"Roseanne" cast on bringing Trump into the show's discourse
NEW YORK — When the reboot of "Roseanne" premieres on ABC on Tuesday, it picks up where the show left off in 1997 — with one notable difference. For the reboot, Roseanne will be at odds with her sister Jackie, played by Laurie Metcalf, over President Donald Trump.
Roseanne Barr says she thought it was important to show how the Conner family deals with the same issues that many American families currently face.
"It shows people's different opinions and how they resolve them," Barr said at the New York premiere of the show on Monday night.
She added: "I saw it happening in all the families I know, so I thought, 'Well this is, you know, it's good, hopefully it will get people talking to each other.'"
Much like his on-screen persona, John Goodman, who reprises his role as Dan Conner, wanted to stay out of the fray.
"All politics is local, and ultimately it's all meant to crush the family," Goodman said.
But he says he thinks it's important to cover the political dynamic on the show.
"It's how we deal with it. It's just how we deal with everything within the group, and we disagree or not it's really not that big a deal," Goodman said.
Barr, who counts herself as a Trump supporter, was not able to fully express why she backs the president so intensely.
"You know, well he is the president and that's it. He is the president, and we are in a war, so I think we should all pull together and, uh, try to get over our great divide," Barr said.
When asked if she watched Sunday's "60 Minutes" interview with Stormy Daniels, who has alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, she was dismissive.
"No. I don't care about that," Barr said.
Then Goodman chimed in.
"I didn't see her on that," he said as he grinned, inferring he'd seen her as an adult film actress.
When Barr got the joke, she burst out laughing as the pair walked away.
"Roseanne" airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern.