ABC declined comment.
ABC on May 29 canceled Roseanne after Barr’s racist tweet directed at Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. The star, who has been an outspoken advocate for President Donald Trump, later apologized and said she “begged” Disney-ABC TV Group chief Ben Sherwood not to cancel the series. (ABC declined comment, though multiple sources within the network contend that conversation never happened and Barr has since deleted that tweet.)
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On Friday, ABC scheduled a meeting with producers to discuss potential ways to continue the show. Those talks are said to have heated up over the weekend, with Werner highly engaged in finding a way to keep the series going. An announcement could come as soon as this week.
One point of contention is to find a way to reinvent Roseanne such that Barr’s financial involvement is limited — which is said to be a top demand for ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey. But continuing Roseanne without Barr attached in any form may prove challenging. The series was created by Matt Williams and is based upon a character created by Barr. That could make an offshoot a thorny debate as it’s unclear if just the character of Roseanne Conner falls under Barr’s oversight.
Stars Gilbert, Metcalf and Goodman still expect to be paid for the since-scrapped 11th season. The trio, along with Barr, negotiated new deals for the 13-episode season at $300,000 per episode (up from $250,000 for season 10). They expect to be paid for at least 10 episodes since their options were exercised. What’s less clear is if and how the writing staff, including showrunner Helford, will be compensated.
(Excerpt) Read More at: HollywoodReporter.com
