ve ever done," and that she plays a "wacky old lady."
Reflecting on her dismissal from the "Roseanne" reboot, Barr reiterated her stance that her controversial tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett was not intended to be racist. "It was not a racist tweet. It wasn’t about race, it was about politics," she explained, adding that it stemmed from conversations with Iranian journalists about attacks on women.
Barr claimed that ABC had presented her with a choice following the tweet: either sign over the rights to the show for it to continue as "The Conners" without her, or see the show canceled entirely, leading to job losses for the crew. "ABC demanded that they would only make [the show] if I were not [in it]," she stated. She also asserted that she was not compensated for the seven seasons of "The Conners," which continued after her character's death from an opioid overdose was written into the storyline. "Nope. It was all a trick."