‘Roseanne’ Sparks Major Backlash After Belittling ‘Shows About Black and Asian Families’
April 6, 2018
Bob’s Burger writer Kelvin Yu has accused the latest episode of ABC’s “Roseanne” of being “reductive” and “belittling” after a joke was made about the other programs on the channel featuring POC families.
The scene in question featured the titular character and her husband, Dan Conner, asleep on the couch. Upon waking up, they realized they had fallen asleep from “Wheel to Kimmel,” accidentally snoozing through shows like “Fresh Off The Boat” and “Black-ish”.
“We missed all the shows about black and Asian families,” Dan noted.
“They’re just like us. There, now you’re all caught up,” Roseanne replied.
Prompted by the problematic wisecrack, Yu took to twitter to express his thoughts.
The quip comes as “Fresh Off The Boat” is in danger of being cancelled — the only Asian American family on TV in jeopardy of simply vanishing.
Co-showrunner Bruce Helford had explained the joke to The Hollywood Reporter in a previous interview — ahead of the reaction: “We were commenting on the fact that all sitcoms really want everybody to feel included of all diversities and it’s kind of a funny thing. That’s all.
“When we did the George Lopez show, we didn’t want anybody to feel excluded because it was about a Mexican-American family. And I don’t think anybody wants to be excluded because it’s [a show about] either a black family or an Asian-American family.”
ABC has declined to comment on the matter.
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