ABC’s ‘Roseanne’ to Come Back to Television with a ‘Gender Creative’ Child

Casting is currently underway for ABC’s Roseanne revival series. While stars like Roseanne Barr and John Goodman are set to reprise their roles, the showrunners are also looking to interject some new faces into the reboot. One new character that will reportedly be featured in the series is a “gender creative” character named Mark.

A casting notice detailed how the sitcom is looking to fill the role of a character named Mark, who is the son of Darlene and David and “displays qualities of both male and female young child traits,” according to Fox News. The notice also uses words like “effeminate” and “sensitive” to describe the character.

Fans will remember that David and Darlene were played by Johnny Galecki and Sara Gilbert, respectively. In the 19th episode of Season 9, Darlene delivered a premature baby girl. For the upcoming reboot, Darlene will have two children with the oldest being 14-years-old and the younger son, Mark, being around 9-years-old.

After the news of the “gender creative” role being written into the Roseanne reboot, social media users took to Twitter to share their reaction. Check out some of the most heated responses below:

While there were those that expressed an aversion to the idea, there were others that wanted to give the showrunners a chance.

Since the time that the reboot was announced in April of this year, a number of exciting details have come to light about what fans can expect from the series. Keep scrolling to learn more.

What Will the Roseanne Revival Look Like?

As for the storyline of the revival, ABC says that it will include familiar material with a fresh take.

“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,” the network stated.

The Roseanne reboot is set to be an eight-episode pickup that follows in the same timeline as the original show with some necessary tweaks. Much like the original series, the revival will feature Barr, 64, offering her hilarious opinions on current events. One subject that will likely be brought up in the show is Donald Trump’s presidency.

“I don’t know whether Roseanne (Barr) will speak about Trump by name. But she’s going to speak very honestly,” ABC President Channing Dungey said, according to THR. “We’re going to be tackling some of the topics that are in the conversation today. I’ll leave it that.”

So Wait…Didn’t John Goodman’s Character Die in Roseanne?

According to Goodman, the writers are simply going to skip over this detail.

“I think they’re just going to ignore it,” Goodman said while talking to ABC News.

When the series left off, Dan and Roseanne were in their 40s. Now that a number of years have gone by since the show went off air, Goodman, 65, says that he is “eager” to return.

When asked about appearing in the reboot, Goodman said, “That’s part of the thrill of it, taking that rope swing over the river. You just don’t know. You run the risk of wearing out our welcome. People are excited because they have fond memories of the old show, which is still running. You run the risk of disappointing people, but [I] don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Sarah Chalke Reveals Hint Regarding Top-Secret Character

In the original series, both Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke portrayed the character of Becky. While there will only be one Becky in the upcoming Roseanne revival at ABC, both actresses who played the character will be appearing on the series.

Goranson first appeared as Becky on Roseanne, and she was eventually replaced by Sarah Chalke. While Chalke has confirmed her involvement in the revival, it’s already been announced that Goranson will be reprising the role of Becky.

With Goranson playing Becky, the question remains: who is Chalke playing?

At San Diego Comic-Con, Chalke hinted that her top-secret character will actually share some screen-time with Becky. During an interview with TV Line,  Chalke was asked about her new character.

After saying she was “sworn to secrecy,” Chalke did mention that she would be acting in scenes alongside Goranson.

“I’m super-excited to do scenes with her,” Chalke said. “We never got to hang out, except at a Roseanne reunion photo shoot.”

For those of you who were never able to catch all 9 seasons of Roseanne, you are in luck. Every episode of the show is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime. Learn more here.