"I didn't see why it was necessary to fire her," Seinfeld said. "Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide?"1. "Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide?" Answer: Because you want credit as the murderer.
"But I never saw someone ruin their entire career with one button push," he added. "That was fresh."...
"I think they should get another Roseanne," he advised. "They brought Dan Conner back, he was dead and they brought him back. So, why can't we get another Roseanne? There's other funny women that could do that part. You need to get the comic in there. I hate to see a comic lose a job."
2. "But I never saw someone ruin their entire career with one button push," is a way to gesture at saying it's wrong to take down a great comedian because of one bad joke. We lose a lot, the comedian is over-punished — I'd like to see Jerry compare Roseanne's fate to what happened to Michael Richards — and there's a vast, amorphous chilling of the speech of comedians. Test out one joke, and it might be the joke that kills you. Better be safe! Better be dull.
3. "There's other funny women that could do that part" — Does Jerry really think that the comic persona Roseanne developed in years of stand-up work and brought to television could simply be taken from her and given to somebody else, that Roseanne has no intellectual property interest in the creation that is her life's work? Just let somebody else play her? Putting my outrage about that to the side, I remember the "Seinfeld" episodes where there was going to be a TV show about the Seinfeld characters and actors were auditioned to play the various roles:
Very funny, but Jerry still played Jerry. And those episodes were written by Larry David, whose standup comic persona was appropriated as the George character on "Seinfeld" and always played by another actor (Jason Alexander). But imagine if "Seinfeld" had begun with Larry David playing Jerry's friend, and then one day Larry said something that struck everyone as racist, so they dumped him and at that point handed the role to Jason Alexander.
Jerry might say: There's other funny men that could do that part. We need to get a comic in there. I don't want to cut the character. I want give a comic a job.
But what about Larry? I guess he could walk away and start another show, an even better show. That's what I've said I'd like to see Roseanne do. But she can't find a home at HBO like Larry did. Because she's a Trumper.
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Even UN-PC Seinfeld is walking the line.
You cannot wander off the lefty plantation in Hillarywoodland.
It wasn't a bad joke.
It was like Imus saying nappy headed ho's, referring to Rutgers trash-talking basketball players.
It was seized on for some other reason, namely to get rid of Imus in that case, since he was letting Obama on his show but not Hillary, in 2007.
Somebody wanted to get rid of Roseanne. The joke was a pretense.
I wonder if he isn’t really just making one joke here, the same joke in different guises: “It's awful to see a comedian lose work.” It's a staple of circuit stand up how hard it is to make a living as a comedian. His comments don’t really make sense except as an attempted comic riff.
Roseanne's been #Labeled. She's on the #List.
That said, if Jarrett is an ape, and Trump is an ape, and Bush is an ape, who are the humans?
#HateLovesAbortion
No career for you. Next!
Perhaps the Roseanne reboot could start a story-year after the last episode.
Dan has been divorced for nine months now, and is dating a new woman.
A black woman.
Who is just like Roseanne. But sassier. And a recovering crack whore.
Her teenage boy moves into the house with them.
He wears a hoodie.
Hijinks ensue.
I think it is generous of Roseanne to give up her intellectual property in the show. Seinfeld and Larry David insisted on keeping the intellectual property of their famous show to themselves, not sharing even a tiny percentage with the rest of the cast. Roseanne probably appreciates, as does our host, that Sara Gilbert is now getting her big chance. One similar example has been mentioned: Valerie Harper being fired from the show named after her, Sandy Duncan taking over, with some explanation about a tragedy. Harper and her husband, who was a producer, had already gained some creative control over the show, and had walked out over money. Wikipedia tells me that Harper eventually got a percentage of the profits in a lawsuit, and the show ran for several years. It is said that Harper and her husband wanted a harder-edged domestic comedy; the business people wanted more typical Hollywood sweetness. Are women still fighting the same battles?
"Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide?"
Better question: Why would you turn one person's suicide into a mass murder?
Now they're trying to undo that, put all the other victims on life support and just leave Roseanne's body on the floor.
They murdered her because if she killed herself, insurance wouldn't pay out. Complete the analogy at your convenience.
I don't know why Seinfeld feels he has to say something.
I never watched his show because I don't watch TV. I think I watched "Cheers" for a few episodes.
Someone thinks that TV must conform to the chosen theme of making people stupid. It would not do to stir up the proletariat.
"Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide?"
Suicide by prog.
"They murdered her because if she killed herself, insurance wouldn't pay out. Complete the analogy at your convenience."
Bring in Angela Lansbury?
"Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide?"
Lefties need to please their Master, Satan.
Her teenage boy moves into the house with them.
He wears a hoodie.
Dy-no-mite !
I want them to explain Roseanne's absence from the Connor family on the show by saying "We buried her in the back yard because she tweeted something we didn't like."
Roseanne will be Will and Grace redux. Trump hate, Trump voter hate, and the never-ending celebration of teh gay. or else.
Trump and his daddy discriminated against blacks who tried to rent their rental properties. It is fair to say that he is anti-black, anti-woman, anti-latino, anti-poor, pro-rich, pro-wasp, anti-brown/black immigrant, pro-Norwegian immigrant, etc. He's far more racist than Roseanne could be on a bad day. Jews don't want their kids to marry blacks, and call them Schwartzes, a derogatory term for blacks. Black hate Jews, and Trump, so the feeling is mutual. Do blacks look more like monkeys than whites do? It's time for a soul-searching Althouse poll on the subject. I believe that most whites think they do. Does that mean they are racist to think that? What other characteristics, such a low intelligence, to whites attribute to blacks. How many whites have used the expression, "dumb nigger?" That's no compliment. Should they all lose their job? Trump was promoted, and made president. That's like making the Grand Wizard of the Klan the head of the EEOC. It was bad enough when Clarence Thomas held that position. He was given a promotion to the Supreme Court knowing he was a bum (like Trump). That's crazy, too.
Dan should marry Wanda Sykes, a writer for the old show.
Crack sbore idea is good but take it a step further. Roseann is dead, Dan gets a mailorder bride from Honduras. Sneaks her in illegally. She is separated from her son by ICE.
Milk that for 3-4 eps then, the son escapes and arrives in the Connor household.
He turns out to be an evangelical preacher by day, ms-13 bad boy by night.
It might even become a spinoff. "preacher in the hoodie"
John Henry
Moe trumpit craziness.
What they could do is do a show about Roseanne making that crack or a similar one inside the show. Maybe she's going down the street and a news guy asks her a question and she tosses in The Remark. It goes national. Hate mail flows in. People are talking about her on national TV as she watches unbelievingly. Her grandchildren are bullied at school. Her husband loses his job. She keeps apologizing but the venom and hate go on and keep building. She gets kicked out of a McDonald's and has to lie on the floor when they go through the drive-in. Her husband loses his job and then the house is lost. As they stand on the curb an actress drives by and throws a dead dog at them. Another actress walks by holding a severed head. They all end up in a homeless encampment in LA. Scenes of wealthy actresses making self satisfied remarks when they hear the job is lost, when they hear the family is homeless, interspersed with scenes from homeless life. LA mayor glad to hear she's homeless, interspersed with scenes from homeless life. Transboy wears pants and gets a knife after near rape. Actor makes a self-satisfied comments when he hears about boy's trouble. This is the stuff of late night comedy and the stuff of the life of Trump supporters so I see no reason why this couldn't be hit sitcom / film noire, pleasing both sides in this country.
Shorter Trumpit: Trump and his supporters are all Nazis and Jew haters and racists.
Thanks, Trumpit. you cracked the code.
We'll ignore that FACT that blacks are thriving under Trump. Better off than they were under the soft grainy media filter of the Light Worker with nice pants.
She had to be murdered because she wasn't committing suicide since only SJWs would pretend to be outraged by that dumb joke.
wildswan, your idea is genius. The Connors were always a "real" family. None of the Cosby prettiness about them. It is time for TV to tell the real story about consequences borne of hysteria. This is the perfect opportunity.
The subtext for Seinfeld’s comments is the 2006 incident ‘KRAMER’ SHOCK RACIST TANTRUM – OLD PAL SEINFELD ‘SICK’ OVER MELTDOWN AT CLUB.
"...said something that struck everyone as racist."
I think that is the most accurate, and therefore best, characterization of the Roseanne tweet that I have read. Well done, Althouse.
wildswan nails it.
Seinfeld, in his maturity, has been freed from the dismal necessity of being funny.
Based on his comments it seems Jerry Seinfeld believes that the punishment levied against Roseanne was disproportionate. But even he is unwilling to come out directly and say it. It certainly isn't because of money, but I suspect he still wants access to the apparatus of main stream entertainment in case he gets a creative idea and wants to run with it. Either that or he just really doesn't like people not liking him. This isn't an uncommon feeling in comedians.
Comedians riding in cars.
With a leaky exhaust system.
I would have been more interested to hear his opinion of the attacks on Roy Moore for dating teenagers when he was in his early 30s since Seinfeld dated a 17-year-old when he was 38.
You know what would have been great, transformative TV? The first episode of the new season where Roseanne deals with the issue and learns from it. More speech instead of silencing. Always better.
The reboot started with scenes between Gilbert and Goodman on Gilbert's talk show. Roseanne 2.0 is where ABC always intended it to be. The Trump supporter is gone, next target is the white male. Darlene will suddenly remember childhood sex abuse
I think Seinfeld meant that everyone knows there are things you can't say, so you don't. He sort of opposed the firing for all sorts of reasons but acquiesced to the decision, that ax had to fall, it had to be done. (But maybe not really.) He's a comic, he's not supposed to be totally serious or get into being controversial.
I think there is some merit to the creative idea of having the family kill Roseanne and bury her in the backyard for sending a bad tweet. Then carry on like nothing happened. Dan could get Alzheimer's and they could bring in a black caregiver, played by Leslie Jones, etc. Restitution.
You get the drift of how I feel about it, but we'll see what happens.
There are always a fat, gross comedian or comedienne around, like Melissa McCarthy, who could take Rosanne's place. Saturday Night Live has had a fat, gross comedian on continuously, from John Belushi through Aidy Bryant.
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