America’s favorite mid-western family is back, and their big debut on Tuesday night has rocked Hollywood to its core.
According to Deadline, the “pro-Trump” revival of the hit ’90s sit-com “Roseanne,” which pulled in a staggering total of 18.2 million viewers this week, has left Hollywood executives stunned, prompting some serious “soul-searching.”
“While nostalgia was expected to bring in eyeballs, no one predicted such a huge turnout on premiere night for the blue-collar family sitcom with a Donald Trump-supporting protagonist, especially among the younger demographic,” Deadline reports.
The show hit big with its target audience: working-class Americans, performing strong in underserved markets that Hollywood typically shuns.
“No. 1 was Tulsa in Oklahoma, which Trump won with 65.3% of the vote,” notes Deadline. “It was followed by Cincinnati, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri. The only marquee city from a blue state in the Top 10 was Chicago at No. 5 — the area where the series is set.”
Unsurprisingly, the beltway did not tune into “Roseanne” in record numbers. In fact, New York did not make the top 20 and Los Angeles did not make the top 30. All of this was to be expected the moment Barr announced that her character would be openly pro-Trump, with a debut episode that skewered snowflake culture, the women’s march, and anti-Trump hysteria.
Could the success of “Roseanne” mean a revival of shows that speak to a piece of America that Hollywood shuns? Time will tell. While “Roseanne” certainly gave middle-Americans some of their dignity back on Tuesday night, as Ben Shapiro points out, the show is a far cry from being “conservative.” However, if the show’s ratings continue on this strong path, this could make ABC and other networks wake up a little bit. Could America see a revival of “Home Improvement,” starring Tim Allen, another Trump supporter? Or could another daring comedian give America another show that breaks the left-wing coasts’ stranglehold on the culture?
We all remember last year when ABC canceled Allen’s openly conservative sitcom “Last Man Standing” despite strong viewership. Maybe this could be the moment networks like ABC realize that those underserved markets are filled with untapped potential.