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The evening after apologizing her calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless c***” and asking her to seduce her own father to change immigration policy, TBS’ Samantha Bee demonstrated wholeheartedly that her apology was meaningless. As expected.
Bee was slated to receive an award on Thursday night from the Television Academy. The awards show actually closed itself to the media thanks to the blowback over Bee’s comments, but her speech leaked anyway. She stated:
Every week I strive to show the world as I see it, unfiltered. Sometimes I should probably have a filter. I accept that. I take it seriously when I get it right and I do take responsibility when I get it wrong … we spent the day wrestling with the repercussions of one bad word, when we all should have spent the day incensed that as a nation we are wrenching children from their parents and treating people legally seeking asylum as criminals.
So, in other words, she was sorry she used the bad word but only because it undermined her larger point, which was that Ivanka Trump was a “feckless c***” who should have seduced her father to change immigration policy.
This is just more evidence that our culture of forced apologies is deeply stupid. There are some apologies that are obviously well-meant — like this one, for example. But most of the time, apologies are just attempts to escape condemnation, not truly felt. Perhaps there’s something to the idea that we, as Americans, should attempt to uphold certain taboos by at least enforcing a line. But the question is whether pro forma apologies ought to be accepted as bringing those who violate a taboo back within that orbit. It’s obvious that our societal acceptance of apologies varies based on the target. Roseanne apologized; nobody cared. Bee apologized; everybody basically nodded along. The chances are far higher that Roseanne’s apology was more genuine than Bee’s, in all actuality. But accepting apologies seems to break along partisan lines.
In any case, the apology itself from Bee was always suspect. It’s just amazing to watch as the entire media ignore the fact that Bee has now admitted, within hours, that the apology was prevarication.
Roseanne made a triumphant return Tuesday night, blowing past projections with a 5.2 adults 18-49 rating and 18.2 million total viewers for the debut of its revival, which drew 10% more viewers than the original series finale 21 years ago.
While nostalgia was expected to bring in eyeballs, no one predicted such a huge turnout on premiere night for the blue-collar family sitcom with a Donald Trump-supporting protagonist, especially among the younger demographic. But then, few predicted that Trump would become the Republican nominee and would win the presidential election when he first announced his candidacy.
Carsey-Werner
Both Trump and Roseanne were able to tap into the often overlooked and underserved working-class audience. Not surprisingly, the top TV markets where Roseannedelivered its highest ratings were in states handily carried by Trump in the election. No. 1 was Tulsa in Oklahoma, which Trump won with 65.3% of the vote. It was followed by Cincinnati, Ohio and Kansas City, Missouri. The only marquee city from a blue state in the Top 10 was Chicago at No. 5 — the area where the series is set. ABC focused some of its marketing efforts in the region with a preview of the revival at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival.
The top market of the country, New York, was not in the Top 20; No.2 Los Angeles was not in the Top 30. And yet, Roseanne delivered the highest demo rating for any comedy telecast in 3 1/2 years, since the fall 2014 season premiere of TV’s biggest comedy series of the past five years, The Big Bang Theory.
There no doubt was an element of nostalgia and curiosity about how the characters from the original series have changed and about the new generation of the Conners. But Roseanne went beyond that. Its youngest 18-49 viewers when the series originally aired on ABC from 1988-97 are now at the very top or outside of that ad-friendly demographic range, in which last night’s premiere posted a staggering 5.2 Live+same day rating with no lead-in. It came largely from new viewers who were children or not even born during Roseanne‘s initial run.
Somehow Roseanne transcended age, recruiting droves of young viewers for a show whose two leads, Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, are both 65, well outside of the 18-49 demo. It tapped into the zeitgeist of Middle America, tackling its economic problems — and political leanings — head-on. There was curiosity how Roseannewould address Trump, which the show did in the first episode. In an encouraging sign, the novelty did not wear off, with the second episode rating even higher than the opener.
ABC did a major marketing campaign for Roseanne, including a three-day stunt during SXSW in Austin that drew huge crowds, and a tie-in with NASCAR, which is hugely popular in the flyover states.
ABC
And then there was Barr. Always a firebrand, she did not shy away from controversy, flipping offJimmy Kimmel and talking candidly about her political views while promoting the show, generating a slew of provocative headlines in the process.
That could’ve gone either way, possibly alienating viewers. But it worked, leaving many TV insiders shellshocked today by the magnitude of the revival’s ratings success that revealed the untapped potential of comedies that provide realistic portrayal of blue-collar America. What’s more, Roseanne did that while also making a social commentary, something rarely seen since All in the Family, Norman Lear’s 1970s classic that has long been rumored to get a reboot.
The TV business always has been reactionary, so when something works, others immediately look for ways to replicate it. ABC, NBC and CBS all have classic sitcom revivals featuring the original casts on deck with Roseanne, Will & Grace and CBS’ upcoming Murphy Brown.
Fox, which was on the revival forefront with dramas 24: Live Another Day, Prison Break and The X-Files, is the only major network without a sitcom re-do, so its executives likely will take a look at the library. Like Roseanne, Fox has a popular blue-collar sitcom in Married… with Children, but its two stars, Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal, are on other comedy series, ABC’s Modern Family and CBS’ Superior Donuts, respectively. Also hard to pull off would be That ’70s Show or Malcolm in the Middlerevivals with the original stars.
CBS also has a classic, hugely popular blue-collar family comedy in its library, Everybody Loves Raymond, though several of the Emmy-winning series’ celebrated cast members are no longer alive.
ABC
Meanwhile, if Roseanne continues to be a ratings juggernaut, ABC, which is close to renewing the revival for a second season, should look into bringing back its other big blue-collar sitcom hit of the 1990s, Home Improvement, which starred another open Trump sympathizer, Tim Allen.
ABC was strongly criticized by the right in May when it canceled Allen’s long-running sitcom Last Man Standing despite its strong viewership. It was a rare broadcast comedy with a central character who is a political conservative and devout Christian adhering to traditional American values that appeals to viewers in the Heartland.
With The Middlegoing away, there is a vacuum in representing middle-class families on broadcast TV, and the success of Roseanne no doubt will help get more blue-color sitcoms on the air. We might see that happening as soon as next month when the broadcast networks pick their new series for next season out of the dozens of pilots currently in production.
