Today a lot of people lost their job. Not just one person who made a terrible tweet, but a whole cast of actors and actresses. Stage hands, sound men, camera men, and more. Because of one tweet.

Oh, it was a bad tweet, to be sure. It should never have been said. I understand why they canceled the show, but I also see something else….

The new Roseanne show was the most progressive show for conservatives out there. It was a bridge linking the older generation to the newer generation. They had gay characters, a boy who wears dresses, single parents, and far more. And it was all set in middle america where people are worried about the rising cost of housing and medicine, and don’t have jobs to pay for it.

It sets the stage from the very first episode.

“Why did you vote for that horrible man?”
“Because he was talking about jobs.”

Not because of gender politics, or race relationships. They cared about jobs. Surviving. Raising their family.

Then you had the daughter and her two children that lived with them. One of them was a boy, about ten, who liked to wear dresses and be pretty, but knew he was a boy. The older generation struggled with his dresses, but they supported him in his decision while also cautioning him in the reality that not everyone was going to stand with him. “You’re going to have to fight for this if you really want it” they told him, and he did.

In another episode they dealt with their mother, a woman who has been abusive and manipulative throughout the entire series. An older woman who lost all she had, and now has nowhere to go. Something that many older Americans are dealing with right now as their parents are too aged to care for themselves, and don’t have any money for proper care.

In another episode we see Darlene and David get back together. They realize they love each other, and their children, and want to be together…but ultimately they realize they shouldn’t be together because they have a volatile relationship, and it isn’t good for their children. This is something far more progressive. Even when I was young you didn’t divorce, you stayed together for the children.

This was a fantastic show geared to an audience that is still put off by the more progressive stuff. Conservative, but accepting. Moving forward while still understanding the realities of middle America.

Now it’s gone, with nothing to take its place. I have yet to see another show that reflects my world. Everything else is so shiny and polished. The women are beautiful, and the men are muscular. They all have college degrees, and work in offices, or they live in a loft and are artist (but not starving artists.)

I haven’t watched modern TV shows in years because very few of them have anything to do with my world. But this one…This one looked more real, felt like my life. And it opened the door for differences without shoving them down your throat.

And the worst part of all of this is…they probably won’t make anything else like this.

In the 90’s Roseanne was something different. Something unusual. It stood out among all the other sitcoms. And this reboot does too. You won’t see anything like it on TV, and that’s a shame. You can’t bash people over the head and call them sexist to make them change. But this could have encouraged more people to see something different.

I hope I’m wrong. I hope someone somewhere makes a show like this with a conservative family and a touch of progressiveness. We need it.