The most heartening aspect of this bizarre episode is the swift, courageous, and correct response by ABC – cancelling her show. And it’s hard to put into words how unprecedented this is. A broadcast network axes its most successful show – THE most successful show of the season? Wow. Again, I can’t applaud ABC enough.
All of the cable networks that had aired the original run of her sitcom have also pulled them. And her agency, ICM has dropped her. Kudos all around.
I would like to think that even fans of her show would say that she crossed a line, but considering the number of idiots out there, I suspect there will be backlash. They’ll make this a “free speech” issue. But seriously, how do you defend Roseanne and not then condone what she said? Still, the Trump supporters will be up in arms over this. They’ll boycott ABC (until the NBA Finals tomorrow). And next week when there’s another school shooting or a video is released of Trump having sex with the stars of THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER K.Y. this little tempest will all blow over.
Readers of this blog already know I am not a fan of Roseanne. And judging by her barrage of personal idiotic insults aimed directly at me, the feeling is mutual. So you’ll please allow me a moment to bask in this. She’s a hateful unstable woman and she’s getting exactly what she deserves.
But what about the enablers? What about the Carsey-Werner Company? For years they’ve built an empire on stars who were monsters and just threw money at the problems and went home while showrunners and writers were pummeled on a daily basis. ROSEANNE, COSBY, CYBILL, GRACE UNDER FIRE (starring another loose cannon, Bret Butler). Writers were sent into a wood chipper. Carsey & Werner just threw a lot of money at them and a lot of money at the ones who replaced them when they just couldn’t take it anymore. The stories are legendary. These monsters (stars) got away with everything. So now if the COSBY show is pulled forever and ROSEANNE is yanked from schedules, you’ll pardon me if I don’t shed a tear for the poor production company that will no longer see syndication blood money. We all got into this business to be writers, not wranglers.
So a toast to ABC and every other organization that took swift action. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight now that ROSEANNE is gone, might I recommend the movie A FACE IN THE CROWD?
Well done, Ken!
ReplyDeleteThis stupid woman just put over 100 people out of work. That’s who I feel for.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteI know I'm not the first to point out the remarkable hypocrisy of Trump/Barr supporters who are defending this on the grounds of free speech and that it was just a joke. It was only a few weeks ago they were calling for Michelle Wolf to be lynched for making a joke about Sarah Huckabee Sanders' eyeliner. In their world, a joke about eyeliner is "filthy" but comparing a black woman to apes and terrorists is just a joke.
ReplyDeleteIt's also ironic that these are the same people who want athletes arrested for kneeling during the national anthem but seem to have forgotten Roseanne Barr treated the national anthem as a joke when she performed it years ago.
Although this is clearly the end of her TV career, I don't think she's completely finished. She'll probably go on a nationwide tour. There are still plenty of people who'll pay to see her. She'll crack jokes about Twitter, say a few pro-Trump things to get the audience whooping and she'll sell some merchandise.
I feel bad for all the people on the show who've now lost their jobs because of her stupidity. ABC could have taken the bold move of continuing the show under a new title and focus on the remaining characters. Maybe it wouldn't have worked but it would have been worth a go instead of making hundreds of people unemployed because of one person's nastiness.
ReplyDeleteTHE COSBY SHOW remains available on DVD, though the reruns were pulled from syndication. We'll see if that will be true of ROSEANNE, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see how fast this stops being about Roseanne saying something truly appalling and racist and gets twisted into an anti-Trump, anti-Republican, anti-conservative issue.
I was amused by Mark Evanier's tweet on the subject: "Outraged about ABC canceling Roseanne because of what she said? I’ll believe you’re standing on principle if you said the same thing when the same network canceled Bill Maher."
ABC is getting a lot of credit for their swift action against ROSEANNE, but they're also the ones who revived her show in the first place -- knowing that she's become unhinged.
ReplyDeleteThey courted controversy -- and they got it.
Still, yesterday's turn of events was very head-spinning. I didn't think they had the balls.
Fastest implosion of a comedy career since Vaughn Meader.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't put himself on the grassy knoll.
DeleteThe reboot was pretty good. It was well acted and well written. Too bad the star can't behave like a human being when the cameras go off. I also think it's a real bummer that everyone who worked on the show is now unemployed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great last line, Ken. Truly apropos.
ReplyDeleteIt might hearten you to know that most of the right-of-center bloggers and journalists I read all think Roseanne crossed the line, and that ABC made the right decision. In fact, a few have talked about their own run-ins with her over the years. She has indulged in all sorts of bigotry - including anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
I never cared for her that much, so don't have a dog in the fight, I do feel bad for the other actors/actresses, writers, crew, etc. But if you hook your wagon to someone like that, it's really not a surprise if you go off the rails.
One pet peeve of mine is the way so many people falsely interpret the First Amendment. All that amendment does is protect us from government control of our speech. "Congress shall make no law..." It has absolutely nothing to do with private entities reacting to an offensive comment.
As I commented on your previous post, they are not really cancelling Roseanne, they're just replacing her with Dick Sargent. John Goodman is not happy.
The same John Goodman who played a gay man in a previous show?
DeleteI suppose it's no worse than being on a new show that gets canceled after a handful of episodes, that it's the nature of the business they've chosen, but I feel for all the collateral damage victims: the writers' assistants, the camera ops, the art department et al. There are now how many people looking for jobs at perhaps the worst time on the production cycle calendar. Thanks, boss. Nice work, dumbass.
ReplyDelete-30-
Roseanne supporters are so upset they've decided to boycott Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Tale.
ReplyDeleteRetroactively.
Let's see if some other on-line, cable or broadcast network picks up the show. That would not surprise me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your perspective. That she’s attacked you before simply serves to affirm all the reasons I’m such a fan of yours
ReplyDeleteWell said!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said but I still don't know how to process this current trend of burying anyone who does a bad thing. We will never see Louis CK or Al Franken again. But what about Picasso? He abused women. Why do we still have his paintings in the MOMA? Do we give dead people a pass?
ReplyDeleteI am not in any way defending Rosanne but are art and artist inseparable?
#confused
Not to be all hipster but I, too, hated her from way back when. She's vile. Yes, plenty of people are defending her right now. The subatomic bit of respect I have for her is that she's currently asking these people not to defend her. She's admitted she's an idiot, realizes she's unemployed several people, and is taking the blame. Too little, too late, of course. There are those saying that being fired has "taught her a lesson." I highly doubt that. She's still going to tweet unfounded conspiracy theories and racist remarks. She's going to continue doing whatever the hell she wants, regardless of the consequences. I'm waiting for the Trump tweet "demanding" that ABC uncancel the show.
ReplyDeleteYou asked for it...and you've got it:
Deletehttps://www.thewrap.com/trump-scolds-disney-ceo-bob-iger-roseanne-mess-wheres-apology/
Is there any chance ABC had some kind of insurance against this? Her history makes this incident not too surprising, and ABC responded quickly enough that I'm sure they at least had discussions prior to her tweet as to how to handle her if she did something like this.
ReplyDeleteA FACE IN THE CROWD is a GREAT movie! Should be required watching every two years, maybe in June before the November elections.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of Roseanne or of Trump but I am a bit stunned to see that her hit show has been canceled over a tweet. Yes it was an ugly comment but it was still just a tweet. To me the punishment seems way out of proportion to the crime.
ReplyDeleteI can remember a time when I could turn on a show knowing that an actor was a jerk in real life or someone I disagreed with politically but I could still put that aside and enjoy the fictional world of the show. I could separate the character from the person. Or if I couldn't, I just wouldn't watch. Either way, I understood that me tuning in did not mean I endorsed everything the actor said or did off screen. Again, I'm not a fan of Roseanne. I haven't seen her new show and don't care to. I'm just speaking in more general terms. Have we lost the ability to just roll our eyes and then go about our day?
I hope not. Actually I think something else was going on here. Roseanne is not the first person is Hollywood to say something crass and mean-spirited. Hollywood is a breeding ground for obnoxious behavior. And this whole thing happened so fast there wasn't even time for the audience (or the advertisers) to give much of a backlash. The boom lowered swiftly and loudly from on high before anyone had a chance to pick up a pitchfork or a torch. That makes me think that maybe someone at the top was just itching to yank Roseanne off the air (either for political or personal reasons - As you've said Ken, she is not exactly known for being likable or easy to work with) and this gave them the perfect excuse.
Either that, or our cultural skin is thinner than ever.
I can't stand Roseanne and never watched her show but I don't see abc as courageous. This was an act of self preservation in an age when every show and every sponsor they have would have taken heat of they didn't run for cover. I think they made the right decision and I'm glad she's gone but courage, misplaced though it would have been, would have been to face the firestorm.
ReplyDeleteNo tears being shed over here. I never watched the reboot, lost any interest in her as a comedian around the time of the National Anthem, and kind of wrote her off to a nut job living in Hawaii with way too many damaged brain cells.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance.
1. Eventually we'll see her as Sean Hannity's sub on Fox News.
ReplyDelete2. At least Vaughn Meader's problem wasn't self-inflicted. His career was ended by a conspiracy of the Soviets, Cubans, Mafia, CIA, LBJ and Ted Cruz's father.
I love A Face in the Crowd, but if the last presidential election taught us anything, it's that the movie gave the American people way too much credit.
ReplyDeleteNow she's saying that she was "on sedatives" when she tweeted her ass-a-holic comments, and that her co-stars are "throwing her under the bus". I hope that she fades into well-deserved obscurity.
ReplyDeleteKen - It's clear from the havoc that's being wreaked on our country every day that money and power sway many to enable the bat shit crazy to further line their own rich pockets. Unfortunately for some creatives and those with jobs on the show, these people with clout also help put food on the table. Brave acts by ABC and powerhouse producers and talent will help change the landscape ONLY when audiences and, therefore, $$$ follows. Bat shit crazy narcissists have a talent for attracting audiences and then the entire system enables their behavior until it becomes too egregious and public for self-respecting, rational audiences to condone. But audience follows and I'm betting Rosanne finds a job on FOX and Friends.
ReplyDeleteTime to re-watch NETWORK and marvel at how clearly Paddy Chayefsky saw what was coming, even back in 1976.
ReplyDeleteAndrew said .."One pet peeve of mine is the way so many people falsely interpret the First Amendment. All that amendment does is protect us from government control of our speech. "Congress shall make no law..." It has absolutely nothing to do with private entities reacting to an offensive comment"
ReplyDeleteAmen. The First Amendment guarantees free speech. It doesn't obligate the world to listen to you. But then the folks who like to wave the Constitution at everything do tend to be the least educated about what it actually says.
I don't know what the network was thinking. I know everyone says the original show was very different, and maybe they thought they'd be able to recapture that? But it's not like Barr didn't have a history of being publicly nasty in recent years. I'm really glad they jumped in so quickly and decisively; but given her history, it's hard to swallow that they could have been so gullible as to believe they didn't see this coming eventually. I suspect the real shock is that it happened so soon.
I suspect the right wing hasn't totally rallied to Roseanne's defense because... they never really loved her.
ReplyDeleteHer original show (1988) was about a blue-collar family (ick!) and didn't depict the promised successes of Reaganomics.
I wonder . . . if there was any thought in the ABC suites yesterday about killing her character off. You don't get comedic talent like John Goodman, Lori Metcalf and Sara Gilbert in the same room every day. Just curious . . .
ReplyDeleteI am one that defends people against corporate censorship. I think it's wrong that companies exert that much control that they can fire someone for actions not directly related to their employment.
ReplyDeleteI also am of the belief that if something offends me, I just walk away. I won't ask for a boycott or anything...but this, no..I just can't with this.
I read the tweet and was horrified and sad. The night before I was listening to a 60's folk group called The Mitchell Trio. The song was "Your Friendly Liberal Neighborhood KKK", all about how people with racist tendencies try to clean themselves up but still can't hide their hate. As I heard it, I thought "The more things change, the more they stay the same". Roseanne proved me right. That whole tweet was hate. There was no joke to be had. No debate to be had..just a personal attack on someone.
I have conservative friends that aren't defending her but using the whole "..oh yeah, what about.."...because everyone LOVES to point out hypocrisy of others but never in themselves.
ABC was right to cancel her show..but I hope they put the "below the line" people into other projects..and I hope that somehow...somehow, we can see each other as neighbors again...and not enemies...whether Trump's president or not..should make no difference on how WE treat each other...and how WE use social media.
"Fastest implosion of a comedy career since Vaughn Meader."
ReplyDeleteYeah, but Meader didn't actually shoot Kennedy himself...
A similar one to this would be Michael Richards losing it on stage, and tanking his career. The only things I have seen him in since then were produced by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I can't believe the severity of consequence that's happened. (Full disclosure: I've never seen either Roseanne series as I've always found her to be repugnant.) But she did not rape scores of people, nor did she outright attack with the "N" word, as another comic has done before. She just made a very offensive joke and then apologized. I really can't imagine why Wanda Sykes couldn't have simply come up with something funny yet pointed to tweet back at Roseanne instead of quitting the show. Seems to me ABC could have suspended Roseanne for a week and got their point across. I mean, it was just words. Ugly words. Nobody was hurt or traumatized. I feel the punishment is far too severe.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said Valerie Jarrett was compared to terrorists and apes. Not sure about the terrorists part as Muslim Brotherhood was elected in Egypt and the military coup that took them out was generally opposed by Obama and Jarrett and Huma Abedin who has more direct connections. However, I don't think she was compared to apes in general. Take a look at Valerie Jarrett and compare to Zira in the 1968 version.
ReplyDeleteCedric, I think this was more of a final straw moment than a cancellation over just one tweet. The woman has a definite history.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess this becomes a Friday Question; Ken, I was a bit surprised to see COSBY listed with the other shows. Yes, we know now what he was doing to women. But unlike the other shows you listed, I don't recall reading anything at the time, or even since, about the working environment on the show being horrible and abusive. Can you go into any more detail about what went on there?
I was planning to eventually watch this show to see if it was any good. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll just finally get around to watching The Middle...
The Werner half of the equation is still raking it in from the Red Sox (he owns it, you know)
ReplyDeleteKen,
ReplyDeleteI've actually been watching Roseanne and I must say that the show is some brilliant television. ABC may have just handed Trump reelection because the show has been increasingly anti-Trump in an All In The Family-Archie Bunker subversive sort of way. With its audience and numbers, I think it could have swung voters.
I was going to post a Friday question before this incident: Have you watched this show? The last three episodes of the season were so delightfully subversive and humane, just wonderful television that really seemed to have the pulse of despair country. (I think the bubble types call this flyover country.) If there's anyway you can still get a chance to watch them, I'd highly recommend you take a look.
I NEVER thought I'd say this but I'm really sorry to see this go. And Trump is better off today, because with friends like Roseanne (the show), who needs enemies?
As always, thanks for all the work you do on your blog.
Keith
@blinky - great point. Look no further than Roman Polanski to know that Hollywood will let those they like get away with anything. Or Harvey W. I don't think his antics were nearly as unknown as everyone who pretends to be surprised and outraged would lead us to believe.
ReplyDelete@Bill - I would virtually guarantee that it is insured, maybe even a sliding amount based upon ratings. They needed to cancel before ratings fell and the policy was worth less. Also goes to Cedric's point that they were waiting and ready to pounce.
also @Bill - I will go one further on separating the person or the politics from the art. Some of the funniest jokes are aimed at people and policies that I agree with. When Bill Maher was doing standup, before he was doing the talk show on ABC? NBC? somewhere, he would make biting, accurate jokes, MOSTLY at the right. Occasionally at the left. Once he got his talk show, he not only became COMPLETELY one-sided and angry, he cut off anyone that he brought on that tried to make a good point against him.
Also, while I am at it - everyone that voted for Trump doesn't agree with him, or find him not disgusting. Many of us even knew it would come to this. That he won was not his fault. The republicans couldn't find anyone palatable to run against him in the primaries, and the democrats were bound and determined that it would be Hillary's turn. The fact that the democrats managed to find someone more disgusting than him says a lot.
There is a precedent for the Roseanne cancellation -- back in 1969 when CBS abruptly fired the the Smothers Brothers and canceled their show, for its anti-war stance and religious humor.
ReplyDeleteOf course it was a different world then, but I believe that's the only other time a TV network willingly killed a cash cow.
Ken, do you remember your feelings and opinions when you heard the Smothers Brothers were axed? It was infuriating for those of us at the right age at the time. And did you ever feel pressure from the network to "tone down" a script in any way?
I came here from your twitter link, so I really expected your post to be a long HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA string, since I've read much of what you posted before on this.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Twitterverse's "Roseanne got what she deserved" tweets came from Charlie Sheen, to which Chuck Lorre -- who's had his woes with both, as well as Cybill Shepherd and Brett Butler -- probably thought, "Yeah, right."
ReplyDeleteI like @Andy Peter's comment that he's waiting for a tweet from Trump demanding an uncancellation. I particularly like it because it's sort of a litmus test for the President, and he seems to fail so many of those, so it's car-crash entertaining to see where he goes on this one.
ReplyDeleteI probably loathe Trump more than you do, Ken, but I suggest you need to ease up a little when dragging the Towering Pile of Pus into posts that, actually, stand on their own. Let's face it, if Hilary Clinton had won, and ABC had rebooted the show, Ms Barr would still have done exactly the same heinous things she's done. Because, you know, Roseanne ...
One huge loss here (after the loss of 102 actual, paying, jobs) is that we now no longer have a comedy show making a semi-honest attempt to portray a Trump-leaning, blue collar, rust-belt state family with all the problems they face. That was the best part about the reboot. Was it good? Was it bad? I don't know, I didn't watch it. But this is a huge swathe of America that deserves a voice (one not channelled through Fox News or Breitbart), and I think we've actually all lost something here.
The original ROSEANNE gave TV the first lesbian kiss and the first same-sex wedding. If ABC wanted to save it, they could cast Wanda Sykes as Roseanne -- no fanfare, no acknowledgement, as when the first show suddenly changed Beckys. Then just go for it:
ReplyDeleteJackie converts to Islam, insists the family observe Ramadan. Dan is hungry! Hilarity ensues.
Dan's cousin Earl stops by on his way to Charlottesville. Roseanne accidentally breaks his tiki-torch, tries to glue it back together. Hilarity ensues.
Dan loses his job because of tariff war with EU. Jackie invests her life savings in soybean futures the day before China stops importing from US. Not so much hilarity ensues.
A hundred jobs are on the line. Suggestions?
ABC deserves credit, for sure, but they knew what they were getting into with Roseanne. Given that, I wonder if they had her on notice that one slip-up would be enough to pull the plug.
ReplyDeleteTrump's own version of the backlash appears to be trying falsely to equate use of a racist trope with just saying things that the specific target might dislike. With his level of cognition, I worry that he's not being disingenuous.
ReplyDeleteI think Roseanne won't be defended very vigorously because she's more useful as a silenced martyr than she is as a talking liability.
Kudos to ABC. Is there a prededent for doing the opposite of a boycott? Maybe committing to watching nothing but ABC during the next sweeps?
In other news,the murder of a Ukrainian journalist turns out to have been faked in order to catch Russian assassins, and there's fevered speculation as to why Melania hasn't been seen in public for 15 days. That's right, we're living through a real life corny espionage thriller.
ReplyDelete@Tom:
ReplyDelete"Trump's own version of the backlash appears to be ..."
... unsurprising. But I'm a glutton for punishment. Where has the Idiot-In-Chief made this somewhat inadvisable, yet obviously consistent, stupid damn comment?
What about liberal Democrats who have been Roseanne fans (of her and the show) for many years? The show had many fans on all sides of the political spectrum because it was one of the very few that was exploring how we can come together despite our differences. Why not explore how we move on after someone screws ups and apologizes? Roseanne and the show resonate with people who accept that we all are flawed and have more likenesses than differences. Many of us see ourselves, family members and friends in the characters of the show. We are not racist and have forgiven her and want to see the show continue on another network. Automatic alienation and cancelation feeds polarization.
ReplyDeleteA FACE IN THE CROWD?
ReplyDeleteNo, I am going to see Roman Polanski and Woody Allen movies tonight.
'Schadenfreude' should have been the blog title.
ReplyDeleteEarly morning irony?
ReplyDeleteYeaterday, when The Story broke (so to speak), I went to Breitbart's Big Hollywood, to see how that particular troll academy was handling it.
Imagine my surprise to see that BBH's wrangler, the plasmoid being that calls itself 'John Nolte', wrote that firing Roseanne was the right thing to do!(?)
Then, when the shock wore down, I read the whole piece, and found that what made Nolte mad was that Roseanne had gotten caught out - and that made his (its?) side look bad.
Irony that could have been:
Instead of canceling the whole series, suppose ABC and Carsey-Werner simply replaced Ms. Barr with another actress who happens to have (almost) the same name - Roseann O'Donnell, late of Queens, NY.
Same physical type, similar delivery, way easier to get along with than the erstwhile incumbent (from what I've heard; correction welcomed if needed) - plus, you wouldn't need to change the towels.
Of course, that wouldn't happen (I still live in the real (?) world); If ABC wanted to save the show, they'd simply send Whatsername upstairs to get a tennis racquet, and she'd never be seen or heard of again (that's an old soap opera joke; explanation available on request). Thereafter, the whole show could be rebooted around John Goodman, or Laurie Metcalf, or Sara Gilbert, or any or all of the rest of the crew, in whatever combination you can come up with. Lemonade time ...
I won't quote anyone, but some of the comments here sound like bigotry against the white working class.
ReplyDeleteBigotry is bigotry. Even if you think the people you look down on deserve it.
I'm not a fan of Roseanne the person, but I was a fan of ROSEANNE the show. I didn't see this new season, but honestly I'm sad it's gone already. Why? Because I think it's a show that America needs. Right now there's such division that I think there was an opportunity for a show to tackle that division head on, by doing things like including a character who supported Trump... who isn't mocked. What show is brave enough to do that right now? I hate Trump, I hate his politics, but the divide isn't helping. In fact, I think it's the cause his politics won at the election.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, even though I dislike Roseanne as a person, I'm sad ROSEANNE the show is gone. Such a stupid waste, and not to mention loss to all those who were working so hard on a hit show, but worse, it's an opportunity that's gone and probably won't come back.
I was a big fan of the show. It was the smartest, funniest, and also one of the most important shows of the past TV season. It's a shame she's such a vile loose cannon. It's like appreciating Frank Sinatra despite his endorsement of mob activities. If Twitter had been around in the 60s, he would have Roseanne'd himself too. But here's the thing. Her show was the only one that dared to present the problems of the working class on TV, and it's more essential these days considering the hardship they're going through. AND it was multi-racial and presented gays and transgender issues in a positive light. Overall, if you actually watched the show, it was full of morality and compassion.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with not being able to separate the art from the artist is that now liberals in America (especially the well-off ones) now look at Rosanne and other Trump supporters and say, "Well, those impoverished working class people are all racist morons!" Consider that 12% of Obama voters went with Trump in 2016 -- obviously not all of them are racist. Instead of finding ways of wooing them back, we just call them names. It's why I fear Dems are going to lose again in 2020.
I'm Canadian and watching your country from the outside. In my objective observation, the problem America has now is that most of the country is actually okay with racist, misogynist pedophiles sitting in congress, the senate, and the presidency. The problem isn't what these people say, it's that their views exist in the first place. Cancelling TV shows as soon as a star crosses a line isn't going to reverse the problem. It only emboldens these people and makes them cling to their views even stronger.
Liberals could be looking at solutions, like free college for the poor -- studies show that college education is the best prevention/antidote to racism. Look at the countries with the highest levels of education, and you'll see racism and discrimination going the opposite way. Universal health care (like they have in all other industrialized countries) tempers the resentment the working class has of the middle class. Finding real solutions to opioid addictions ... these are all issues Roseanne tackled in her show. But of course, all of those issues are considered insignificant because we know anyone who needs a knee replacement and has been shut out by Obamacare (it doesn't work for everyone) is a racist moron, right?
Anyone who watched Rosanne's show would have seen real progressive liberalism on prime-time TV, reminiscent of All In The Family. Something all liberals should embrace. If one of the stars of All In The Family happened to hold abhorrent views, it would not have affected the message. You can respond to and fight the abhorrent views while also supporting what the show puts on the air. Cancelling Rosanne is actually a blow to liberal agendas.
This is what I fear about America now. I will never defend the words in Rosanne's tweet, but Americans should be considering this type of insensitive speech as a canary in the coal mine. Censoring it will not make it go away. A radical re-think about how your society functions is in order. Roseanne epitomized the problem, but also talked about solutions -- which is why I find her interesting. If she had grown up in the society her show fights for, she would have turned out a better person.
Free speech does not mean your employer can't fire you.
ReplyDeleteApparently Sarah Huckabee Sanders got "choked up" today when a young boy told her about kids feeling unsafe in school because of all the shootings. So maybe Sarah can replace Roseanne in the show -- she's already a better actress.
ReplyDelete@Mike Doran I was more bothered by Breitbart saying Disney killed the Muppets by using them to push leftist propaganda by saying oil is evulz. Because, you know how the right is when it comes to oil. But, I digress.
ReplyDelete@Curtis Burga Michael Richards co-starred alongside Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman in a TV Land sitcom several years back that everybody hated (because all of TV Land's original sitcoms suck, and everybody hates them, but TV Land keeps making them for the money).
"Hot in Cleveland" was quite funny. Betty White, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Valerie Bertinelli -- all sitcom pros. It's now syndicated in many markets.
DeleteThe Jim Gaffigan Show was great.
Delete@Andrew:
ReplyDelete"I won't quote anyone, but some of the comments here sound like bigotry against the white working class."
No need to quote. Just pick a single one of the comments. And nobody deserves to be looked down upon. And nobody here has claimed any such thing.
This is absolutely weird, because you have just managed to make Roseanne Barr sound coherent in comparison.
It's an almost impossible job, but I suppose we should all applaud you for ascending to that particular height.
Way to go ABC and cancle your only show that had ratings! What about all the other people on your network that spew hate (Kimmel, Beher) and you wonder why Trump is president?? Because not eveybody make a big deal over some words that are tweeted. And then Hollywood gets their panties in a wad because it offends their agenda. I hope Trump runs again because as crazy as he is Americans are more tired of being controlled on what is politically considered correct.
ReplyDeleteActually Ken, the TV One network is still airing Cosby Show reruns. Yeah, I can't believe it, either.
ReplyDelete@ODJennings: Of course, if you remember the end of Network, the UBS executives had Howard Beale assassinated on live TV. ABC, on the other hand, just gave Roseanne a pink slip. Pity, really.
Additional thought for Ken, and this may be a Friday Question: have you ever heard of Doug Walker? If not, he's the creator and star of a wildly successful web series called Nostalgia Critic, where he reviews movies - mostly terrible ones - in a very exaggerated, over-the-top manner. Anyway, the production company that produces and owns his show, Channel Awesome, has gone under fire recently for a lot of shit, mostly involving Doug himself and his growing ego; I recommend you look into this first, but my question goes back to the Face in the Crowd mentality that you slyly mentioned at the end of your post in which most celebrities hit it big and end up turning into real-life Lonesome Rhodeses. Have this ever happened to you on any of your shows?
When she said "It was an Ambian tweet", I love the drug makers response: "while all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”
ReplyDelete@Andrew:
ReplyDeleteOh, and while we're at it, Roseanne Barr doesn't exactly represent the "white working class," does she? I mean, this is somebody who earned $21 million in 1997 alone. Let alone syndication fees. Let alone her reputed $250,000 per episode for the reboot.
This is not a "working class white woman." This is a rich white Jewish woman with a serious drug dependency and a predilection for various incredibly stupid conspiracy theories who treats everybody around her like dirt and ...
... OK, I'm not going to mention the "dressing up as Hitler and serving cookies because it's in solidarity with the Palestinians" thing.
Because that would be wrong. And we're not allowed to go full-bore Godwin's here.
But, y'know? That's what the stupid woman did!
And I'm sorry, but "I didn't realise I'd get 102 people sacked. I half-way overdosed on sleeping pills. I am rilly rilly contrite, although obviously I'm not going to pay their lost wages ..."
... DOES NOT WORK FOR WORKING CLASS WHITE PEOPLE.
I posted this on my Facebook feed yesterday:
ReplyDeleteNot so fast. What if ABC did "Rosanne" without Rosanne? They kill the Rosanne Connor character off. Dan meets a funny, sassy, opinionated black woman named Rosanne. They develop a relationship and she moves into the Connor house with Dan. Wanda Sykes, who already was a consulting producer on the show, moves in front of the camera to play the new Rosanne. Or get Leslie Jones.
I love this idea... and it saves a bunch of jobs for people who need them. BTW, Wanda Sykes voices a sassy gargoyle on an animated series called VAMPIRINA about a nice vampire family who moves from Transylvania to Pennsylvania. Cute show.
DeleteLet me concur that Roseanne should not have said what she did. I never watched the reboot of her show, but I liked Roseanne back in her stand up days. I also liked the original series. (until Tom Arnold joined the cast) I even liked her short-lived sketch show. "Crack Baby" was brilliant satire. But, this time she did cross the line. However, I must admit that just out of curiosity I went online to see if anyone had the nerve to post a side-by-side of Valerie Jerrett and P.O.T.A., but if they did I couldn't find one. As to Roseanne getting "caught" I feel that the major difference between her and the vast majority of Americans, including so called "progressives" is that they have enough sense to keep their unpopular, distasteful comments to themselves. I've always wanted to be a fly on the wall in the home's of Al Sharpton or Gloria Allred, et al, to hear what they're saying when they think no one is listening. Regarding free speech, our society has become like the one in "THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES." That is, people are becoming more and more afraid of being accused of being politically incorrect. And unfortunately, when people do stand up and say something its very often inappropriate. Finally, I agree that people are VERY ignorant of the constitution. I wish I had a nickle (pardon the cliche) for every time I had to point out that the phrase, "...separation of Church and state." is NOT part of the first amendment, nor is it anywhere in the constitution, Declaration of Independence or any other founding document. My question is, which is the next celebrity to fall?
ReplyDeleteM.B.
@Dr. Loser: Well said. Point taken.
ReplyDelete@Gary
ReplyDeleteThere is a precedent for the Roseanne cancellation -- back in 1969 when CBS abruptly fired the the Smothers Brothers and canceled their show, for its anti-war stance and religious humor.
CBS had plenty of trouble with The Smothers Brothers and their iconoclastic views, however that is not the proximate cause of why they were fired, even if they claim that today.
They were fired because they refused to provide the tapes of their show to submit them to Standards and Practices (i.e. the censors) before they aired. Yes, they didn't want to be censored, but no show could make that demand not to be reviewed before airing.
If you ever hear an interview with one of CBS's heads of Standards and Practices at the time you'll find he was really somewhat sympathetic to the Smothers Brothers artistic view (as was Paley), but what they demanded was simply untenable from a business standpoint - understandably so. (And this is coming from someone who feels that Pete Seeger's performance was one of the great moments of the television era)
As always Ken,....spot on!! She's a very sick, demented person, and thrilled that ABC showed her empirically that racism must be condemned on every level. We need to restore civility in our country, and tell the racists to either go hide under the rocks from whence they crawled, or leave the USA. Hate will never win. Love is the only answer.
ReplyDeleteNamastace
ReplyDeleteBrett Butler now seems like an angel by comparison to the rapist and the Ambien-Racist.
ReplyDelete1. Christopher Plummer, but for his lack of mult-cam experience, would have been the obvious first choice as a replacement. As of now, the smart bets are on Kutcher
ReplyDelete2. A J LIEBLING
"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."
"People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news."
I do hope the rumours that Melania's absence is due to domestic violence are not true. Whatever you think of her rotten husband, she doesn't deserve abuse.
ReplyDeleteRoseanne's ex, Tom Arnold, has claimed on Twitter that there is a video purporting to show a horrible incident in an elevator in Trump Tower between Trump and Melania. Whether the video will ever surface is another matter. Tragically, even if it did, his evangelical supporters would probably say there's biblical backing for striking one's wife.
Okay..I rarely post TWICE in a comments section but I have to...Roseanne was NOT the only working class sitcom...THE MIDDLE just ended NINE years last week...Ken Levine even praised it in his blog..
ReplyDelete"Everyone’s making a big deal about ROSEANNE speaking for working American families – well hell, THE MIDDLE has been doing that for nine years"--Ken Levine.
Here's the review..
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-middle-series-finale.html
Roseanne was just noisier about it..that's all. So, for those wanting a view of working class people, catch THE MIDDLE..funny show...great acting....and the conservative star has learned to keep her opinions to herself after having her own moments about six years ago.
Ken, I don't know if you ever take requests but the news about the Ukrainian journalist faking his death is crying out for a post by you and your brand of humour.
ReplyDeleteExcellent writing Ken, as always. Look the punishment doesn't fit the crime here folks, does it Ted Danson? Yes Mr. Danson appeared in black face at a Whoopi Goldberg roast and used the "N" word well over a dozen times. What? That's right Cheers fans, Mayday crashed and burned so bad in front of 3,000 people he has a permanent jheri curl in his toupee to remind him of his racist faux pas. Cancel Cheers (at the time) you say, never! NBC never flinched nor did we, it was forgotten by Monday morning. And why did Mr. Danson do it? I'll tell you why, for the same reason Rosanne did it, humour. They both thought it was funny, simple as that. The reason Ted went on to star in 3 failed sitcoms and some shitty movies is because he is well liked by the public and Ms. Barr is not. She fucked up the anthem, crabbed her crotch and made two mistakes after that, she continued to be a woman in Hollywood who has an opinion and, God forbid, actually accumulated some power in the industry, which pissed off too many people (cough, men). Come on folks, let's not turn her into that one trick pony Micheal Richards whose career hit the skids the second he walked off the set of Seinfeld. RB has more talent then most. She made a stupid mistake, like, oh I don't know, ALL OF US HAVE!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, the Las Vegas Golden Knights are 3 games away from winning the Stanley
Cup so I am jumping on that band wagon right now. Big Golden Knights fan, have been for years.
Thanks Ken.
Isn’t it ironic, you still will hear Michael Jackson 2 times an hour, on EVERY 80s/90s station. Maybe she should have paid Jarret’s parents off.
ReplyDeleteI’m not condoning her. I agree with you Ken. But, she’s not the only one in the entertainment industry, we should never hear from again!
@Jeffrey Q. Lapierre To be fair, American liberals do try to find solutions for such problems, but . . . how can this be explained? Okay, I don't know, exactly, what Canadian politics are like compared to ours, but as far as American politics go, conservatives always think they're right about everything, and everything has to be done their way, or no way at all; meanwhile, they think liberals are brain-dead beings from Mars or something, so they never try to reach across the aisle and work with them on anything. This is why even when Obama was President, there's so much he could have done for the country, but couldn't, because Republicans had majority over House, Senate, and Congress, and basically cut him off at almost every pass. So yeah, liberals do try to find solution for problems, but are always dismissed as being retards because, "Liberalism is a mental disease." With that in mind, someone I know (who's really a jerk, actually) says if that's so, then, "Conservatism is a developmental disease," since really, our conservatives would rather regress the country several decades back. My best friend also lives in Canada, and she's told me before she doesn't understand why ours seems like such a backward, under-developed country as far as social views and commentary goes.
ReplyDelete@mcoop1313 Yeah, well, look at all the celebrities who do support Trump: Roseanne, Clint Eastwood, James Wood, Tim Allen, Susan Olsen, Kanye Pest. Who do they all have in common? Well, Kanye aside, they're all washed-up has-beens whose glory days are looong gone (not so much for Tim Allen, I'll say), so what do they need to work for? Kanye is just an egomaniacal idiot and an opportunity to get any publicity he can.
@Joel Strewth I know that question wasn't directed at me, but I was a little effected by all this. Granted, Doug was the only person I was interested in from Channel Awesome, mainly because I had been a fan of NOSTALGIA CRITIC from way back in his early, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses days (when NC was still pretty much just a hobby of his). I kind of stopped watching when he revived the Critic because I didn't care for how he changed the format of the show from a straightforward review to a sketch show with additional Scrappy castmembers, nor how he toned down his torture-induced screaming like a banshee and swearing the house down from reviewing the movie, to the more subdued, laid-back, and analytical approach he's taken. But still, I found Doug to be one of the few internet celebrities with any actual talent, and in fact, I've modeled much of my own YouTube production approaches after him: like him, I use Adobe Premiere for editing, and a Sony AVCHD Handycam for filming (before he went pro) . . . just a lower-quality, entry level version of the same model (I can't even find the same model he used, commercially). I know he would often joke about how unprofessional he is, but when that Google Doc surfaced, I realized he really wasn't kidding - that he was not only unprofessional, but also just plain incompetent . . . not to mention his massive ego you mentioned . . . I mean, he thought he was the next Spielberg? Even I wouldn't have thought that! But, I can still separate the artist from the art . . . while my opinion of Doug as an internet celebrity, and a producer may have been changed, I can still enjoy classic NOSTALGIA CRITIC episodes and reviews, but they've brought me so much joy in years past, they've had me laughing-crying/crying-laughing. I'm glad as of last year, he's doing a few more reviews in the older format without the sketches or other castmembers, but the spark is long gone since he's moved away from the screaming and swearing and over-the-top reactions.
My best friend also lives in Canada, and she's told me before she doesn't understand why ours seems like such a backward, under-developed country as far as social views and commentary goes.
DeleteCanada has no equivalent of the American South (for which it should be thankful), nor an overriding obsession with race.
MikeN said..."However, I don't think she was compared to apes in general. Take a look at Valerie Jarrett and compare to Zira in the 1968 version",
ReplyDeleteSo out of all of the 'hundreds of thousands' of characters in the history of TV and movies, Barr just happened to think she looked like a Human/Ape from 'The Planet of the Apes', seriously? I find that comment breathtakingly stupid.
Damn, and just as she was starting to get her smoked-salmon pizza again...
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion: bring back the show, but have Sandy Duncan step in as Dan's sister, who moves to Lanford and helps the family cope with Roseanne's death in a car accident.
ReplyDeleteWhat did Cybil do to be joined in this Rogue's Gallery?
ReplyDeleteAsk Glenn Gordon Caron or Chuck Lorre.
DeleteI think Rosanne Barr gradually became the right-wing Streisand: she seems to make decisions based on what her entourage thinks, not realizing that because they're all on her payroll they'll agree with nearly anything she says. Anyone is susceptible to the pitfalls of living in a bubble, but it must get worse the more money you have.
ReplyDeleteLate last night, I saw a *really* horrible ad for Disneyland...
ReplyDelete"ROSEANNE BARR!! You've gotten your show cancelled, torpedoed your entire career, made yourself the most hated woman in America, and embarrassed dozens of your co-workers and friends!! Whatcha gonna do now?!?!?"
"I'm going to Disneyla-- hey wait a sec..."
I thought of you, Ken, when I turned on Laff and discovered that they replaced vintage Roseanne with Brett Butler's show. Cut off one head...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was but a lad ('50s-'60s), Illinois had two US Senators.
ReplyDeletePaul Douglas was an old New Deal Democrat, firmly progressive.
Everett Dirksen was a devout Taft Republican, firmly conservative.
Two old white guys, who were among the first that I heard called "Lions of the Senate".
On Sunday evenings, Channel 9 in Chicago had a show called Your Senator Reports.
Usually, Douglas and Dirksen would alternate, but at least once a month, they'd do the show together - sometimes with an audience.
The two Senators were friends away from the Senate floor; on the air they would state their differences, and as often as not would try to see some kind of middle ground in what they were saying - you know, compromise.
No name calling, no recriminations, no invective - just two old guys trying to have a discussion, fireworks held to a minimum.
It might be kind of nice to start having political talks like that again - or maybe it's just me ...
Ken, what was it that make THE COSBY SHOW so awful for the writers and showrunners to work on? Did people know about Cosby being a predator back then or was he just a pain in the neck to work for?
ReplyDeleteIf they want to keep the show going, they could replace her with Patricia Heaton, who seems to be a very likeable and reasonable Right Winger.
ReplyDeleteSo now can she get some help. She is clearly not well, calling someone with mental illness 'bat shit crazy' is as mean as using the R word. britney was entertaining until she shaved her head and lost and she needed help. Now she seems better and back to music and motherhood. Charlie sheen was fun for a while until it wasn't and poor Martin Sheen was put through a wringer trying to help his son.
ReplyDeletel'd like someone whose made a lot of money from her over the years intervene and get her treatment. Perhaps Making a network tv show wasn't the best of ideas for Roseanne.
Maybe not the nicest person but I don't want her to spiral out of control. Peace to Roseanne.
Mike Bloodworth, I can't find it but Bill Mitchell posted a comparison on Twitter. Erick Erickson posted a screenshot. I think he messed up and compared to Helena Bonham Carter though.
ReplyDeleteEver since the first version of "Roseanne" became popular, I've always seen a modicum of self-hatred running through Roseanne the person, as though she felt as though she didn't deserve her popularity. First she was trying to foist Tom Arnold on us as a comic genius, then the National Anthem incident, and of course her first show's famous wacko final season. And now this. She really has a death wish where her career is concerned.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that had to be done. Some have joked that Sandy Duncan should do the same thing she did 30 years ago when she famously replaced Valerie Harper when "Valerie" became "Valierie's Family" and then "The Hogan Family" with this series renamed "The Conner Family." That would be the ultimate insult to Roseanne, the series brought back without her but with everyone else involved doing it with Roseanne's character "suddenly dying." That might be the way to do it without screwing everyone else who stands to lose a ton of money from what happened with Roseanne.
ReplyDelete@Andrew:
ReplyDelete"@Dr. Loser: Well said. Point taken."
This is what makes Ken's -rants- blog so great. We're free to agree or disagree. Nobody ever gets upset (and if they do, I apologise for the 102 Underpants Gnomes that you just made unemployed). It is a rare and wonderful thing on the Internet.
A codicil: You remember I was looking forward to the car-crash Giant Pile of Pus comment on the Roseanne affair? What a surprise, it happened.
And, I cannot emphasise this enough, the Prez tweeted that he was personally offended, because ABC doesn't apply the same standards to their employees who criticise him. Which is, when you think about it (I assume that The Donald occasionally indulges in this strange thing called "thought") quite the viewpoint, and nauseatingly typical.
He actually had to wait for Roseanne to stick her foot in her posterior before he complained?
"I don't care about what that other person has done! I just want to be admired! Me! Me! Me! Sod the issues here! Me Me Me!"
Not, I think, a particularly dignified position.
(And I know I said that dragging Trump into all this was unnecessary ... but the man dragged himself into it. God knows what sad sack sort of human being would want to be his press secretary.)
Now do Samantha Bee
ReplyDeleteThe rules are apparently that if you are a Trump supporter or Republican, you will be fired based on whatever figleaf excuse we find, but liberals can get away with an apology, and might not even be asked about that.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Bee is not getting much notice, though at least one advertiser has canceled.
Valerie Jarrett was brought on MSNBC to talk about Roseanne, and the interview was run by Al Sharpton, who has said so many things it's hard to keep track, Greek homos, Chinamen, Koreans, watermelons, and more.
https://assets.spectator.org.s3.amazonaws.com/mc/Sharpton_-_Chicken_Watermelons_Koreans.mp3
Mike Bloodworth
ReplyDeleteYou are being dishonest when you tell people the phrase “Separation of Church and State” is not in the Constitution IF you don’t go on to say that what the first amendment says is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, which is always paraphrased as “Separation of Church and State” in ordinary conversation. I wonder what point you are trying to make when you tell people that, or are you just gratuitously trying to make them doubt their knowledge?
"The rules are apparently that if you are a Trump supporter or Republican, you will be fired based on whatever figleaf excuse we find, but liberals ..."
ReplyDeletefigleaf? I don't quite see how calling somebody a half-breed monkey qualifies as a figleaf. Your standards for figleaves would probably shame the entire Book of Genesis.
I'll quote a relevant, yet not at all political, case here, in the hope that you might just be able to understand how reprehensible you are being.
A couple of days ago, Anthony Rizzo (Cubs) intentionally slid into the catcher (Elias Diaz, Pirates). He had no right to do so. It was against the rules. ANd like Roseanne, he has history of doing this stuff (he made an even nastier "break-up" slide last year). What I can only describe as "not really hilarity, all things considered," ensued.
But you know what Anthony Rizzo's excuse was? "I could have charged in like a line-backer, but I didn't."
That does not work. You admit that you did wrong. You do not whine that you might have done more wrong, but you held yourself back. You do not point to other people who did wrong.
If you are not responsible for your own actions, then what the hell are you responsible for?
Oh, and PS. You can always complain about other wrongs afterwards. Just don't pretend it's all about you. Because it is not.
And don't try to defend other people who do this. Because they are basically pond scum.
@VP81955 You happen to be talking to someone from the American South. :P
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I'm not denying that we're not entirely free of racism, however, the level of racism down here isn't as grand as much of the rest of the country stigmatizes us with. Take the Confederate flag, for example: most people down here who wave it? They don't even associate it with racism, or slavery, or the oppression of Black Americans, or anything like that . . . they wave it as a symbol of history and the "Southern Pride" we're so famous for. Even some of our southern liberals and progressives (yes, we have some down here) will actually argue this as well - particularly the history buffs. Heck, if you can believe, I once saw a black man driving around with a Confederate decal on his car - I am not kidding. Southerners are very prideful people who love to display their pride in a variety of different ways, and for some, that includes the Confederate flag.
But with that being said, as I said, we're not free from racism down here either: the hate groups like White Supremacy and KKK are still very prevalent - and apparently the Aryan Brotherhood is the largest hate group in my hometown - and they hold their rallies from time to time, but at the same time, we also deal with counter rallies as well from the likes of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other counter protesters. So . . . yeah.
Dr Loser, if the Cubs keep getting called for severe penalties and have players thrown out of games, while similar thing with the Indians get not called, are you OK with that?
ReplyDelete(Or use Kings Lakers with Tim Donaghy).
And yes I say it is a fig leaf, if similar things are not leading to firings for left wing celebrities. Samantha Bee is a case in point.
Media Matters and other groups compile dossiers with intent of getting right wingers fired. They keep it waiting for an opportunity to pounce. It's how they got Glenn Beck, and they tried it against Rush Limbaugh and Hannity, but the latter two survived.
@StephenMarks Slight problem with your analogy; Cheers has broadcast its final episode five months before Danson made that bizarre turn at his girlfriend’s roast.
ReplyDeleteI a quoting here a Catholic blogger named Mark Shea: "So, for instance, Samantha Bee, like Roseanne Barr, has a perfect right to say what she likes without the state punishing her. She cannot be jailed for her vile insult to Ivanka Trump any more then Roseanne Barr can be jailed for her vile insults to Valerie Jarrett or Susan Rice. Indeed, the state cannot even jail Donald Trump for his hundreds and hundreds of vile insults to almost everything with a pulse. Yay freedom! In the words of Voltaire, I despise almost everything Trump says, but I will defend to the death his right to say it.
ReplyDeleteThis does not mean that the rest of us have to lend such people our ears. It does not mean that ABC owes Roseanne Barr a TV show. Rather, ABC had a perfect right to cancel her show when she finally got noticed for her vile racist tweets. Nor does anybody owe Samantha Bee a show and if her audience complains loudly enough or her sponsors bail or her network ditches her, that too is not censorship. That’s the Market.
But, because Trump is an instinctive authoritarian despot with no grasp of the first amendment and a deep hostility to free speech, he does not get this and so, the White House has demanded that Bee’s show be cancelled. And that, my friends, is censorship and is precisely what the first amendment exists to prevent.
The state has absolutely no business telling us what we can and cannot say." Julie, Burlington, Iowa
Perfectly put, Julie!
Delete"MikeN:
ReplyDelete"Dr Loser, if the Cubs keep getting called for severe penalties and have players thrown out of games, while similar thing with the Indians get not called, are you OK with that?"
No, I'm not. Why should I be? Why are you assuming that I should be? What is wrong with you?
I tried to take the issue away from politics and into a completely separate and hopefully neutral area to make comparisons, in this case baseball, and for no good reason you go nuts in the neutral area. Seriously, what is wrong with you?
To start out with, you are completely wrong about the "severe penalties" on the Cubs. In fact, in neither case was there any sort of penalty whatsoever.
(It helps if you engage properly in the conversation by looking things up. I would recommend this simple strategy to you, but it's apparently a lost art.)
As for Samantha Bee, a person I had never heard of? Contrary to your accusation re. the likes of Roseanne, it wasn't stored for months. It came out immediately on a Trump Twitter the day afterwards.
Trump is the master of deflection, because he's dealing with loyal loons like you. But, let's be honest. Calling somebody a "feckless c***" in the context of immigration rules is not a good thing, and fair enough. But claiming that somebody is half monkey for no good reason at all?
If that's the sort of world you want to live in, then good luck to you. I don't even think you'll carry Middle America with you. It's nauseating, racist, entirely in context for Roseanne, but hey, you go boy! Keep calling anybody who is not pasty white a monkey!
I'd rather Samantha Bee hadn't said that, but again, she was trying to describe her outrage at the Trump immigration policies.
Roseanne called somebody a half-breed monkey becase ... you know what? I have no idea. She's mad. She's on opioids or something. She's a loose wheel.
But, and here's the thing: Roseanne had no reason to use "half breed monkey" as an ill-addvised qualifier to some sort of political, intellectual, comic, or who the heck knows what. She just said it (in the present climate, which is cunt-friendly but not "monkey" friendly, because ... Oh heck. She just said it.
If you can't understand this, you do not deserve to live in a country that passed the 13th Amendment in 1865, and is still working through the consequences.
Why can't the "whataboutists" who harp about Samantha Bee not getting fired when Roseanne did grasp the idea that the media isn't a single all enveloping entity run by a single set of rules? They keep whining about how Bee hasn't been fired, as if all the media had to play by the same rulebook, when that isn't now or has ever been the case. These mega corporations have one concern, and it isn't morality or decency, it's money. ABC rolled the dice on a known loose cannon, in the hope that they could generate some huge profits until Barr inevitably shot her mouth off and created yet another situation. They gambled, they lost, and then they had to decide, "which is going to cost us more: keep her show on and risk the inevitable social media backlash/advertiser boycott from the left, or fire her and risk the inevitable social media backlash/advertiser boycott from the right?". They calculated that it would cost less to can her; time will tell if that was the right decision. Right now executives at TBS are sitting there making the same decision: how much will Bee's shooting her mouth off cost us, and how can we best minimize damage and maximize profit? If TBS feels like this is going to cost them too much with their primary audience, then Bee will be gone. If they don't feel that way, then she won't be. Rupert Murdoch created Fox News specifically because he wanted to counter the existing networks with his own conservatively slanted network. If one of Fox's news anchors went on an anti-Trump tirade, no doubt the masses of viewers who are Trump supporters would be calling for that anchor's firing. And the bosses at Fox News would be facing the exact same dilemma that ABC faced and TBS is facing: how much will it cost us to keep/fire this person?
ReplyDeleteJimmy Kimmel is getting away with a lot of hypocrisy with his metoo activism.
ReplyDeleteThe Man Show would probably get him in trouble today, and not just for the sexism.
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/while-in-black-face-abcs-jimmy-kimmel-insulted-the-intelligence-of-african-american-athletes/
And Karl Malone was not a dumb guy who talked like this.
Not sure if Ken will agree with any of this. https://www.facebook.com/mmflint/posts/10155315035671857
ReplyDeleteWhile I am glad she got booted off the air, personally think the dropping the re-rums is a bit OTT.
ReplyDeleteShe is loaded. The people who will be affected the most are the smaller people who managed to get re-run money into their contracts, whose only crime was to happen get on a show with this horrible bitch.
I know the stories about Cosby himself but I haven’t heard any stories of the set being unpleasant or a bad dynamic between Cosby and his costars or showrunners. Your post seems to imply that was the case. Can you tell us about it or point to somewhere it is discussed?
ReplyDelete