Roseanne’s ability to pivot from silly to somber and back again without ever missing a beat made it unique in prime time. The revival looks to be just as authentic.

Of the recent reboots, Roseanne fares better than most because it has allowed its characters to change. The political discussion jars a bit (was the series always this pointed?) but the family bonding holds no matter who’s in crisis mode. ... Executive Producer Bruce Helford (who was fired from the original at one point) has done his homework and found a way to make this stand on its own and pay tribute to the past.

The writing is sharp, the performances skilled. Ms. Barr and Mr. Goodman are their splendidly seasoned comic selves, and that’s more than enough reason to welcome the return of Roseanne.

The new Roseanne, from the very first cackle, feels pretty close to the old Roseanne. ... There’s some off timing in later episodes, but the first episode gets into its old groove with eerie facility.

[There's] quite a lot to unpack--and the first episode is awkward at times compared to the two subsequent ones made available for review. Barr’s acting is noticeably mechanical in the early going while Goodman (who seems to have made a million movies in the interim) initially seems a little lost in the transition back to playing a character for which he received seven Emmy nominations without ever winning.

The show takes a while to get past its politically-skewed power dynamic. ... To be fair, other top-of-mind social concerns are handled with more nuance and heart than the script’s willful leap over our simmering racial conflicts. The new Roseanne is at its best when the story explores the contortions and compromises Americans have to go through in order to secure decent health care or economic stability.

The new Roseanne looks like it wants to fight the 2016 election all over again. That could be a miscalculation because viewers--along with the rest of the electorate--are exhausted.

I think this show is taking an honest look at our divided country and giving us what we really need. A chance to realize that we are all one big family and we need to get along and laugh at ourselves. It'll make the left and right uncomfortable which isn't a bad thing.

Roseanne put some liberals in a quandary, because they thought the series was funny but didn't want to watch a show helmed by a rabid conspiracy theorist who believes lizard men rule the world. So I was relieved when I watched the first episode of the reboot and though, meh. As with the original series, Roseanne, who can't act and isn't all that funny, is supported by a talented cast to make up for her deficiencies. Unfortunately, only Goodman manages to capture what made the original series so good; everything he says is funny or though-provoking, but even other hugely talented people like Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert don't seem to be able to recapture their characters. Perhaps they're just out of practice. The writing is weak. The back and forth between Jackie and Roseanne is shrill and uncomfortable but not actually funny. Roseanne is very old-school, which tends to put me off. The only really retro old-school series I watch is One Day at a Time, which is much funnier, and even though I don't care for it as much as modern sitcoms like Kimmie Schmidt and Corporate. It's not as bad as the final years of Roseanne, but it's not nearly good enough for me to bother with.

If you liked the show before, chances are you’ll like it now. I never much liked the acting and scripts before and my opinion hasn’t changed. While this is a sitcom and the level of the writing is not meant to be consistently deep and meaningful, everything seems to be a set up for one of Roseanne’s quips or one liners. That gets old fast. While it is refreshing to have a sitcom with characters who say they’re conservative and support conservative values, in this case I fear it is more in the model of Archie Bunker conservatism - mostly for the show and for the other characters to mock and belittle. Carrol O’Conner was not a conservative though he played one on TV. While Roseanne may like Trump the man, I fear she may not be as conservative as she plays it on the show. This show was always too rough around the edges for me and nothing’s much changed. I might watch occasionally if nothing better is on another network, but as a regular? Nope. Had a feeling ABC would dump this as soon as they got an excuse. Audience share was dropping like a rock due to the lack of quality, and the network took their out as soon as they could. Now if NBC realizes their mistake with reviving Will and Grace, then maybe this revival trend will fade away!

Who's idea of funny is a replay of Trumps insanity? This is an American tragedy not a comedy. GROW THE F**K UP! This is no joke.

There's a bigger chance to find a golden brick on the sidewalk than watching a 2017/2018 show that doesnt revolve completely 100% around trump, hillary and gayness. Im really sick and tired of it, just sick and tired. Im done, enough is enough.