This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
More than two decades after it ended its turn on ABC, the sitcom "Roseanne" will return to the network in 2018 — and Utah native Roseanne Barr will be joined by the entire original cast.
ABC has ordered eight episodes, which will feature Barr (as Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky). And Sarah Chalke, who played the character Becky in Season 6, 7 and 9, will also appear in another role.
"The Conners' joys and struggles are as relevant – and hilarious – today as they were then, and there's really no one better to comment on our modern America than Roseanne," said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey.
There are no other details, but we have to assume that the reboot will ignore the ninth and final season of the show, when the character of Dan died of a heart attack. And certainly it will have to ignore the final episode, in which it was revealed that Roseanne had imagined what had happened.
There's no word on how the reboot will handle the characters of Becky and Darlene's husbands. Glenn Quinn (Mark Healy) died in 2002, and Johnny Galecki (David Healy) is busy on "The Big Bang Theory."
Barr will executive produce, along with Gilbert, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford, Whitney Cummings and Tony Hernandez.