'Roseanne' revival takes on divided America from that shabby old couch

Bill Keveney | USA TODAY

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LOS ANGELES – As Roseanne returns after two decades away, the re-created Conner home — on the same studio lot where the original hit series was taped — looks eerily familiar, down to that homely yet homey couch.

The characters are the same, too, but older.

Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Dan (John Goodman), 60-something grandparents, still hustle for a living and host a new generation, as grown-up daughter Darlene (Sara Gilbert), now on her own, returns with her two kids. Older daughter Becky (Lecy Goranson) is a waitress with a money-making plan that doesn't sit well with her mother, and son D.J. (Michael Fishman), the father of a biracial daughter, is a military veteran whose wife is serving abroad.

The brash, edgy tone of ABC's comedy (March 27, Tuesdays at 8 ET/PT) also remains intact, 21 years after the show ended its nine-season run. For all the issues the show tackles, Barr says the revival is mostly about reuniting and making the 10th season she always wanted.

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"It's just fun to be back together and continue the story of this family. We missed working together," she says.

Returning "was not quite déjà vu, but it was so strange. Everything was the same. … It was like taking a week off and 20 years collapsing into that time,” says Goodman, whose character’s death in the 1997 finale gets a don’t-think-too-hard-about-it explanation (Much about the way-out-there ninth season is ignored.). “Everybody was grateful to be back. We had a lot of fun because everybody wanted to be there.”

The chemistry between Roseanne and Dan hasn’t changed, Goodman says, and age hasn’t weakened Roseanne’s boldness.

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“If Lucy wants to sing at the Tropicana, Ricky can’t stop her,” he says, tipping his hat to I Love Lucy. “If anything, Dan seems to be more patient and accepting of things. He has to be, or he’d drink more than he does. He drinks a lot!”

The rapport is evident at the mid-December taping of the new season's finale, a relaxed gathering despite a flu outbreak. Sarah Chalke, who replaced Goranson as Becky and returns as a woman seeking a surrogate pregnancy arrangement, is on set. So are returning guest stars Estelle Parsons, Sandra Bernhard and Natalie West. (The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki, who played Darlene's husband, appears in an earlier episode.)

Goodman plays cut-up, calling out "Hiya, folks!" to a studio audience that includes Aisha Tyler, Gilbert's former colleague on The Talk, and Barr's grandson, whom the star later introduces to fans.

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At one point, Barr, trying to make sense of a line, flubs it and curses. Goodman, seated next to her in the Conner kitchen, proudly announces: "For Your Consideration!"

The divided national mood makes for great issue-oriented comedy, Barr says. A show that never shied away from exploring money struggles, domestic violence and racial prejudice now has episodes dealing with prescription drug addiction, gender fluidity, immigration, unions and care for elderly parents.

Why now? “Everybody is so divided. That's a great time for comedy, when things are in turmoil and flux,” says Barr, who calls an episode about the Conners' Muslim neighbors one of her favorites.

There's a contemporary elephant in the room, too: The family's disagreement over the election of President Trump, who has a supporter in Roseanne (and Barr, too) and a bitter enemy in her sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), a Jill Stein voter now working as a life coach.

"I've been surprised about the pushback that one of our characters might have voted for President Trump," says Tom Werner, an executive producer. "It's clear there is a divide in the family, but I know lots of families where there were quite a few heated arguments after the election."

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What’s different is any sense of behind-the-scenes turmoil that made the Roseanne-raging original as intriguing for its off-camera drama as it was for its on-screen comedy.

“It feels a lot better now, because I’m older and I don’t have periods,” Barr cracks, her audaciousness punctuated by a cackle so famous it's featured prominently in ABC’s marketing campaign.

Executive producer Bruce Helford serves as evidence, since he's one of many writers and producers dumped by Barr during the original run.

“Oh, I fired 'em all,” she acknowledges. "I made a mistake when I fired him. I should have just whipped him.”

To enjoy the experience and protect against a return to that tumultuous past, Barr assigned Gilbert, now an executive producer, the task of negotiating.

“That was my deal. I said, ‘I’ll come back, but I'm not doing any of the fighting. You have to do it,’ " she says she told Gilbert. “I’m happy because I always make people mad. I’m really not a good politician, even though I ran for president” as a Peace and Freedom Party candidate in 2012.

Despite political differences, everyone "got along,” says Gilbert, who began enlisting her former co-stars after Goodman told her he was on board. “That’s what I love about the show. We can have wildly different viewpoints, and that doesn’t mean we have to stop talking to each other.”

People often don’t separate Roseanne the character from the actress. Neither does she. “I am kind of her, except I’m not really a poor person. But I play one on TV,” Barr says.

Werner had concerns about living up to Roseanne’s groundbreaking legacy, which included spotlighting a woman who didn’t defer to any man, on or off screen, and a family struggling to make ends meet at a time when most sitcom characters never worried about money.

“When the show premiered, her voice was very distinct and loud,” he says. “I think the voice of the show will be welcomed again because the characters are strong and authentic.”

Gilbert had fears, too, but they’ve faded. “I was terrified the show wouldn’t meet the bar we had set before. The bar is even higher, because people don't remember the bad episodes as well as the good episodes,” she says. “I feel proud of what we made.”

Barr had no qualms about coming back, once Goodman was on board. The nine-episode season was “a blast,” and she says the cast wants to do another

"I'd love it. Everybody would love it," she says. "We'd love to work together until we all die."