'Roseanne' revival earns biggest TV comedy rating in nearly 4 years

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The return of "Roseanne" premiered to massive ratings Tuesday night.

MORE: 'Roseanne' cast returns 20 years later, older and just a bit wiser

A special look behind the scenes of the revival of Roseanne - 20 years later!

The sitcom dominated in its debut with 18.2 million viewers. It also earned an impressive 5.1 rating among the key demographic, adults 18-49. That's the highest rated comedy telecast on any broadcast network in almost four years.

Roseanne Barr, the show's star and executive producer, took to twitter to thank her fans. She wrote, "I am so greatful (sic) to the fans of the Roseanne show for giving it a good Premiere rating. You are all wonderful-here is to making America laugh & talk again! LOVE U."

Barr tweeted that she was happy she'd decided to leave Hawaii and work through bronchitis and a bad knee to bring the show back to life. "U guys made it all worth it! thanks so very much!" she wrote.

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Roseanne Barr returns to the sitcom world with the same talented cast and penchant for political humor.

The debut show featured a storyline including Roseanne's unemployed daughter, Darlene, living under her roof with two kids, Becky becoming a surrogate and Darlene's son dealing with bullying at school.

In case you didn't catch it, the episode will be re-broadcast Sunday, April 1 on ABC7.