'Roseanne' Star Sara Gilbert Breaks Down in Tears After Discovering Premiere Ratings

Sara Gilbert was totally stunned as she marveled on The Talk over the success of Tuesday's [...]

By Libby Birk

Sara Gilbert was totally stunned as she marveled on The Talk over the success of Tuesday's premiere episode of the Roseanne revival, which averaged 18.2 million viewers.

"I had sort of tears of joy," the 43-year-old Daytime Emmy winner explained on her CBS morning talk show Thursday.

"I heard that the Roseanne premiere did really well. You're always nervous before you do something. We are so grateful to fans. I mean, it's just unbelievable," she said.

Gilbert was only 13 years old when she was cast as the sarcastic middle Connor kid, Darlene, for Roseanne's nine-season run in the '80s and '90s, and she came back as an instrumental executive producer for the rebooted 10th season.

"I could cry now just thinking, it's been so many years. You know, it's my childhood, so it was just really amazing to watch," Gilbert said. "I was flying on the day of the premiere, and I was kind of watching the clock, like 'Oh it's coming on in New York, oh it's coming on in Chicago.' And when I got to Los Angeles, I was almost home, and I was in the car and I was just like, 'Oh my god it's 8:01, it's on in Los Angeles.'"

In the rebooted season, Darlene Conner Healy has moved her daughter Harris, 20, and son Mark, 8, from Chicago back to her family's Landford, Illinois home after losing her job.

Meanwhile, the show's matriarch, Roseanne Barr, triumphantly tweeted Thursday that President Donald Trump gave her a personal call of congratulations on the episode's skyrocketed ratings.

"it was a thrill to get a congratulatory phone call from The President of The United States of America. POTUS is the Fifth President I have received support from! what a life!" Barr tweeted.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed to The New York Times that Trump called to pat Barr on the back for the successful return of her comedy, Roseanne, to primetime TV and to thank her for her support.

Barr's character is a Trump supporter while her sister, Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf), is a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter — though ultimately voted for Jill Stein.

Barr herself has been a vocal defender of Trump, and says that she decided to turn her character, Roseanne Conner, into a Trump backer because she felt it was an "accurate portrayal" of the political preferences of many working-class Americans.

"I just wanted to have that dialogue about families torn apart by the election and their political differences of opinion and how we handle it," she told The New York Times on Tuesday. "I thought that this was an important thing to say at this time."

The 65-year-old tweeted that she also heard from President Jimmy Carter on Thursday.

Roseanne's return to television answered many questions had ahead of the premiere, including how the show addressed Dan's (John Goodman) "death," showed where DJ is 20 years later and saw many jokes about the 2016 presidential election.

Roseanne airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Trending Now: