‘Roseanne’ Showrunner Says Revival ‘Never Set out to Be About Politics’

One of the showrunners for the Roseanne revival is opening up about the series’ success, saying they “never set out to be a show about politics.”

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner Bruce Helford addressed a lot of the criticisms that the show has been encountering in the wake of its record-breaking ratings.

“We never set out to be a show about politics. We set out to be a show about the Conners and how the current political climate affects the family. We made a point of not mentioning names in the beginning and I believe we will probably maintain that same thing,” Helford said.

“There is no agenda here, in any direction. The idea is to present all sides of the dialogue. Making it specific like that isn’t necessary. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re not talking about the personalities involved. We’re talking about the effects of all the politics on the lives of people like the Conners,” he then added.

When asked about series star Roseanne Barr‘s personal politics and whether or not he believed they played a role in the show’s success, Helford said that he didn’t know.

“I don’t discuss her politics, that’s her private business. There’s Roseanne Barr and then there’s Roseanne Conner. There are some similarities and plenty of differences. I honestly think this really was about the show come back into people’s lives. There is a nostalgia factor and the feeling of being accepted among the Conners,” the showrunner added.

Helford also spoke about “people who are turned off” by Barr’s politics and who it takes to get them to watch the show.

“There should be an understanding that there is a difference between people’s personal politics and what you present onscreen. We’re hopefully presenting a wonderful, balanced show that doesn’t have an agenda. But beyond that, anybody can dig into anybody’s stuff and find stuff. But if her politics bothers them, then they shouldn’t watch the show,” Helford asserted. “That’s okay. Nobody is making anybody watch the show. We consider ourselves guests in the public’s home and as guests we know that people have the option to turn it off if they don’t want to watch.”

THR asked Helford how he felt about President Donald Trump taking credit for the revival’s debut ratings.

“I remember back in the day on Family Ties [which he wrote on], President Reagan wanted to appear on the show. And [creator] Gary David Goldberg, who was a staunch liberal Democrat, said, “No way.” The network [NBC] was like, “Are you kidding us? It’s the President of the United States who wants to guest star,’ ” Helford recalled.

“I remember Richard Nixon, before he became president, was on Laugh-In. It’s always weird when someone at that level weighs in on these kinds of things. In any case, everybody wants to be part of a winner, so everybody sort of jumps in,” he concluded.