‘Roseanne’ scores big ratings in its return to TV
The reboot of ABC's "Roseanne" was seen by 18.2 million viewers, making it the highest-rated sitcom launch of the season. Credit: ABC / Robert Trachtenberg
Whatever doubts, concerns, regrets or buyer’s remorse ABC may have secretly harbored about the reboot of a 21-year old sitcom, those have officially been vaporized: “Roseanne” is a hit, or at least the launch was. Tuesday’s inaugural two-parter was seen by 18.2 million viewers, making this the highest-rated sitcom launch of the season.
In a statement, the network called this TV’s “highest-rated entertainment telecast” among young viewers on a Tuesday in six years, and TV’s “highest rating for any comedy telecast on any night in three and a half years.”
The only scripted show this season to outperform “Roseanne” was the post-Super Bowl episode of “This Is Us,” which drew 26.97 million viewers, Variety reported
In fact, Tuesday’s viewership was 10 percent better than the 16.6 million viewers who tuned in to the 1997 series finale.
ABC said “Roseanne” added more viewers by the second half hour at 8:30 p.m. If audiences had rejected the first half-hour, viewership would have declined during the second half hour — never a good sign on an opening night.
ABC ordered an additional episode of the “Roseanne” reboot last fall, bringing the total to nine. But with Tuesday’s resounding open, how long before an additional season order?
