While the ratings for ABC’s Roseanne reboot are soaring, some fans are not happy with the political shadow on the sitcom. In the pilot, Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) made it a point, repeatedly, to talk about supporting President Donald Trump, even shutting out her sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), a Hillary Clinton fan.
Executive producer Whitney Cummings expected fans to talk about the show – but didn’t expect the backlash that came along with the massive ratings.
“I don’t think I anticipated the positioning of it as a pro-Trump show … because it is not a pro-Trump show at all,” Cummings, 35, explained to Us Weekly at a Voice For The Animals event recently. “She herself voted for Trump but I think people struggle differentiating Roseanne Barr and Roseanne Conner. I can see why. It’s called Roseanne. I myself have struggled with it in the writers’ room.”
“Because the show is not about Trump, it’s about the circumstances that made people think Trump was a good idea,” she continued. “I think I was definitely a little surprised by the people who thought it was a bad thing for the country. Whereas I think the people who watch it, for the most part, agree that it could actually be a very healing thing.”
The 2 Broke Girls alum also noted that while the show doesn’t shy away from politics and serious topics, that doesn’t mean it’s pushing one side or the other.
“I think the idea is to make you talk. The idea is to make you argue. The idea is to make you figure out what you believe. Figure out what your opinion is,” she continued. “And so I think it’s a good thing in a lot of ways. I definitely have been surprised by Trump taking credit for it. That was shocking because the show, the demographic was always so progressive. She was always such a progressive feminist so for him, I feel like he didn’t watch the show also, because it’s not a pro-Trump show. And actually there are a lot of negative things about him in the show, so when he called and took credit and stuff, I was like, ‘Oh, well you didn’t watch it.’ I think Trump takes credit for a lot of things he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Roseanne airs on ABC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
