Sara Gilbert Reveals ‘Roseanne’ Emmys Details Amid Show Cancellation

ABC’s Roseanne reboot was a ratings monster, a massive asset for the network and a frontrunner for the 2018 Emmy Awards, but the show’s abrupt cancellation after Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets brought the entire project down in the blink of an eye.

For most of the cast and crew, the cancellation comes as a surprise, as the writers room for the sitcom’s second season opened the same day the scandal erupted, and filming scheduled to begin in August.

“We got together as a group for the first time and there was a lot of bittersweet hellos — and a couple hours later, a lot of very difficult goodbyes,” executive producer David Caplan told The Hollywood Reporter about learning of the cancellation.

The cancellation brought a dark cloud to the show’s chances for receiving any love at the 2018 Primetime Emmys, Entertainment Tonight reports. After a record-breaking premiere, the series was quickly renewed for a second season and was garnering early Awards season buzz for the show and its many stars, including John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert.

Gilbert, who led the behind-the-scenes push for the series and executive produced season 10, spoke to Entertainment Tonight, just before the scandal and cancellation news erupted, about the attention surrounding the revival.

“We just set out to make a great show, so when you hear people talk about Emmys or accolades, you just feel so grateful and flattered that they are watching and responding to it,” Gilbert said at the time, adding: “I think you can never count on anything, so it’s very flattering to me. It seems like this kind of dream.”

All hope for recognition may be lost, however, now that ABC suspended its For Your Consideration campaign for the series, which was predicted to land its first-ever Best Comedy nomination in its 10-season history. Now, the chances for the Roseanne team to be among the list of nominations on June 11 are very slim.

The cast for the series was set to participate in a day-long event promoting talent from several ABC series to Television Academy Members.

The network had previously announced that the series would be showcased with a screening and panel featuring cast members John Goodman, Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Estelle Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Sarah Chalke, followed by an “after-party” at a venue resembling Roseanne Conner’s house.

Barr was not expected to attend the event, as she was not set to return to Los Angeles until late July or early August.

The network also swiftly removed the show from its press site Tuesday morning following the scandal.

Entertainment Tonight writes that despite reservations against Barr, the Academy could still rally around the rest of the cast.

“I would hope Roseanne’s hateful tweets don’t indelibly color the work that was done on the show because a lot of talented people worked really hard to make an emotionally honest show and we’d hate for that to be tarnished by all of this,” Caplan said.