One of the main creative voices behind ABC’s surprisingly successful Roseanne revival is stepping away from the series, with Variety reporting that comedian Whitney Cummings is leaving her co-showrunner role on the series. According to Cummings, she’s departing the show—which has already been revived for what’s technically its 11th season next year—due to the pressures of her touring schedule as a stand-up. Her fellow showrunner, sitcom vet Bruce Helford, broke the news earlier today.
With a wink to TMZ’s Harvey Levin, Cummings issued a statement on Twitter this afternoon, presumably hoping to use it to head off any rumors that she was leaving the show to put distance between herself and its controversial reputation (a mirror image of the one surrounding star Roseanne Barr). Regardless of how you might feel about the series’ content—which has been criticized with claims that it serves mostly as a platform for Barr to slap down and mock left-leaning beliefs she doesn’t like—nuRoseanne has been a hit for ABC, bringing in more than 10 million viewers every week. Cummings defended the show’s stances earlier this year, telling reporters, “We’re not talking about Mueller and Trump and Russia, we’re talking about not having healthcare and just the circumstances of a heartland, blue collar family.”