When a show is revived after being off the air for a while, chances are it's going to be pretty similar to the original — that's part of why the audience is going to tune in. And to reward the die-hard fans from the first run, the shows undoubtedly will throw in some references to the original.
Case in point: Fuller House [1], especially the reboot's premiere episode, is full of nods to the original, like incorporating the infamous catchphrases and making reference to the character we are unlikely to ever see on the revival (since Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen [2] haven't shown any interest in revisiting the character of youngest Tanner daughter, Michelle).
With Roseanne [3], things are no different, though it's not quite so obvious with the references, since the two sitcoms are very different. But there are some fun things fans can look forward to.
Dan's "Death"
With Roseanne coming back, the writers obviously have to deal with the sticky issue of how a lot of "canon" was erased by chalking it up to having been part of Roseanne's writing in the final season of the original. The biggest one is Dan's death. In the original series finale, Dan surviving his heart attack is revealed to be part of Roseanne's writing as a way to cope with the fact that he actually died.
In the reboot — spoiler alert — Dan is not dead. And the show makes a couple of wink-wink references to it.
Darlene's Children
When the reboot kicks off, Darlene has a 14-year-old daughter named Harris and a 10-year-old son named Mark, both of whom are nice nods to the original series, but in very different ways.
Mark is a tribute to his late uncle, David's brother Mark Healy (who was also Becky's husband). Naming the character Mark is also a tribute to actor Glenn Quinn, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2002 [5].
Harris, on the other hand, isn't a direct reference, but she is channeling the spirit of her mom as a teenager so hard that it is uncanny how much she's like Darlene [6].
The Parent-Child Relationships
With Darlene living back under her parents' roof, they are naturally turning into parental surrogates to her children — and not much has changed in 20 years. Roseanne's word is still final, Dan still hides in the garage to drink beer, and they're both still supersupportive parents, in their own ways, just like they were 20+ years ago.
The 2 Beckys
It's been known for a while now that the reboot wrote a part for Sarah Chalke [7], the actress who took over the role of Becky Conner when Alicia Goranson [8] left the show to attend college. In the reboot, Chalke plays a wealthy woman who is hiring Becky to be her surrogate. No spoilers, but when they meet in person for the first time, the show gets in a couple great zingers about how they both played Becky all those years ago.
Roseanne's Writing
It doesn't come up as a major plot yet, but Roseanne's writing career that never got off the ground is mentioned in the premiere, and Barr revealed at the 2018 TCA Winter press tour that Dan builds her a writing room in the third episode.
It remains to be seen if at some point the show will be revealed to be a story within a story within a story . . . (kidding, kidding).
Social Issues
Roseanne never shied away from tackling social issues, and the reboot is no different. In the first two episodes alone, they jump head first into politics, the 2016 election, gender identity, a woman's right to autonomy over her body, and homosexuality (briefly, in a funny running joke).
It's great to see that the groundbreaking show isn't afraid to go there after all these years.
The Throwback Looks
There is a brief shot of the above photo in episode two, which is a picture of Roseanne and Dan from early on in the show's original run. And Aunt Jackie sports a shirt that is straight out of 1993.
The Lanford Locales
Roseanne visits her kids' old school when she takes Mark to his first day of school, while Harris is attending Lanford High, which is where her mom went. We're excited to see if other locations pop up throughout the reboot, like the Lunch Box, Dan's lodge, the Lobo Lounge, and more.