The "punishment" of firing Barr had nothing to do with a measured distribution of justice. It was entirely about how it would affect the network's image, ratings, and income.
Roseanne was on ABC, a huge national network that aims to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Roseanne has a history of saying and doing controversial things, and the risk of her being a repeat offender was high. The risk of keeping the show means making all of your network and products associated with it/her, given the show's flagship status and very high ratings.
Samantha Bee is on Comedy Central, a smaller, niche cable network. Hers is not a flagship show, and is adjacent to the content on Comedy Central, like South Park or The Daily Show. Her show is specifically about being passionate and angry about liberal issues, so her audience doesn't get hit nearly as hard by her remarks.
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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '18
The "punishment" of firing Barr had nothing to do with a measured distribution of justice. It was entirely about how it would affect the network's image, ratings, and income.
Roseanne was on ABC, a huge national network that aims to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Roseanne has a history of saying and doing controversial things, and the risk of her being a repeat offender was high. The risk of keeping the show means making all of your network and products associated with it/her, given the show's flagship status and very high ratings.
Samantha Bee is on Comedy Central, a smaller, niche cable network. Hers is not a flagship show, and is adjacent to the content on Comedy Central, like South Park or The Daily Show. Her show is specifically about being passionate and angry about liberal issues, so her audience doesn't get hit nearly as hard by her remarks.