Roseanne strives to be a little nicer
By Bill Keveney
USA Today
 |
| Sitcom hellion Roseanne Bar is star of the "Real Roseanne Show."
ABC 'The Real Roseanne Show' 8 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC |
Roseanne Barr ponders the message, which echoes her own mission: to end a long history of angry, tumultuous clashes with people close to her professionally and personally. The coincidental theme is significant, but the sender matters more. It's from God, as reported by the Weekly World News.
The "Message from God" story pops up as Roseanne peeks at tabloids at a table near her kitchen. Talk of supermarket-rack tales — Demi and Ashton, worms that eat body fat, President Bush's invasion of the moon — offers a pleasant icebreaker for an interview at her hilltop home overlooking the Pacific, 30 miles from Hollywood. Roseanne's trademark honesty and humor are apparent, though a questioner constantly wonders which answers are real and which are just for laughs.
When it comes to the Weekly World News, it's both.
The tabloid "always has a message from God in the middle. And it always says the right thing, so you know it really is a message from God," she says. "That's like what I'm trying to do on my show. I'm trying to say the good thing."
Roseanne — the hellion famed for firing writers during the nine-year run of her self-titled sitcom, grabbing her crotch while singing the National Anthem at a 1990 San Diego Padres game, and making political incorrectness her own little fiefdom — saying the good thing? What will the tabloids say?
After stints as Roseanne Arnold and just Roseanne, her behind-the-scenes series, "The Real Roseanne Show," premiered last week.
The "reality sitcom," as Roseanne and producer R.J. Cutler ("The War Room") are calling it, is actually the first part of a comeback twofer. It's a peek at the creation of the comedian's second new show, "Domestic Goddess," which premieres on ABC Family on Sept. 20.
The reality sitcom features Roseanne's family, including her five children, ages 5 to 32; ex-husband Bill Pentland, who works for Roseanne; wife, Becky, Roseanne's assistant; and Roseanne's boyfriend, Johnny, whom she met after he wrote material for her Web site.
The 13 episodes chart Roseanne's efforts to pitch and produce "Domestic Goddess," which starts as a cooking show, falls flat as a pilot souffle and is still evolving into more of a dinner-party/talk show.
Three years after the cancellation of her syndicated talk show, why is Roseanne, 50 and a grandmother, trying to get back into TV?
She wants, even needs, to make people laugh, and TV is the best way to reach the most people. "She thrives on being a ham," says Shannon Hughey, Roseanne's stylist, best friend and reality show co-star.
Mostly, Roseanne says, she's looking for a final small-screen hurrah. She says she's also on a spiritual journey, and wants to see whether she can "walk the walk" of being a nicer person.
Some think the unscripted format is a low-rent step down for a former sitcom queen. Roseanne disagrees. And her former writers, many of whom have gone on to lucrative careers, believe if anyone has the comic skills to pull off the format, it's her. They remember the "Roseanne" star as anything from difficult to monstrous, but praise her as a brilliant comic talent.
"As long as it's freewheeling, she'll do great. She's sharp enough to handle that," says Bruce Helford, a former executive producer who now oversees shows headed by comedians Drew Carey, George Lopez and Wanda Sykes.
As the interview ends, the placid feng shui of the house sinks in. As Hughey shows off Roseanne's awards, the peacefulness is broken by a familiar hard-edged voice. Roseanne is having trouble contacting an assistant, and she releases a few choice words.
Better make that 55 percent nice.
