Like many families across the country, the Conners have experienced deep rifts since the 2016 presidential election. Roseanne Conner, who voted for Trump, is estranged from sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), who sports a “Nasty Woman” T-shirt and a pink pussy hat in the first episode and blames Roseanne for Trump’s win. (However, Trump and Hillary Clinton’s names are never actually uttered in the premiere.)
“Our country is very divided,” Sara Gilbert, who plays daughter Darlene and is also an executive producer on the revival, said in January. “And we did have a wonderful opportunity to talk about this in the context of a family, and I think part of what’s going on is that people feel like they can’t disagree and still love each other or still talk to each other. So, to me, it was a great opportunity to have a family that can be divided by politics, but still is filled with love. And what a great thing to bring into this country right now.”
In January, Barr—who has been a vocal Donald Trump supporter on social media especially—said that didn’t influence her decision to make her TV character a Trump voter as well. On the series, she said, “I’ve always tried to have it be a true reflection of the society we live in. I feel like half the people voted for Trump and half didn’t, so it’s just realistic.”
The comedian continued, “It was working class people who elected Trump. I felt that was very real, and something that needed to be discussed.”
In ABC’s marketing campaign for Roseanne, “we just want people to embrace the family that they knew and loved, but understand that time has passed. But hopefully they’ll enjoy spending the time with them just as much as they did several years ago,” said Rebecca Daugherty, evp of marketing for ABC, last month.
Barr’s hit sitcom ran for nine seasons on ABC, ending in 1997. The entire original cast is returning for the revival.
ABC’s New York subway activation will run for another week and a half. The network also recreated the Conners’ living room last week at SXSW.
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