ABC canceled the "Roseanne" reboot last week, after star of the show Roseanne Barr, posted a racially insensitive Tweet from her official account. Now ABC is reportedly moving forward with a second reboot of the show. An announcement is likely to come soon.
According to a report, Tom Werner, who produced "Roseanne" through his company Carsey-Werner, got involved in negotiations over the weekend. His involvement has apparently jumpstarted the process.
ABC has reportedly been exploring the possibility of rebranding the show and focusing on Sara Gilbert's character, Darlene. Sources say John Goodman and the rest of the cast is interested.
Contractual obligations to Roseanne are the only complication to producing a new version of the show. Although ABC seemingly had good cause to fire her as both the star and Executive Producer, the network may be contractually bound to pay her a fee or back end or both for her participation in creating the show. ABC could also argue it's now a different show.
Dozens of people lost jobs after ABC decided to cancel the show and cut ties with its star. A new spinoff of the show is an admirable attempt to salvage jobs, while also saving one of the network's highest-rated programs. An announcement could be coming as early as this week.
Source: tmz.com
