The trend of TV show revivals just keeps on trucking. Following reboots of Will & Grace, Full House, Gilmore Girls, The X-Files, and freakin’ The Magic School Bus, the classic sitcom Roseanne is prepping a return to television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, star and co-creator Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, and Sara Gilbert are all signed on to return, with the latter of the three spearheading the eight-episode revival. It’s not yet known if other cast members such as Laurie Metcalf and Johnny Galecki will return. There’s also the question of whether Alicia Goranson or Sarah Chalke would take the role of Becky; Goranson originated the role before leaving in the fifth season to attend college, at which point Chalke was cast. The two actually split the role in season eight before Chalke handled the part solo for the final ninth season.
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Regardless, fans might be shocked to hear Goodman is returning for the role of Dan. In the series’ finale, it was revealed that the character had previously died of a heart attack and his appearance throughout the final season was actually just a manifestation of Roseanne’s character’s writing. Still, Barr herself came up with a workaround for this in a 2009 blog post imagining where the Conner family would be now. She imagines Dan returns “alive after faking his death,” while “DJ gets published. Mark dies in Iraq. David leaves Darlene for a woman half his age. Darlene meets a woman and they have a test tube baby. Becky works at Wal-Mart. Roseanne and Jackie open the first medical marijuana dispensary in town and pay off the mortgage before the house is foreclosed on.”
News of the revival comes as the working-class sitcom approaches the 20th anniversary of its series finale, which aired May 20th, 1997. No network has yet picked up the project, though Netflix is said to be taking part in bidding.
