Barbara Billingsley had some harsh words for Roseanne
June Cleaver went after her sitcom peer!

What's a little friendly rivalry now and again? Is there anything wrong with competition? Opposing forces contending for the top spot can even drive innovation. That kind of friction is great for business, for creativity, and especially for audiences soaking it all in.
But, what happens when the competition turns ugly? Is there a line that even industry opponents shouldn't cross? Or is all fair in war and sitcoms?
In the late '80s, Barbara Billingsley was once again in the public eye. She was reviving her most famous role, starring once again as June Cleaver in The New Leave It to Beaver. As the show's cast made the rounds, appearing in press junkets and doing interviews, it was an interesting time to ask them to look back. So much changed since the original Leave It to Beaver. The decades that passed changed not only the world of sitcoms but also American society in general.

Watch Leave It to Beaver on MeTV!
Weekdays at 8 & 8:30 AM, Sundays at 1 & 1:30 PM
*available in most MeTV marketsIt'd been more than 30 years since Leave It to Beaver debuted, so it was only natural that its cast had a unique perspective on the ways the TV landscape had since shifted.
Billingsley spoke to a reporter with the Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger about her thoughts on one particular show, and how it differed from the trail she helped blaze.
"You know, the first time I saw Roseanne, I thought, 'Ugh! I hate the messy house.' And she was this big, sloppy woman."
While Billingsley was honest in her initial appraisal, she also admitted that her view softened the longer she watched the newer series. Like many viewers, Billingsley saw the household depicted on Roseanne as more in step with '80s/'90s America than Leave It to Beaver reruns had the chance to be.
"She gives out some pretty good wisdom to her children. There's something there, a warmth and a love that we had in a different way," said Billingsley.










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