ABC made a "clean break" when it canceled Roseanne on Tuesday, says Michael Schneider. But talk of bringing it back without Roseanne Barr is "muddying the waters." "There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea: Continuing the show, albeit without her, still means she’s on the payroll as an executive producer," says Schneider. "Getting rid of the Conners and making it a new show — same cast, slightly different characters — would at least solve the problem of compensating Barr. But it would still face Roseanne comparisons, not to mention the stench of its demise — and it wouldn’t be the characters that audiences raced to see this spring, making it the No. 1 show of the season. For everyone associated with Roseanne, it’s already the only thing they’ll be asked about for the next six months. Why extend that indefinitely with a frankenshow, and one that there’s no guarantee audiences will even want to see?"
TOPICS: Roseanne, ABC, Roseanne Barr