Nearly 20 Million People Tuned In For Roseanne’s Return

America is here for the Connors -- Trump-shaped warts and all. The long-awaited Roseanne reboot premiered last night to massive ratings. According to Nielsen, 18.2 million same-day viewers tuned in for the return of Roseanne Conner, which was nearly two million viewers larger than the 16.6 million people who tuned in to the original series finale in 1997 when we lived in the dark age before DVR and Netflix.

Related | The Roseanne Revival is Must-Watch TV for the Trump Era

In the two decades since the show went off the air, the show's creator Roseanne Barr has become a political lightning rod as she briefly ran for president for the Green Party in 2012 and, most recently, became an outspoken Trump supporter.

On the new season, the fictional Roseanne is still a blue-collar woman still struggling to make ends meet in small-town Illinois, but her politics are personal. Both she and her husband, Dan (John Goodman), support the president, which ruffles the feathers of her liberally-minded sister Jackie (the stunning Laurie Metcalf).

Related | Roseanne Barr Defends Trump Support to Jimmy Kimmel

We know that nostalgia can wear off quickly and we'll be waiting to see how many viewers stick around for next week's episode, but with the inclusion Mark, Roseanne's 9-year-old grandson who prefers to wear skirts to school, we hope that the revival will open up the audience's eyes to important social issues.