"Roseanne" ended in 1997 after a nine-season run. The comedy revolves around the Conners, a working-class family living in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. Roseanne Barr and John Goodman star as Roseanne and Dan Conner, a working couple raising their kids and dealing with their slightly dysfunctional family. What makes this comedy stand out is the real-life situations and struggles these characters face.
The finale saw this working-class family win the lottery and included slightly bizarre plots from a rich spa to a prince dating Roseanne's sister.
Though, the finale revealed that they never won the lottery and the whole plot was part of a book that Roseanne was writing. This will be included in the revival. The Conners will be the same working-class family that fans fell in love with. The biggest twist the finale took was revealing that Dan actually died from his season 8 heart attack. The revival will pretend this never happened and Dan will be back.
The series also stars Laurie Metcalf as Roseanne's sister Jackie, Lecy Goranson as Becky #1, Sarah Chalke as Becky #2 and new character Andrea, Sara Gilbert as Darlene, and Michael Fishman as D.J. The revival also includes three new characters: Emma Kenney as Harris and Ames McNamara as Mark, the children of Darlene and husband David.
Jayden Rey also joins the cast as D.J.'s daughter.
Who will be making their return?
Several fan favorites will make their way back to Lanford, reprising their roles. It was recently confirmed that Johnny Galecki ("Big Bang Theory") will be reprising his role as David Healy (husband to Darlene) for one episode of the revival. Galecki shares with the TCA press tour that if the revival comes back for another season, he'd be up for doing more episodes.
James Pickens Jr. will also return as Dan's longtime friend Chuck. Estelle Parsons and Sandra Bernhard confirmed returns as Roseanne's mom Bev and fellow waitress Nancy.
"Roseanne" will honor late cast member Glenn Quinn in the revival. David and Darlene's son is named after Quinn's character Mark, brother to David and husband to Becky.
Sara Gilbert teases to PopSugar that this was a deliberate choice to pay tribute to Quinn.
The character is also described as gender non-conforming and will be seen wearing traditionally feminine clothing throughout the episodes. Barr adds to Gilbert's statement, saying that Quinn was a big part of the series and the cast had great affection for him, so they don't want to simply gloss over his role in the show. EP Bruce Helford informs PopSugar that Mark will be addressed a few times throughout and they'll explore Becky's new life as a widow.
Remember when Jackie had a baby in season 6 after a one night stand with Fred? Or when Roseanne decided to have another baby? Details about whether Andy or Jerry being apart of the series have been mum, but Barr finally reveals the answer at the TCA press tour that Jerry is mentioned in an episode of the series as being away on a fishing boat in Alaska, while Andy (Jackie's son) hasn't been dealt with yet because they had several stories they had to fit into nine episodes.
Though, she's hoping for another season where these characters can be addressed.
What else can you expect in the revival?
Politics will play a key role in the revival as Roseanne and Jackie find themselves on opposite sides of their political beliefs. While Roseanne will be an avid Trump supporter, Jackie is a supporter of Hillary, which will put them at odds. Barr teases that she always strives to show a realistic America and the reality is the working class elected Trump. Barr expresses her feelings on the subject during a panel at TCA that this is something that needs to be addressed in the revival. While the first episode will focus heavily on this, don't expect the rest of the episodes to be heavily political.
EP Whitney Cummings teases during the TCA press tour that a lot of choices in the revival come from real-life experiences, focusing on understanding why family members vote in ways you can't understand. While Gilbert adds to their comments that people feel they can't disagree with someone and still love them, but the actor saw this as an opportunity to show this family that's divided by political belief still come together and show that there is still love.
"Roseanne" premieres March 27 on ABC.
