171 Will & Grace and Roseanne: When Trump-Era Reboots Get it So Wrong

This week we’re talking about the Roseanne and Will & Grace reboots are getting political discussions so wrong, and why that doesn’t fly in this Trump-pocalypse we’re living in.

In This Episode

We were cautiously excited for the Roseanne and Will & Grace reboots, curious to see how they were going to change and evolve after such a long time off air, and if they were going to step into political commentary given the contentious political environment they were returning to.

Sadly, both shows have botched important political discussions. Episode 1 of the new season of Roseanne, titled “Twenty Years to Life,” tries to “show both sides” of voting Trump vs Hillary and fails spectacularly. Nuanced conversation is scrapped in favor of both sides repeating party lines at each other and then the discussion is basically dropped completely.

Episode 14 of the new season of Will & Grace, titled “The Beefcake and the Cake Beef,” irresponsibly misses the mark of the gay wedding cake debate. In a terribly misinformed move, the show tries to argue that a bakery should be forced to print a pro-Trump sentiment on a cake, otherwise risk violating the First Amendment. What the situation posed in the episode actually related to was compelled, vs free, speech. Additionally, anti-discrimination laws do not protect political beliefs, so the whole conversation is a non-starter. Instead of adding to the conversation, Will & Grace is just another piece of media adding to the confusion around our laws and how they apply to these contentious situations.

We would have forgiven these shows for coming back to simply be funny, as long as they could have updated their language and jokes to fix issues with the shows content in the past. But to reenter the scene during a Trump presidency deciding to get into the politcal dialogue and then be irresponsible about it is something we can’t get past.

Joke

Why are the melons getting married in a church?

Links and Information

News

* Chloe Coscarelli Files Lawsuit to Reclaim by CHLOE Name (VegNews)

* Meat Eater Claims Oral Sex Is Not Vegan (Plant Based News)

* Applebee’s and IHOPs Close Due to Lack of Millennials (VegNews)

Related Resources

* The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot Is Funny. I’m Not Going to Keep Watching. | Roxanne Gay | NY Times

* Mark Lamont Facebook Post

* ‘Roseanne’ reboot is damn good. The star deserves none of the credit | Clay Cane | CNN

* ‘Will & Grace’ episode reinforces anti-gay talking points on wedding cake discrimination | Zack Ford | Think Progress

* Will and Grace Botches the Gay Wedding Cake Fight | Scott Shackford | Reason

* Legal for Colorado bakery to refuse to write anti-gay message on cake | Eugene Volokh | Reason

* Compelled Speech | Enc...