18.4 million people tuned in to watch the premiere of “Roseanne” on March 27, 2018 to witness the greatest comeback in television history, according to the Washington Post. The Post noted that if “time-shifted” viewing is added following the three days after the premiere, Roseanne reached 25 million people. 

By Friday, March 30, it was made known that Roseanne will continue with an eleventh season due to its success, according to the Post. CNN’s headline for the show on April 10, was that “’Roseanne’ is ugly, uncomfortable and distressing. Good.” 

According to Forbes, “The Roseanne reboot set all kinds of records, starting with the nine-episode 10th season premiere, which scored the largest-ever Total Viewer Live plus seven-day increase for any single telecast on any network in the history of television.”

The first episode of Roseanne is the most political episode so far. Roseanne Barr is a supporter of President Donald Trump, as is her character Roseanne Connor, in the new series. However, the rest of her family does not hold the same views.

Her sister, Jackie, played by Laurie Metcalf, shows up in a shirt that says “Nasty Woman” and a pink hat worn by supporters of the Women’s March. Roseanne and Jackie were in a feud because of the 2016 election. Roseanne defends her conservativism by saying that she voted for Trump because of his promise to bring jobs back.

The first episode is full of political jokes pointed at both political parties, and the quick remarks kept audiences interested. Even at dinnertime before grace, Roseanne asked Jackie if she would like to take a knee, and then ending the prayer with “but most of all, Lord…Thank you for making America great again!”

The Connor family continues to grow together through their struggles. Becky, played by Lecy Goranson, is 43 years old and was going to be a surrogate mother until she found out the chance of having a baby are slim. Darlene, played by Sara Gilbert, has trouble with her employment, and we have yet to see an issue for DJ, played by Michael Fishman. 

Becky’s husband, Mark, played by Glenn Quinn, was honored by the cast, according to Us Magazine, after an unfortunate heroin overdose in 2002 that led to his death. Mark’s character is not in the new series, but the death of his character is mentioned as Becky struggles with continuing her life.

Darlene’s daughter, Harris, played by Emma Kenney, has issues with Roseanne and how to respect authority. Darlene’s son, Mark, is a boy, but likes to dress in clothes that are usually for girls. Roseanne and her husband Dan Connor, played by John Goodman, react to this new style, but ultimately find a way to accept Mark’s interest in new types of clothing.

Ben Shapiro, a conservative speaker and founder of the Daily Wire, said that Roseanne’s character is not representing true Trump supporters. Shapiro pointed out that all the leftist publications like the show, which shows that the show is actually not conservative. The new series justifies Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 because “they were dissatisfied with the economy,” Shapiro said. Shapiro disagreed that economics what the main point of the election, and that “What happened is that culture war was at the front of everyone’s mind.”

Some viewers see that the new series keeps having Roseanne give up her values, but we will have to see what she has in store for us. Hopefully Roseanne can make our country great again by uniting it through family and laughter.