Roseanne Barr: New Sitcom 'Downwardly Mobile' In Development

While her official TV series comeback has been a little nuts -- macadamia, to be exact -- Roseanne Barr is now in the process of returning to her true wheelhouse.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Emmy-winning actress, whose sitcom "Roseanne" spent much of the 1990s as the number one show in the ratings, is plotting a comeback to the scripted comedy series. Barr and 20th Century Fox are developing, "Downwardly Mobile," which is described as "a close-knit blue-collar family living in tough economic times."

If that sounds familiar, it's no accident; Barr has dedicated much of her life to bringing a portrait of real working class Americans to a normally glamorous Hollywood.

"Call me immodest--moi?--but I honestly think 'Roseanne' is even more ahead of its time today, when Americans are, to use a technical term from classical economics, screwed," Barr recently wrote for NY Magazine in a longer feature about her struggle to control the direction of her show. "We had our fun; it was a sitcom. But it also wasn't 'The Brady Bunch'; the kids were wiseasses, and so were the parents. I and the mostly great writers in charge of crafting the show ­every week never forgot that we needed to make people laugh, but the struggle to survive, and to break taboos, was equally important. And that was my goal from the beginning."

Currently, Barr stars in the aforementioned reality series, "Roseanne's Nuts," which focuses on her Hawaii macadamia nut farm. Chelsea Handler recently revealed that she's asked Barr to guest star on some episodes of her mid-season replacement sitcom, "Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea," as her aunt.

What this means for her political ambitions remains to be seen.

For more, click over to The Hollywood Reporter.

Comments

[rufio487]

04:27 PM on 09/25/2011

Strange that this show was announced shortly after I started my blog: http://downwardlymobile.tumblr.com... just hmmmmmm

[realitybaby]

03:23 PM on 08/12/2011

caught the nut show - was just falling on the floor laughing - TKS ROSIE I needed it!

[IndependentAndProud]

02:27 PM on 08/12/2011

I have a friend who was a writer on her first sitcom. I hope time has mellowed Roseanne because my buddy's horror stories about the way she treated the staff and crew were disturbing, to say the least.

[Theatrixnyc]

02:34 PM on 08/12/2011

You should read her book. Her stories are the same, the first year of the Roseanne show was a battlefield, and she was the General of her own army. The Cast of the show, ALL sided with Roseanne, stuck with her, believed in Her Vision, and pushed it to Number One. I imagine that's when your friend and his army, were sent packing. I'd be upset too, if I had talked and fought myself out of eight years of prosperity, on a HIT show, that is still beloved today. Does your friend drink? I would....makes me need one thinking about it.

[IndependentAndProud]

03:39 PM on 08/12/2011

No, he doesn't drink.
Without question, Roseanne's version of the story is exactly that, as is my friend's. I give his more weight because I know the kind of guy he is and I know that he worked in television long before the Roseanne show, whereas she was new to the whole process and probably very unsure of herself.

[Leo F Venuti]

07:06 AM on 08/12/2011

LOVE HER!!!!!!

[lovelybunchofcoconuts]

04:49 AM on 08/12/2011

Damn, she aged well! I love her, always loved her, will continue to love her.

[ctsul]

03:11 AM on 08/12/2011

i love her and i like her new show too.i really miss the roseanne show.i love that show.i watch all the reruns when i can find them on.i wish they would make new episodes.

[JScott]

03:00 AM on 08/12/2011

We'll see, she had the rights to do AbFab in the US but nothing came of that.

[Theatrixnyc]

12:20 PM on 08/12/2011

Ever hear of "Cybil" ? Remember who did that show? Premise of the show...fading actress trying to keep her career together, with a drunken friend? Beginning to see Charlie's point? You can make a fortune stealing ideas and beating people to the punch. The writer and producer of "Cybil" worked on Roseanne...when she was developing the idea. See why you'd need a list, on the back of a door?

[blasterofparis]

09:52 PM on 08/11/2011

I love Old Rosie. And Nuts is fun to watch, but check this out. She's got this dude name Greg Cipes thats supposed to be some kind of hippie living in a tent and meditating on her farm. But I recognize the actor from his role as a recurring character on the ABC sitcom The Middle! He does not live there. I know reality TV is mostly manufactured but thats a little too cheesy for me. She's still awesome in my book even though she goes around making up people.

[crom14]

09:42 PM on 08/11/2011

I LOVE HER . HER SHOW IS hilarious!

[norby413]

08:02 PM on 08/11/2011

Her "nuts" show is great. Not similar to anything on TV.
I'll be happy to give her new sitcom a chance...

[KellyRyan]

07:03 PM on 08/11/2011

Over conrfident in her appeal ... thank you Rosanne, and we have move on.

[GoldDustDreams]

06:04 PM on 08/11/2011

Roseanne's awesome. She's a riot.

[blondebeblonde]

04:51 PM on 08/19/2011

Have you seen her show, "Roseanne's Nuts" about her living on a macadamia farm in Hawaii? Not laugh out loud funny, but really entertaining. She's cool.

[shantiquax]

05:56 PM on 08/11/2011

Love that woman. Loved that show, although I hated hearing "Hey Roseanne" yelled at me just because of my brunette and bounteous pulchritude.

[lthrnck68]

05:52 PM on 08/11/2011

If she does another series, that'll give me another half hour to read a good book.

[Theatrixnyc]

12:56 AM on 08/12/2011

Somehow I doubt that...

[JaviMexiCAN]

05:48 PM on 08/11/2011

She is awesome for being a great comic and also the awareness and advocacy she is bringing to the surface regarding food, genetically enhanced/modified, and big corporations altering what we eat.