Roseanne (1988-1997) Remastered using AI

[Coasterghost]

It seems Variety let the cat out of the bag too early, and then retracted the story, but All 222 episodes of Roseanne have been remastered into high definition with help from AI. The restored episodes will be rolled out on cable, streaming and digital platforms (including CMT, TV Land, Peacock and Cozi TV) starting March 3.

Variety left the tweet up, but the story is offline.


https://x.com/Variety/status/1895144613377176033

Original link to the story *at time of posting is offline* https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/ros...es-1236322076/

Third Party sites running the story are saying: The official reveal of the remastered episodes took place during a Facebook Live event, hosted by Michael Fishman, who played DJ on the show. The event also streamed on platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

Posters Note: This event has yet to happen but will tonight.


Edit: AOL had the Full Story with the sample:

“Roseanne” is getting a makeover. The hit comedy, which ran for 222 episodes from 1988 to 1997, has been remastered into enhanced high definition, partly by AI — and distributor Carsey-Werner Television, which announced the restoration Thursday, said the new look will be seen in off-network syndication on cable, streaming and digital platforms (including CMT, TV Land, Peacock and Cozi TV) starting Monday, March 3.

The restoration was set to be revealed Thursday at 7 p.m. via a Facebook Live telecast on the “Roseanne” account. An exclusive Facebook Live preview of the remastered episodes for the 1.2 million Roseanne followers will be held at 7 p.m. ET today. Michael Fishman, who played DJ Connor on the show, will host the unveil (which will then be seen on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok).

According to Carsey-Werner, “the remastering initiative combined advanced AI with skilled creative artistry to honor the original content, while meeting modern viewing and technical standards that transformed the original 4×3 standard definition prints into enhanced 16×9 masters. Remastered magnifications included noise and grain reduction, color correction and stabilization, as well as improvements in audio/stereo sound.”

The restoration was handled by Burbank-based Performance Post, which began the task in summer 2024 and spent eight months handling it. Performance Post noted that its AI process for re-creating original audio in the film is similar to how The Beatles’ “Now and Then” re-created original audio.

“Our scope of work was to remain faithful to the original creative intent that Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner crafted,” said Performance Post president Fausto Sanchez. “The goal was to bring new life to the show while preserving Roseanne’s original creative intent of laughter and humor,” Sanchez said.

This reps a big revival for “Roseanne,” which was pulled from many broadcast and cable stations (including Paramount Network, TV Land, CMT and Laff) in 2018 after star Roseanne posted a controversial tweet. Those posts led ABC to cancel a recently revived version of “Roseanne,” which a then morphed into “The Conners” — without Barr. (“The Conners” is about to debut its seventh and final season in March.)

“Roseanne” eventually made its way back to TV after the controversy died, however. Cozi TV even threw a “30 Years of ‘Roseanne'” pop-up activation at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023.

“This is something new that will be a welcomed surprise to ‘Roseanne’ fans,” said Carsey-Werner’s Paul Schreiber, president, North America. “As a legacy sitcom with timeless appeal, we assembled the best team possible to deliver a new HD format that will bring our multi-platform streaming, cable and digital partners a whole new generation of first-time viewers to this enduring series.”

Here’s a first look at the preview hosted by Fishman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrKdXBvrRpM

[SpacemanDoug]

no

[Chedwiggen]

I'm all for using AI to upgrade shows and movies to HD that can't be done any other way I'm just not sure if it's there yet.

[Freddie_Quell]

Originally Posted by Coasterghost

All 222 episodes of Roseanne have been remastered into high definition with help from AI.

So videotape with crap on top of it.

[HillSprinter]

I’ve seen some pretty impressive AI upscales. And this is one of the best uses for it.

[SpacemanDoug]

So fans here can get an idea, let me sum up how Carsey-Werner has treated the show over the years:

-The initial 2005 season 1 DVD release from Anchor Bay used nothing but syndicated edits of the episodes. (Fortunately this was corrected on Mill Creek's set)

-Seasons 8 and 9 suffered music edits (unfortunately Mill Creek's set retained most of those), which included the removal of a few of the end tag scenes, most infamously the Patty Duke parody from the season 8 premiere.

-The series finale Into That Good Night, despite the other episodes being the ABC versions (aside from the aforementioned music edits), was not the uncut hour long version and is rather the two part syndicated cut.

-At some point in the 2020s, "remasters" were created for the entire show which cropped the episodes to widescreen (minus the opening and end credits sequences) and on top of that, they're all based off of the syndicated versions.

-Now there's this AI bullshit.

Carsey-Werner was already notorious for their poor treatment of their library but Roseanne has arguably gotten the shit end of the stick. The DVDs for the show are still the best versions of the show to get, though for season 1 and one episode in season 8, the Mill Creek versions are better.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by SpacemanDoug

no

I want to see the results for myself first.

The existing 1080p upscales on Peacock look like garbage. Shot on 480i videotape masters in the 1980s/90s garbage. Absolute garbage. I actually prefer watching the DVDs over that noise.

This isn't a case where you can take film and actually rescan it at 2K/4K resolution with REC2020 color like they did with Friends and Seinfeld.

It'll also be interesting to see if the AI can fix the geometry issues from going to 4x3 to 16x9. The color looks a lot better, that's for sure.

[DThompson]

Can't wait to see the weird mangled faces in background scenes.

[redxrebellion]

A.I.? No
Only 16x9? No

I’ll gladly stick to my DVD set.

[Coasterghost]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I want to see the results for myself first.

The existing 1080p upscales on Peacock look like garbage. Shot on 480i videotape masters in the 1980s/90s garbage. Absolute garbage. I actually prefer watching the DVDs over that noise.

This isn't a case where you can take film and actually rescan it at 2K/4K resolution with REC2020 color like they did with Friends and Seinfeld.

It'll also be interesting to see if the AI can fix the geometry issues from going to 4x3 to 16x9. The color looks a lot better, that's for sure.

This has samples of it:

Roseanne Facebook Live Variety Short Version - YouTube

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I want to see the results for myself first.

The existing 1080p upscales on Peacock look like garbage. Shot on 480i videotape masters in the 1980s/90s garbage. Absolute garbage. I actually prefer watching the DVDs over that noise.

It'll also be interesting to see if the AI can fix the geometry issues from going to 4x3 to 16x9. The color looks a lot better, that's for sure.

The Mill Creek DVDs are the best out there. Yes they suffer from their usual compression but the episodes are mostly uncut and don't have anything like AI going on. Plus they're in the proper aspect ratio, part of the reason why the Peacock versions look so bad is a result of the cropping and exaggerating issues inherent to the tape source. Plus on top of that, all of the Peacock episodes are their syndicated versions, none of them are the uncut ABC versions.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by Coasterghost

This has samples of it:Roseanne Facebook Live Variety Short Version - YouTube

Jesus they couldn't even retain the proper aspect ratio?

Garbage

[eledoremassis02]

Some screencaps for those interested

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by eledoremassis02

Some screencaps for those interested

they all look hazy, another issue with AI is the haze filter it tends to apply, but my guess is that they used the already botched widescreen versions as basis and they're gonna be the syndicated versions

[Pin cushion kid]

Put it on disc and then we'll talk. Physically media rulz!!!

[Lost-in-time]

Hmmm I’m personally not sure I see a huge amount of difference (other than the aspect ratio change). If this means we’ll get uncut versions of all the episodes on the most durable disc format then I’d upgrade my DVD set but it sounds like this is just for streaming.

[Telemachus]

Surely the AI will work this time

[smm09060]

The new version is up on Peacock now. It's the syndicated versions.

[hanshotfirst1138]

I'm not touching anything remastered with AI with a ten-foot pole.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by smm09060

The new version is up on Peacock now. It's the syndicated versions.

I believe that CW actually used the pre-made widescreen versions as basis, which themselves are based off of the syndicated versions.

If one wants a perfect collection for the show, the Mill Creek season 1 DVD, plus the two season 8 Disney World episodes from Mill Creek, and the Anchor Bay DVD set for the rest of the series is the most perfect way to watch the show. However I do have "restorations" of seasons 8 and 9 that restore the original music that was altered on those DVD releases. Unfortunately I have yet to acquire an ABC recording of Into That Good Night to restore it to its hour long version.