After 20 years, Roseanne will make its way back to television with new episodes slated to air starting Tuesday, March 27. With the whole Conner family -- plus several other familiar faces -- on board to return, you have one person to thank for bringing everyone back together.
"I believe that initially, it was Sarah Gilbert's idea for all of us to reunite," Laurie Metcalf told TV Guide.
Gilbert was inspired to reunite the cast after John Goodman appeared the daytime chat show The Talk, which she co-hosts. During his visit on March 10, 2017, Gilbert and her TV dad appeared in a special Roseanne skit spoofing her current gig as a talk show host. And after Goodman expressed his desire to participate in a reboot during the roundtable interview, Gilbert was sold on the idea of getting the whole cast back together.
"It got Sarah thinking about a reunion show which snowballed into, 'Why not a little arc of a show?' And she called everybody and everybody was immediately on board," Metcalf explained.
Despite the influx of reboots like One Day At A Time, Will & Grace and Fuller House either in the works or already on the air, the cast was initially hesitant about the idea of a Roseanne reboot joining in on the revival craze. That was, until they learned that other cast members were also on board.
"It [was] a little bit of a surprise for all of us," said Michael Fishman. "But once everybody knew everybody else was interested, it was kinda this exciting, amazing opportunity that you just don't get."
The new season will see the entire core cast reprise their roles including Gilbert as Darlene, Fishman as D.J., Metcalf as Jackie and Roseanne Barr as the Conner family matriarch. Plus, Lecy Goranson is slated reprise her role as Becky. However, Sarah Chalke -- who took over the character in Season 6 -- will play a middle-class woman who hires Becky to be her surrogate in the revival. John Goodman will also return as Dan, and his death will be passed off as a dream.
Other Roseanne OGs slated to return include Johnny Galecki as David, who married and had two kids with Darlene, Estelle Parsons as Jackie and Roseanne's mom, Natalie West, as Crystal and Sandra Bernhard, who will again play Nancy.
"It just seemed like the right time to revisit this family," added Metcalf.
The Roseanne revival premieres Tuesday, March 27 at 8/7c on ABC.
Additional reporting by Lindsay MacDonald.
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