Roseanne Conner wasn't always a Trump supporter in the 'Roseanne' revival
Roseanne Conner, of Roseanne, is a Donald Trump supporter. But that wasn't always the case.
Co-executive producer Bruce Rasmussen, also a writer on the original series, revealed recently that TV Roseanne (not to be confused with IRL Roseanne Barr) started out as more of a lefty. It was Barr herself who pushed for her TV character to break for Trump.
"Originally I thought, like everybody else, that she would not be a supporter of Trump," Rasmussen told EW. "But the moment we got in the writers’ room with Roseanne, she really wanted to be a supporter of Trump, not because she is one herself, but there are a lot of people in the Midwest who voted for him."
Barr's pitch prompted lengthy discussions in the writer's room, which Rasmussen admits is largely driven by left-leaning minds. But both he and writer Dave Kaplan understood that there were people in 2016 who voted for Trump without subscribing to all of his toxic views.
"[We] understood that there are people who voted for him who aren’t misogynists or racists and who felt betrayed by other administrations," Rasmussen said. "They really believed Trump was going to do something for them."
The tricky part was getting the rest of the writer's room on the same page. Imagine this group of liberal-leaning writers trying to crack the story for a new Roseanne series while Trump was busy tearing the U.S.A.'s reputation to tatters. It's not so easy to put yourself in the mindset of a Trump voter when you're fearing for the future of your country and your children on a daily basis.
"We had to keep reminding people that this is not how we feel. It’s how the Conners as real people would react to what they perceive as somebody who might help them out," Rasmussen said.
"We are all pretty liberal people so you have to step back and say, let’s not be mouthpieces for what we believe. Let’s deal with who these characters are as people, whether we agree with who she voted for or not."
Barr herself echoed this sentiment at a press conference held before the show aired, a snippet of which could be heard on a recent episode of NPR's Morning Edition.
"You know, the Roseanne show, I've always tried to have it be a true reflection of the society we live in," Barr said. "I feel like half the people voted for Trump and half didn't. So it's just realistic."
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
