MovieChat Forums > Roseanne (1988) Discussion > I don't believe the pretext for the canc...

I don't believe the pretext for the cancellation

posted 6 years ago by rootvegetables (1668)
11 replies | jump to latest

Don't misunderstand. A star tweeting offensive inflammatory things amounts to reasonable grounds for a network to take punitive action.

But I suspect that in this highly partisan, divided, irreconcilable social fabric of ours, they were just looking for a reason to dump her show. She came out as a Trump supporter and her show has really resonated with middle America and many of the people who went to the polls in 2016 and took the country "off script".

I suspect as much because of what happened to Tim Allen's show Last Man Standing. ABC also canceled that show when it was doing very well in the ratings. Tim Allen is a Republican. More specifically, an OPEN republican in Hollywood and his show was popular among middle America republicans and conservatives. The strong numbers were all there and yet they chose to cancel the show.

I believe it is primarily ideological. There is a cultural war of sorts out there and the ABC people don't want to help their ideological enemies.

Now, do I think it is their right to cancel these shows? Sure. It's their network. And, Roseanne, as opposed to Tim Allen, actually gave them a good excuse for the decision. I don't like their reason (their actual reason) for doing this, but it's their choice to make.

Mainly, I feel bad for the many many people - craftspeople, technicians, crew members, office personnel; and supporting actors and bit players - who are now going to have to look for new work.

For the record (since I'm sure you all are just dying to know): I personally have not viewed either of these shows, so this is not coming from a die hard viewer who is upset over the loss of a favorite program.

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[–] Frogarama (12942) 6 years ago

Brooklyn Nine-Nine was a progressive, diverse show with great ratings, and Fox dumped it for some reason. Was that politically motivated too?

[–] modica (4169) 6 years ago

Not sure. Fox tends to have lots of liberal leaning shows, even though they are very conservative. FX is very liberal in what they show.

[–] Stratego (30503) 6 years ago

I agree. ABC has been looking to drop shows that don't fit their politics.

[–] dteam6 (5073) 6 years ago

....Except for the fact that ABC renewed this show for Season 11 after the season premiere.

[–] rootvegetables (1668) 6 years ago

Not contradicting that. They wanted a pretext to cancel it. At least some of their higher ups did. That is my theory. It is not a simple thing to just cancel a runaway hit media phenomenon. At least this is something they can use to justify it to their shareholders.
She genuinely messed up here and gave them what they wanted on a silver platter.

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[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 6 years ago

It has nothing to do with her politics. She called a black woman an ape. That's it- bye bye.

[–] MovieMadness (117) 6 years ago

Please don't pile conspiracy theories on top of an already ugly situation. Looking for a pretext?? Did ABC ask Roseanne to send that tweet? It was no fault of anyone but Roseanne.

P.S.
Btw, I worked for a garment manufacturer back in the early 90s that was making a line of clothing for the "Roseanne Arnold" brand, until we dumped her because of her crazy behavior (national anthem incident, etc.) that was ruining our brand. The point is people get fired for a lot less! Conspiracy theories are nothing compared to a company's bottom line.

[–] rootvegetables (1668) 6 years ago

Did they ask her to send the tweet? No. She did that all on her own. And in my opinion, it gave them all the reason they needed (and wanted) to dump her.
To put it another way... they canceled her show for a legitimate stated reason. I just don't think their stated reason is their real reason.

I also believe celebrities need to hire special people to drug them into a stupor before they post anything on social media. If they wake up still feeling strongly about whatever it was they wanted to post... the can then proceed to do so soberly.

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[–] MovieMadness (117) 6 years ago

"Their real reason", as I said earlier, was more about ABC's bottom line (mainly advertisers) than the "political" reasons you alluded to. You can offend people and get yourself fired with behavior that has nothing to do with politics, such as ruining the national anthem in public, etc.

[–] SammyJackson (24) 6 years ago

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[–] rootvegetables (1668) 6 years ago

Well I'm certainly something, I'll give you that.

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