Roseanne Barr Returns to TV With Self-Financed Sitcom 'Meemaw'

Comedian and actress Roseanne Barr has completed work on a new sitcom titled "Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable," marking her first scripted television project since ABC fired her from "Roseanne" in 2018, according to Yahoo Entertainment and Fox News.

The eight-episode, single-camera comedy was filmed quietly during 2025 and is described by outlets including Yahoo and Consequence as a fully union, privately financed production. As of this reporting, no network or streaming service has acquired the show, and no premiere date has been announced.

What is 'Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable' about?

The series follows Barr as the matriarch of a mixed-race family of preppers in Texas, according to Yahoo and Consequence. Barr told Page Six, as reported by Yahoo, that the show draws on her own life, following a woman from a liberal, East Coast Jewish family who relocates to Texas. According to Consequence's reporting on the plot, the storyline centers on the matriarch helping organize her granddaughter's bat mitzvah.

Who is in the cast?

• Roseanne Barr – lead, the family's matriarch
• Randy Quaid – Barr's on-screen husband
• Drea de Matteo – Barr's on-screen daughter
• Omar Gooding – Barr's on-screen son-in-law
• Doug Jones, Jon Lovitz, Tony Hinchcliffe and Kim Congdon – supporting cast
• Indy Bugg – Barr's on-screen granddaughter

Fox News and Consequence both reported that Barr is now shopping the finished series to distributors. Fox News reported that she challenged the industry over its reluctance to pick up a show she believes could be a hit.

Why John Goodman is not part of the new show

Barr told Yahoo that her son reached out to John Goodman, her longtime on-screen husband Dan Conner, to ask about a cameo in "Meemaw," but Goodman declined. Asked about her current relationship with Goodman and former co-star Laurie Metcalf, Barr indicated the relationship has ended, noting that she had once expected the original cast to remain close like a family.

Goodman and Barr played married couple Dan and Roseanne Conner for ten seasons between 1988 and 1997, and again in a 2018 revival. Goodman has said the two have not spoken in roughly seven or eight years, according to Yahoo, though he has publicly defended Barr, saying he does not believe she is racist.

Background: the 2018 firing

The 2018 "Roseanne" revival finished its first season as the top-rated primetime sitcom in the 18-49 age demographic, according to Fox News, before ABC canceled it after Barr posted a tweet about former Obama administration aide Valerie Jarrett that the network and many observers called racially offensive. Barr has maintained the post was not racist but politically motivated, Fox News reported.

Yahoo reported that ABC required Barr to give up her rights to the show as a condition of its continuation; the series was retooled as "The Conners" and ran without her for seven seasons, from 2018 to 2025.

Barr on Roseanne, The Conners and Meemaw

Barr compared the new project favorably to her original hit, telling Page Six, as cited by Yahoo, that she considers "Meemaw" to be as groundbreaking as her original show, or more so.