ABC Exec Confirms ROSEANNE Revival; Original Cast to Return

Iconic comedy series ROSEANNE will return to The ABC Television Network, Channing Dungey, president, ABC Entertainment, announced today. The eight-episode reboot, featuring the original cast - Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky) - will air in 2018. Sarah Chalke, who played the character Becky in later seasons, will also appear in another role.

"The Conners' joys and struggles are as relevant - and hilarious - today as they were then, and there's really no one better to comment on our modern America than Roseanne," said Dungey.

When it premiered on ABC, the series broke new ground for its realistic portrayal of a working-class family, the Conners, barely scraping by in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. It also dominated the ratings as one of the highest-rated television series on the air for its near-decade run. A comedy about ordinary people who faced day-to-day survival with a sense of the absurdity of it all, the inimitable Roseanne was its epicenter. Lauded for its humor, relevance, warmth and honesty, the Conner family will continue to deal with the economic challenges of living pay check to pay check in 2018. In its nine seasons on ABC, in addition to being a primetime ratings hit, the series won a Peabody Award and a Golden Globe Award for best television series (comedy or musical). Barr and Goodman each won Golden Globes for best performance by an actress and actor. Barr went on to win an Emmy as lead actress, and Metcalf won two supporting actress Emmys for her work on the series.

ROSEANNE star Laurie Metcalf recently received a Best Lead Actress nomination for her performance in A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2. Her other Broadway credits include MISERY, THE OTHER PLACE, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS and NOVEMBER. Co-star John Goodman has also made several appearances on Broadway since the show concluded in 1997. The actor most recently appeared in the revival of THE FRONT PAGE. His other Broadway credits include WAITING FOR GODOT AND BIG RIVER.

Roseanne Barr will executive produce, along with Sara Gilbert, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford, Whitney Cummings and Tony Hernandez. The series is from Carsey-Werner Television.

Photo credit: (ABC/Dan Watson)