Sara Gilbert Of ‘Roseanne’ Might Be Getting A Spin-Off Show About Darlene

As the dust settles on the abrupt cancellation of US sitcom Roseanne this week, it appears that ABC are still keen on keeping the cast and crew together, with rumours that the network are considering a re-branding of the show, based around Sara Gilbert‘s character Darlene Conner.

Gossip blog TMZ reported the news earlier today, saying that the network is “desperately trying” to salvage the jobs of those affected by the show’s axing, and that a new series with the same cast and crew but a different main character could be one way to go about it.

Sara Gilbert has reportedly been calling her fellow cast members to see if anyone’s up for coming back and having another try, and TMZ claim that John Goodman, who plays patriarch Dan Conner, is “very interested” in carrying on.

While ABC appear to be pitching this as an altruistic move on their part, to protect the jobs of writers and crew, it appears that they will still be on the hook for millions of dollars whether or not they produce a new season of the show, thanks to the stars’ existing contracts.

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Sara Gilbert, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf all signed on for $300,000 an episode for the cancelled 11th season, and per the terms of their deals, will likely expect to be paid for at least 10 episodes, and will “lawyer up” if this doesn’t happen.

Add that to the reported $60 million in advertising revenues that ABC were expecting to pull in for the 11th season of Roseanne, and it makes sense that the network would want to push ahead and get something on the air, with or without the show’s controversial leading lady.

Roseanne was yanked from the air earlier this week after its creator and star made a racial slur against former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett on Twitter.

Channel 10, who aired the rebooted season locally, have pulled the new episodes from their streaming platform, while Foxtel appears to have done the same with older seasons.

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