ABC Airing ‘Roseanne’ Episode Instead of ‘The Middle’ on Tuesday Night

The long-awaited revival season Roseanne premieres on Tuesday night at 8 p.m., dominating the time-slot usually reserved for The Middle.

For the season premiere of the reboot, Roseanne is playing two brand new episodes back to back, meaning it will occupy the network from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. While this is a big event for those who have been eagerly awaiting the Conner family’s comeback, it is bad news for those keeping up with The Middle. The series won’t return until next Tuesday, April 3, in a new time slot.

According to The Futon Critic, starting next week The Middle will air at 8:30 p.m. in order to make room for Roseanne. However, the show isn’t taking second place, as it will now have a lead-in from one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time. The Middle has six more episodes to go in its ninth season. After that, the series’ creators have decided to call it quits.

Meanwhile, Roseanne’s return is expected to pay huge dividends for ABC. The series is one of the most anticipated TV reboots in a market that is largely dominated by nostalgia. The new season has been heavily advertised, and Roseanne Barr herself has been touring talk shows promoting the comeback.

In 2018, the new adventures of the Conner family will reportedly center around the political turmoil plaguing the United States. Barr has spoken at length about her choice to have her character support President Donald Trump, just as she does in real life.

“Well, I wanted to show an accurate depiction of our country, you know?” Barr said on The View on Tuesday. “People are really — I know so many families that are divided over the election, still, and they still are fighting and stuff. We wanted to show that, and how our family deals with it, and we all have the hope that people will start talking to each other again, because that’s what we need.”

Barr didn’t even shy away from the political themes of her show while discussing it on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where Kimmel routinely mocks the president.

“Weren’t you, like, a good friend of Hillary Clinton’s at one point?” Kimmel asked.

After hesitating, Barr responded, “Yeah, I was.”

Kimmel asked Barr what had changed, turning to Goodman and whispering, “Why is he asking me this question?”

The host continued with the line of questioning, bringing up one of Barr’s previous tweets.

“I think you accused her of being a murderer on Twitter,” he said, with the actress responding, “I did not!”

When Kimmel said he would find the tweet, Barr gave him the finger, declaring, “I deleted it, so f— you!”

Barr noted that she had issues with Clinton’s foreign policy, with Goodman chiming in, “She had one!”