Roseanne Has ‘SNL’ in Her Sights : Her New Show, Fox’s ‘Saturday Night Special,’ Shoots for the Hip

Thank Lorne Michaels for “Saturday Night Special.”

It was Roseanne’s hosting duties on Michaels’ creation “Saturday Night Live” that inspired the comedian to put together her own sketch comedy show, which begins a six-episode run on Fox April 13. The rapid-fire hour will air at 11 p.m. Saturdays in place of “Mad TV,” putting it in competition from 11:30 p.m. to midnight with “Saturday Night Live.”

“It’s ready to fall,” Roseanne said of “Saturday Night Live” to reporters Saturday, just before taping the premiere of “Saturday Night Special” at CBS/Radford Studios in Studio City. “ ‘Mad TV’ has already made a dent, and hopefully we’ll finish it.”

Still, Fox executives initially worried that the similarity in names might confuse audiences. Hence, Plan B: “I wanted to call it ‘Rupert Murdoch’s Flying Circus,’ ” said Roseanne, referring to the chairman of Fox Inc. “They said, ‘No.’ Then I didn’t turn in any more [titles], so they went with ‘Saturday Night Special’ because time ran out. If you wait long enough, they’ll come around.”

Murdoch does make it into the show--in a recurring bit played by “Monty Python’s” Eric Idle--along with fast-paced and innovative animation, films, sketches, music and novelty acts that Roseanne describes as “MTV Meets ‘Laugh-In.’ ”

Each episode will feature musical guests and a different celebrity host, beginning with Roseanne, who is the executive producer. She also will appear in an occasional sketch in the subsequent five shows.

Judging by the first installment, nothing is sacred: Hollywood players discuss the latest trend--adopting crack babies; a mud wrestling scene with a surprise entrance by a male cast member in a blond wig and bikini; a ‘70s police drama parody done with marionettes.

“Moving in and out of wild characters is kind of my comedy sensibility anyway,” she said. “It’s really stimulating to take on current events or see something on TV that’s so horrifically ridiculous you want to parody it.”

She also promises a female bent to the comedy. “I don’t think white guy college humor is funny at all,” she said. “I didn’t want to do an hour of penis and fart jokes like they do on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I wanted a little parody and intelligence to it.”

Meanwhile, Roseanne is still doing original episodes of her other self-titled ABC show, which will return next fall for its ninth and final season with only occasional appearances by her TV husband, John Goodman. Last fall, she announced that this season would be “Roseanne’s” last, but did an about-face after “a profound spiritual change.”

“I felt I had put out a lot of negative messages on the ‘Roseanne’ show that I wanted another year to correct,” she said. “I had shown a lot of hardship with this working-class family and forgot to show the intense hope that is also part of those people. I want their dreams to actually happen. That’s a good thing to say to young people, because it looks like it doesn’t happen and it does--and, in fact, it happened to me. I want to make sure that when I tell my story, via the ‘Roseanne’ show, that I bring that into it.”

When asked how “Roseanne” will deal with Goodman’s absence, she would only say, “I have really creative ways to handle it,” declining to provide details.

Roseanne said she is planning a one-woman show in June for an HBO special and is talking to that network about her American version of Britain’s “Absolutely Fabulous,” for which she owns the rights. ABC, which had a first-look deal for that program, allowed her to approach cable networks after her vision for the series about two hard-drinking women proved too racy for broadcast TV.

She said she finds having so many projects in the works more creatively inspiring than overwhelming. “I have a multiple personality disorder and it comes in handy for this kind of thing,” she said with a grin.

“People kind of waste a lot of time here. I don’t waste any time. The more creative outlets you have, the more creative you get,” Roseanne said. “If ‘Saturday Night Special’ goes well, I’ll put all my creative energy into it and move from ‘Roseanne’ to here.”

If the show is a success, Fox may alternate “Saturday Night Special” and “Mad TV” in its Saturday late-night schedule next fall or air the former as a series of specials. But if it fails, would Roseanne try another stab at hosting “SNL”? “No,” she said. “He’s [Michaels] never gonna ever want to talk to me again.”