ABC had some big news this morning. According to Deadline, the network has officially ordered revival season of the hit 90s show Roseanne, and according to Variety, ABC has also ordered first seasons for Bachelor Winter Games and Dancing with the Stars Junior, spinoffs of their hit reality series. All three series are intended to premiere mid-season for the 2017-2018 season.
Roseanne went off air nearly 20 years to the date, and with the cancellation of their multi-camera comedy Last Man Standing, it seems ABC thinks it is a good idea for the lovable working class family from a Chicago suburb to come back. The majority of the original cast will be returning, including Roseanne Barr, John Goodman (despite the fact that his character died of a heart attack during the series), Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson are all set to return. Sarah Chalke, who replaced Goranson as Becky in 1993, will also return, but in a separate role. No word yet whether Johnny Galecki (Big Bang Theory) will make a cameo to reprise his role of David Healy, husband of Darlene. Roseanne won three Golden Globe awards (all in 1993) including Best Actor in Comedy or Musical for John Goodman, Best Actress in Comedy or Musical for Roseanne Barr, and Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical for the series.
Although most of the actors have not found success greater than Roseanne, John Goodman could recently be seen in Kong: Skull Island, and can be seen later this year in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets with Cara Delevingne and Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron. Sarah Chalke was on the ABC series Scrubs for all 9 seasons. Sarah Gilbert has been a co-host on CBS talk show The Talk since 2010.
Bachelor Winter Games will air during the 2018 Winter Olympics, in February of next year. It will see previous contestants from both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, go head to head in competitions at a winter resort, where they’ll be living in arctic temperatures. This is obviously not the first spinoff series inspired by The Bachelor (with The Bachelorette being one of them!) The series Bachelor Pad was on from 2010 to 2012, and was replaced by Bachelor in Paradise in 2014, and the live after show Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise was added in 2015. Bachelor in Paradise has been renewed for a fourth season.
Dancing with the Stars Junior is set to premiere in the spring of 2018. The series with pair kids of celebrities and celebrity kids with professional dancers. It will be produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Competition series featuring children has become popular in recent years, after NBC has had success with Little Big Shots and Fox with MasterChef Junior, and it seems ABC has followed suit. This is not the first time ABC has tried to create a spinoff series from Dancing with the Stars, now on its 24th season. These spinoff series include Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann in 2008 and Skating with the Stars in 2010, both which were canceled after the first season.
Stay tuned for more details about Roseanne, as well as Bachelor Winter Games and Dancing with the Stars Junior.