(JTA) – ABC rehired most of the cast of the hit series “Roseanne,” but not its star, Roseanne Barr, who prompted the network to cancel the show by posting racist comments on social media.
The rehires will play in a spinoff series that may be called “The Conners,” the Hollywood Reporter reported Thursday.
“Roseanne” was a remake of an iconic 1980s series about a working-class family.
The stars of the show — John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman — prepared a joint statement.
“We all came back last season because we wanted to tell stories about the challenges facing a working-class family today, they wrote. “We are so happy to have the opportunity to return with the cast and crew to continue to share those stories through love and laughter.”
The network announced the cancellation of Roseanne last month after Barr, who is Jewish, drew wide criticism for a tweet in which she mocked Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, as the offspring of the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.” Jarrett is African-American.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Channing Dungey, ABC’s entertainment president, said in a statement.
The actress later deleted the tweet and issued an apology, saying she had made “a bad joke about her politics and her looks.”
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