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Roseanne Barr Roars Back with Secretly Shot Comedy Series Meemaw

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Eight years after Disney fired Roseanne Barr over a tweet about Valerie Jarrett, the comedian has quietly completed a new television project. Barr, now 73, says Meemaw is her return to family comedy after the controversy that ended her 2018 Roseanne reboot.

Insiders told Page Six that Barr recently wrapped production on the eight episode series in Austin, Texas. The secretly filmed comedy places her back at the center of a sprawling television family.

Meemaw also stars Randy Quaid, Drea de Matteo, Omar Gooding and Doug Jones. Jon Lovitz, Tony Hinchcliffe and Kim Congdon are set to make guest appearances in the series.

“It’s every bit as revolutionary as The Roseanne Show , if not more. And my work has improved with time,” Barr said. “I want everybody who disagrees in a family to sit in the same room and just laugh and go, ‘Yeah, maybe I was an [expletive] that time. Well, you were an [expletive] this time. Oh, we’re all [expletives]. Let’s get a beer .”

Barr plays the matriarch of a “mixed-race family of preppers in Texas.” Her character is determined to give her granddaughter the most spectacular bat mitzvah Texas has ever seen.

“I thought now would be a great time for people to actually hear from a Jew,” Barr added.

Oscar winner Mo’Nique, who has remained friends with Barr, discovered tween Instagram personality Indy Bugg. She helped secure the young performer’s role as the granddaughter of Barr’s character.

“She was only 12, and I about fell over that I was able to get her. She’s such a star. You’ll see it in the first episode, in her first scene,” Barr said.

Barr’s television legacy began with Roseanne, which aired on ABC from 1988 until 1997. The sitcom is widely regarded as one of the most influential programs of its kind, and Barr won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award during its run.

ABC revived Roseanne in 2018, but canceled the reboot that same year after Barr posted the tweet about Jarrett, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama. Disney described the post as “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” while many considered it racist.

ABC subsequently transformed the revival into The Conners without Barr and killed off her character. The series continued until the spring of 2025, and Barr has confirmed that she no longer speaks with her former castmates.

Meemaw has been described as a “semi-autobiographical series about a woman who hails from a very liberal East Coast Jewish family.” That setup gives Barr another opportunity to build comedy around sharp family disagreements and clashing political outlooks.

Quaid plays the husband of Barr’s character. Barr joked that viewers can expect plenty of “ romantic , passionate and overwhelming love scenes” between them.

“The extras are gonna be released on OnlyFans ,” Barr quipped. “I’m kidding.”

Barr believes Meemaw can entertain viewers across the political spectrum. She said the show targets both sides rather than allowing either political camp to escape its jokes.

“My daughters are super woke and of course I love them, so I put in jokes for them, too, like I did on Roseanne ,” she concluded. “I make fun of everybody ’cause everybody deserves to be made fun of who’s in power. So, I’ve got some great jokes about Republicans that the lefties are gonna love. I’m an equal opportunity destroyer.”

For Barr, Meemaw represents a long awaited move beyond the cancellation that reshaped her career. With production completed, the family comedy puts her back in a leading television role surrounded by a large ensemble.