Nov. 15, 2006

Roseanne raises bar on TV

[Hear interviews with Whoopi, Bill Maher, Don Rickles and Roseanne Barr here]

By Steve Friess
Special for USA TODAY

TV sitcom pioneer Roseanne Barr is back on the scene with an HBO stand-up special, Blonde and Bitchin', and an appearance on Comic Relief, which will be simulcast live on HBO and TBS (Saturday, 9 ET/PT) to raise money for Hurricane Katrina recovery. She chatted with USA TODAY ahead of the show.

Q: What brought you to Comic Relief?

A: I did it right after the L.A. riots. It's great that they're doing it again and that they're paying attention to the people at the bottom. They're refugees, and they're Americans.

Q: Do fans who identified with you when you were poor and playing a poor homemaker on the Roseanne sitcom now complain you're not one of them anymore?

A: No, it's really weird. I get people who come up to me all the time and say nice things to me. They say to me, 'You were like my mom.' And I always worry and ask, 'What d'ya learn?'

Q: You're doing a blog and a weekly video call-in show on the Internet through RoseanneWorld.com. You're really into this Internet thing, huh?

A: It's exciting, and I'm discovering people, and if they're genius, I want to help them. I'm going to put up their videos on my site.

Q: Do you ever want to take young stars by the collar and tell them to straighten up?

A: I'm not naming any names, but I firmly stick my neck into everyone's business that I can stick it into.

Q: Do stars act different in public than they did in your heyday?

A: Yeah. I'm really proud that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (are) putting their hands on stuff and actually doing work instead of just preening for cameras. A lot of stars, they're really deciding to help.

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