By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --ABC, which canceled its "Roseanne" revival over its star's racist tweet, said Thursday it will air a Conner family sitcom minus Roseanne Barr this fall.
ABC ordered 10 episodes of the spinoff after Barr agreed to forgo any creative or financial participation in it, which the network had said was a condition of such a series.
In a statement issued by the show's producer, Barr said she agreed to the settlement to save the jobs of 200 cast and crew members who were idled when "Roseanne" was canceled last month.
"I regret the circumstances that have caused me to be removed from 'Roseanne,' she said, adding, "I wish the best for everyone involved."
The revival of the hit 1988-97 sitcom "Roseanne" was swiftly axed by ABC last month after Barr posted a tweet likening former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and "Planet of the Apes."
Tom Werner, executive producer of the original series and the revival, said in the statement that he was grateful to reach the deal to keep the team working "as we continue to explore stories of the Conner family."
ABC said that the new series, with "The Conners" as its working title, will star John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and other "Roseanne" cast members.
How Barr's character, the family matriarch, will be erased from their life was left unexplained for now by ABC.
"After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before," the network said in its announcement.
The spinoff will continue to portray contemporary issues that are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago," ABC said, a nod to the show's unusual portrayal of a blue-collar family.
The new show was ordered from producer Werner Entertainment without a pilot episode, the typical basis for a series to be greenlit.
Barr's tweet had been condemned by ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey as "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values."
Barr initially apologized and deleted the post, which had followed her pattern of making controversial statements on social media. Some observers questioned why ABC had ordered the revival given her history.
But the comedy's return was an instant smash for ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., and was counted on to lead the network's fortunes next season.
Its first new episode last March was seen by more than 25 million people, with delayed viewing counted in, numbers that are increasingly rare in network television.
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More