Producers of the newly rebooted “Roseanne” have announced a plan to heap controversy on top of Trump support in upcoming story arcs. In an episode set to air Tuesday, the Conners will get new neighbors — a Muslim family from Yemen — and Roseanne Barr’s title character believes that they might be terrorists.
Upon spotting a pile of fertilizer near the neighbors’ garage, Roseanne asks her sister Jackie, “What if this is a sleeper cell full of terrorists getting ready to blow up our neighborhood? Any time something bad happens, it’s always somebody who lives next door to somebody.”
“Roseanne” Has New Neighbors. They’re Muslim. – The Norman Lear Center https://t.co/OlzezCKqqP
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 7, 2018
According to Entertainment Weekly, the controversial storyline was Barr’s idea, and she suggested that, in addition to exposing the bias many Muslim Americans face, her character should face consequences for her bigotry.
Co-executive producer Dave Caplan confirmed that the whole idea was Barr’s. “She wanted to get a comeuppance for her own bias. That was her idea.” Caplan also confirmed that the show’s writers “didn’t need much convincing” to go ahead with the idea.