Roseanne’s back – ‘still feisty and funny’ but ‘not as good as the original’

Revivals of much-loved TV series can be hit and miss. And Roseanne has been welcomed back by critics – but they say it doesn’t quite match the original.

Many of the sitcom’s stars are back 21 years on, including Roseanne Barr and John Goodman as Roseanne’s husband Dan.

The New York Times said the show was still “feisty and funny” and likened it to the “old couch you can’t throw out”.

Vulture’s Jen Chaney wrote: “It may not be quite as good or as groundbreaking as the original, but it holds up.”

The show originally ran from 1988 to 1997, and the reboot finds out how the working class Connor family are faring later in life during the Trump era.

Goodman’s character was killed off in the last series, but somehow makes a miraculous return in series 10 and he and Roseanne are now grandparents.

Variety’s critic Sonya Saraiya said the new episode, which airs in the US on Tuesday, was “a bit rough around the edges”.

She continued: “The embrace of the past is both cosy and smothering, a musty-smelling throw intentionally full of holes that looks warmer than it is. No wonder Darlene (Sara Gilbert) fled to Chicago.”

Dominic Patten, writing in Deadline, praised the “indomitable” scripts and the performances of Goodman and Gilbert.

But he added that, “with the glorious exception of Gilbert… most of the cast seem to be speed dialling in their performances”.

BBC