ABC/Robert Trachtenberg
Ever since ABC greenlit the spinoff of Roseanne, The Conners, without Roseanne Barr fans have been speculating on how the new series would explain the absence of the Conners matriarch, and now Barr is not waiting for the show to air for them to get their answer.
With no ties left with ABC or the show, Barr had no problem dropping the show’s biggest spoiler during a YouTube interview over the weekend. “Oh ya, they killed her,” Barr told Brandon Straka’s YouTube show Walk Away over the weekend. “They have her die of an opioid overdose.”
While the revelation isn’t that surprising considering that is how many assumed the character would die because the last season of the Roseanne revival set up Roseanne Conner’s opioid problem, it was still shocking Barr wouldn’t let the show air with the news. As it turns out, the comedian is not happy with her character’s death.
“I wanted to show [opioid struggle] in the show,” she said. “But I was never going to have Roseanne die of an opioid overdose. It’s so cynical and horrible. She should have died as a hero or not at all … It wasn’t enough to [fire me], they had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show.”
So far, ABC has not commented on Barr’s statements about her character’s death, and have kept tight-lipped about The Conners in general, just saying, “The spin-off will continue to portray contemporary issues that are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago.”
The Conners has a 10-episode order and stars John Goodman (Dan), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Lecy Goranson (Becky), and Michael Fishman (D.J.).
Everything To Know About The ‘Roseanne’ Spinoff ‘The Conners’
12. What Happened?
Although the Roseanne revival should have been entering its second season and its eleventh overall, instead The Conners is airing in its place. Many of course know what happened, but the cancellation came on May 29, 2018 shortly after Roseanne Barr aimed a racist tweet at former president Barack Obama’s aid, Valerie Jarrett. In the tweet Barr said Jarret was like the “offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.” “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said shortly afterward. Although Barr tried to rectify her tweet with explanations and apologies, and even “begged” ABC not to cancel her show, there was no chance of the network bringing her back.
ABC