More than two decades after its original finale, a massive audience welcomed Roseanne back to ABC on Tuesday night. The network reported that the two-episode premiere attracted a whopping 18.2 million viewers, ABC’s best results for an hour-long telecast since fall 2006.
With a 5.1 rating among adults 18-49, it was also the highest-rated sitcom episode that broadcast television has seen since CBS ratings giant The Big Bang Theory scored a 5.5 with its eighth season opener in September 2014. The Roseanne premiere also topped the 16.6 million viewers recorded for the show’s original finale. CNN reported that the only scripted series to have a larger audience this season was This Is Us, which drew 26.9 million viewers for its post-Super Bowl episode.
Roseanne Barr thanked fans via Twitter for the incredible rating: “You are all wonderful — here is to making America laugh & talk again! LOVE U”.
If that sounds a little like the president’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, that could be on purpose. Much of the chatter leading up to the Roseanne premiere surrounded the lead actress’ politics: Barr is a Trump supporter, as is her character on the reboot. Both critics and viewers praised the show for honestly portraying a working-class family during its original run, and Barr has said that she believes “it was working-class people who elected Trump.”
Conservatives on Twitter rallied behind the reboot.
Dan Scavino Jr., the White House’s social media director, pointed out that #Roseanne was trending Tuesday night and congratulated the cast. Fox News’ Sean Hannity wrote that “Proud Deplorable” Barr exceeded expectations, while British journalist Piers Morgan noted that her support for the president did not prevent the premiere from performing well.