'Roseanne' had a joke about ABC's minority-led comedies 'Black-ish' and 'Fresh Off the Boat' - and people were not pleased

ABC

• ABC's reboot of "Roseanne" generated more controversy after Tuesday night's episode aired.
• The episode included a joke that took a jab at ABC's minority-starring comedies, "Black-ish" and "Fresh Off the Boat."

ABC's reboot of the beloved sitcom "Roseanne" has generated a plethora of controversy in just a few episodes.

On Tuesday night's episode, a joke about ABC's minority-led sitcoms, "Black-ish" and "Fresh Off the Boat," upset a lot of people as much as the Trump storyline did last week. The show's star, Roseanne Barr, has also stirred up some controversy due to her comments in support of Trump and tweets that suggest she supports right-wing conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate.

On Tuesday's "Roseanne," the character Roseanne and her husband Dan (John Goodman) are sleeping on the couch, and the TV is on. Roseanne and Dan wake up.

"What time is it?" Dan says. "Did we miss dinner?" 

"It's 11 o'clock," Roseanne says. "We slept from 'Wheel' to 'Kimmel.'"

"We missed all the shows about black and Asian families," Dan says. 

"They're just like us," Roseanne responds.

While this was likely a well-intentioned comment to demonstrate that "Roseanne" itself is trying to show working-class Americans and a Trump supporter who aren't seen much on TV, many people did not appreciate it. 

Here's what people said about the joke on Twitter:

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Roseanne" co-showrunner Bruce Helford defended the joke when asked to explain what it was trying to accomplish.

"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," Helford said. "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."

"Black-ish" airs immediately after "Roseanne" on Tuesday nights and "Fresh Off the Boat" aired its season four finale at the end of March.