Roseanne’s rise and fall

Roseanne’s revival was as quick to end as it was to start, but the impression it has had on TV networks remains.

Zak Shaikh, senior consultant at Magid, shared his view on the topic with C21 Media.

Shaikh believes that the political polarisation could not have predicted the the cancelation of Roseanne’s revival.

“It wasn’t a polarising show, that’s why it got such good ratings. There’s a gap to appeal to that conservative audience without polarising the liberal audience,” he says.

“I don’t know if it’s about emulating Roseanne beat for beat, but certainly realizing, ‘Oh, actually we don’t have to do a quirky comedy set in a community college aimed at a narrow demographic.’”

“Ultimately, some of the most successful programming, that has the widest appeal, tends to have characters that are more working class, particularly in comedies. It’s not always the case, but there’s definitely been a neglect from the entire landscape of television to not necessarily focus on working class,” Shaikh adds. He anticipates that more “broad shows” will be talked about for development by networks.

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