Roseanne Barr is revelling in Donald Trump’s support for her returning sitcom’s impressive debut, which the US president says was a cultural and political breakthrough.
“It was a thrill to get a congratulatory phone call from The President of The United States of America,” Barr tweeted, two days after television network ABC’s Roseanne reboot drew an estimated 18.4 million viewers.
In the updated Roseanne, Barr’s support for Mr Trump is shared by her character. For the president, it is a rare bright spot among the major TV series, award ceremonies and late-night shows that regularly skewer him.
it was a thrill to get a congratulatory phone call from The President of The United States of America. POTUS is the Fifth President I have received support from! what a life!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 29, 2018
Mr Trump seized on its ratings during a speech on Thursday in Richfield, Ohio, that was to be about infrastructure but meandered through other topics.
He credited producer Mark Burnett, who brought Mr Trump to reality TV in The Apprentice, for breaking the good news about Roseanne.”
He said “Donald, I called just to say hello and to tell you did you see Roseanne’s ratings?” I said, “Mark, how big were they?’” Mr Trump recounted.
“And it was about us,” the president continued. “They haven’t figured it out, the fake news hasn’t quite figured it out yet. … But they will and when they do they’ll become much less fake.”
The White House confirmed the Wednesday night phone call from Mr Trump to Barr. They did not say if Mr Trump had watched the show.
Wow amazing. Congrats @therealroseanne. If you’re not too busy already maybe work in a late night show too… seems there’s some demand for an alternate viewpoint. #Rosanne https://t.co/JNaLjxS0fs
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 28, 2018
The updated sitcom starring Barr and her original co-stars returned more than two decades after the first one ended its hit run. The hour-long debut episode was watched by 10% more viewers than saw the May 1997 finale of ABC’s original Roseanne.
Barr said Mr Trump was happy for her. She said: “I’ve known him for many years and he’s done a lot of nice things for me over the years.”
Conservatives cheered the show’s ratings. Matt Drudge tweeted: “‘ROSEANNE’ RATINGS BLOWOUT.”
Donald Trump Jr, the president’s son, tweeted: “Wow amazing. Congrats @therealroseanne. If you’re not too busy already maybe work in a late night show too … seems there’s some demand for an alternate viewpoint.”
Laura Ingraham added: “‘Roseanne’ reboot premieres to strong ratings, begging the question: why has Hollywood been ignoring us for so long?”
During a Q&A session with television critics earlier this year, Barr said: “It was working-class people who elected Trump. So I felt that was very real, and something that needed to be discussed.”
She added that the same holds true for “people actually hating other people for the way they voted, which I feel is not American. And so I wanted to bring it (the series) right down the middle, and we did,” said Barr.
She added that she is not an apologist for the president and does not agree with all he has said and done.