True story: I’ve been so depressed since my favorite tennis player, Juan Martin del Potro, suffered a devastating injury in Shanghai that I have barely been watching tennis. It’s my usual way of decompressing and ignoring the day-to-day crap of Trump’s America. So instead of watching tennis or watching the news, I’ve been watching old episodes of Inspector Lewis. That’s what I was doing last night when The Conners premiered on ABC. The Conners is the reboot of the Roseanne reboot. Roseanne Barr was dumped from her eponymously-named show earlier this year, when she had a series of racist Twitter meltdowns which suddenly could not be ignored by the network. ABC decided to rework the show, writing out Roseanne’s character, and just focusing on everybody else in the family, thus The Conners. So how did they write off Roseanne Conner? They killed her with an opioid overdose.
ABC’s Roseanne Barr-less Roseanne spinoff The Conners officially debuted Tuesday night, putting to end months of speculation on just how the Disney-owned network’s sitcom would handle the loss of its controversial star.
The episode, titled “Keep on Truckin,” picked up three weeks after the season 10 finale of Roseanne. The Conners, gathered around the kitchen table, believe Roseanne Conner died in her bed at home of a heart attack following knee surgery — only the Coroner’s Office autopsy reveals that the family matriarch overdosed on opioids. Dan (John Goodman) initially refuses to accept it, as he believed his wife was only on pain pills for two days after her surgery. Instead, he thinks she stopped breathing after her body couldn’t handle the surgery with all of her other health issues — and given the fact that he flushed all of her remaining pills. He quickly comes around after Becky (Lecy Goranson) presents Dan with another bottle of pills that she found in Roseanne’s closet, while Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) found a stash in the kitchen freezer.
Roseanne Barr said in an interview a few months ago that she disagreed with the decision to write the character off with opioids: “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.”
After the episode aired, Roseanne and her rabbi Shmuley Boteach released a joint statement saying that the death was “an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show. Roseanne was the only show on television that directly addressed the deep divisions threatening the very fabric of our society. The show brought together characters of different political persuasions and ethnic backgrounds in one, unified family, a rarity in modern American entertainment.” Yeah… no. Racists and Deplorables don’t need to see themselves fictionalized on network television in the name of “directly addressing the deep divisions.” They ARE the deep divisions. Roseanne also had this to say:
I AIN’T DEAD, BITCHES!!!!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) October 17, 2018
Charming. Almost as charming as all the butthurt Deplorables on Twitter, screaming and crying about how ABC is cancelled. I missed all of it because I was knee-deep in posh British crime drama. Sorry not sorry.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
I am going to RAGE WATCH THE HECK out of “The Connors”…and make sure I tweet my pleasure with the show…OFTEN…and make sure I tag Rosanne Barr each and every time I do it…
I’m not being petty (well, I am a little bit)…that INHUMANE HUMAN BEING…went after me on Twitter right after Barack Obama became POTUS…and the base, horrific racism she projected at me STILL shocks me when I think of it…
So this ain’t business….
It’s…PERSONAL!
That’s insane! She went after you on Twitter?!
Oh yea….SHE WENT THERE!!! Roseanne ALWAYS engaged on Twitter…which is one of the reasons I followed her…and she was ALWAYS cool…ALWAYS…
Until a Black man got in the White House…
And THAT…made her lose her F’ING MIND!!!!!!!!
Go get her! I’ll be there right beside you!
Ha ha – good luck in the war! Roseanne thinks she’s safe as a fictional corpse….
Am disappointed that they didn’t choose my version: The granddaughter Roseanne abused with the faucet incident got some Ambien out of grandma’s purse and stabbed Roseanne to death in an Ambien haze. The family testified that everybody had PTSD from encounters with Roseanne, so the granddaughter was released. Dan fell in love either with the public defender (played by Wanda Sykes) or alternatively with the family therapist they were all seeing to deal with the Roseanne-caused PTSD (played by Wanda Sykes). They married and lived happily ever after, except on Halloween when Roseanne haunted them.
Should have been an overdose of Ambien…
LOL.
I was wondering if the character’s death from prescription drug overdose was a nod to that? Maybe she has a pill problem IRL?
Please don’t judge me, but I watched the reboot (I loved the original up until the final couple of seasons and i liked the idea of checking in with the Connors’ today) and the season ended with Roseanne secretly addicted to pain pills for her knee. So her dying of an overdose isn’t coming out of left field, it’s actually right in line with the storyline they were beginning. I haven’t watched last night’s premiere yet, but I probably will at some point. More out of curiosity of the show without it’s previous namesake.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 PERFECT!
I didn’t watch the reboot and I won’t watch this. Everyone knew who she was and still worked with her.
Yup. No redemption of the rest of the cast (who continue to defend her, by the way) by kicking off a racist who had long been a racist.
They’re all on GMA this morning. I didn’t watch. They have to have the fake tears for their moneymaker. They still have jobs! The writers of today aren’t very imaginative. To bring back all of these shows is ridiculous. Is a new audience suppose to watch the aging casts of shows that were once funny? Count me out.
Agreed.
Knowing what a POS she is, I couldn’t watch the reboot (even though I really liked the early original show). But the WHOLE CAST KNEW what/who she is, and what she’s said, and STILL had no problem cashing the checks. The three leads certainly didn’t need the $$$$, they work pretty consistently. I felt for the crew; they sure didn’t deserve to be out of work, and there was no guarantee of another job mid-season. Still, this is something that should’ve been GONE!
Agreed. A while back John Goodman just shrugged it off when asked about it and pretty much said he didn’t care. Lovely.
Yes, and yes they did.
right there with you. much better stuff on, anyway.
An otherwise happy family show? “Roseanne” always had a fair amount of heavy, sad, episodes, especially in the later years.
I think given how Roseanne herself wanted the rebooted show to be true to the current reality of lower-middle class white Americans, bringing in the opioid epidemic sounds about right.
100% agree – Wasn’t there an episode where she revealed she was abused by her father? That doesn’t sound like a happy family show to me.
The opioid epidemic is affecting wide swaths of America, not just poor people from rural areas and the lower middle class.
That’s what I thought too. Sounds like she doesn’t really remember the show she did for all those years.
I totally agree – and I think this was a good way to both eliminate the character and highlight a very real problem facing many Americans.
The reboot of the reboot nobody asked for…
Exactly. I’m disappointed in Metcalfe, especially.
Me too, Esmom. I was a big fan of hers, and loved her on the Big Bang Theory.
Yeah, but Inspector Lewis on the other hand, is fantastic. As is Endeavor. That’s how you do a reboot.
God, Endeavor is amazing. It’s avoided all the prequel traps and is loaded with terrific characters outside of Young Morse himself. I could watch a Trewlove spinoff any day.
I liked it! My hubby and I laughed a few times. Rosanne was always the weakest actor on the show.
Yes lots of talent in the cast I bet it will do ok.
I agree. I loved the original Roseanne and so I watched the reboot. I’m very happy ABC fired her and killed off the character. There’s no coming back from that unless they do a Dallas Bobby in the shower thing.
So like another commenter said, I’m going to continue to watch this and watch Roseanne slowly unravel and probably tweet her how much better the show is that she’s not on it.
I loved watching Roseanne back in the day and watched the first episode last season but couldn’t continue to support the crazy racist.
So I’m glad the Conners is on, I watched it last night. It was funny and touching and I still love those characters.
Glad to hear someone else with this perspective. I loved the original show. It was so progressive for its time, and I feel like we can use some working class heroes on television right now. It’s a shame Roseanne went off the deep end. I only saw a little bit of the reboot (2 or 3 episodes), and what I saw at least wasn’t as good as the originals, but wasn’t some kind of deplorable Trump celebration by any means either. I’m interested in watching some more. They’re great characters. I just hope Roseanne isn’t getting may more money from this.
The show should have never been brought back to begin with. Okay for that era I suppose, but not now. A better send off would have been a heart attack during a racist rant.
To paraphrase Bette Davis re: Joan Crawford’s death; “My mother said to only speak good about the dead, …Roseanne is dead, good!”
She’s awful, but I question why she’s cancelled amongst liberals and Kanye still has tons of defenders.
Apparently she has mental health issues too so that can’t be the reason.
Kim and Kanye was meeting with a dictator who has been in power for over 30 years who imprisons everyone who criticise him and basically has implemented some of the worst homophobic laws in the world. .
Roseanne literally just sits at her computer and spews crazy stuff, Kanye is out there legitimising and normalising dictators and both him and Kim are far more influential than Roseanne who probably mostly has fans amongst people who are trumpsters anyway.
Kanye has tons of defenders? Other than Trump and his minions?
yeah, this is what I was wondering. I’ve seen no Ye defenders on here and even most black celebrities that I follow have canceled him. Even T.I., who had been defending him, was like “nah, son”.
I wonder, too. I’ve cancelled them both, but I do see people making excuses for Kanye. (because he’s an alleged genius *rolly eyes emoji*).
ABC was trying to figure out what to do when the word came down from a high up at ABC and one from Disney. The two didn’t ask any questions, just ordered her fired and cancel the show.
You can’t compare these two situations. Roseanne is a white woman who made a racial slur against a black woman. That’s why she was fired. And deservedly so.
and Kanye is normalizing a racist/sexist/bigot who has not only made racist, sexist and bigoted remarks, but enacted policies and laws to carry out his racist, sexist and bigoted agenda. They’re equally bad imo
They’re both cancelled.
I didn’t watch last season and I probably won’t watch this but I actually think this death is fitting. There is an opioid crisis in America (and Canada, where I am from, to a lesser degree) so it’s timely.
yea I love inspector Lewis, Morse, Vera
all my go to comfort shows 💚
Roseanne holds so many memories for me, grew up with the tv family. That said, I watched the reboot and last nights show with a great deal of ambivalence. Disappointed in her and the cast, but I like the cast and miss the characters. I’m not sure how to feel about the fact they tolerated ( heck we don’t know them they could be supportive for all we know) her views etc. But people are complicated and they’ve known her for years, I’m sure this is just one side of her ( Albeit a racist, bigoted side)
“Endeavour”, about a young Morse starting out in the police force, is my favourite of all – even more than Morse (and I own all the series). Really nuanced, clever, gripping. Highly recommended.
I haven’t closely followed the whole Roseanne mess but I will say that I think it’s good for popular culture to address the opioid epidemic. News outlets (PBS’s Frontline and WBUR’s On Point especially) have covered it pretty well as of late, and hopefully death rates have plateaued, but it is very much still a crisis. I recently moved to Philly, and the Kensington neighborhood is a straight-up open air narcotics market. Startling, and very sad, to see.
I am here for the Inspector Lewis shout-out. I also recommend Endeavor as a follow-up … British dramas have been saving me the last couple of years.
I didn’t watch the reboot.
I won’t watch this (it hits too close to home, as it’s home my mom died).
There are other and better options.
I watched the first episode of the reboot and I watched the first episode of The Conners. I’m still not a fan. But I appreciate the show capturing a little bit of the reality of the aftermath after someone dies unexpectedly; particularly that first bit of laughter and the feeling of being sick of crying.
I won’t be watching anymore episodes.
I watched out of curiosity, but I’m not sure how I feel about watching the rest and lining the pockets of the cast who continues to support her.
Strange for John Goodman: They killed him off, and now he’s alive again, and Roseanne is dead. Probably not how he thought it would play out.
I watched the Conners and I rather liked it. I can see Darlene (Sara Gilbert) taking on the sarcastic role that Roseanne had.
One question: wasn’t there four Conner children? Another son named Jerry? He was not mentioned or did I miss that?
Oh yeah! I forgot she had another kid. I didn’t a quick Google and found this https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a19621697/who-is-jerry-on-roseanne/
I wonder, who is the audience for this show? The MAGAs won’t watch because they’re mad about Rosanne being gone from the show. People who already hated Rosanne because of her stupidity and racist comments won’t be watching. I hope it’s canceled soon.
Roseanne should have been kept on the show. And her craziness dealt with. This “killing her off’’ was so contrived and comical. There are lots of people out there like her. Let us talk about it. This felt so wrong. Racism isn’t going away.
I watched the old Roseanne on Saturday on some extended cable channel. I couldn’t believe it was on but then I saw the commercial for the new show so I kind of got it. Still, I thought the reruns would be gone forever to take away RB’s royalty $. Anyone know what the deal is?
I will continue to watch the old Roseanne episodes even if RB continues to profit from the reruns because I really loved that show. There were so many really funny moments and it really was one of the few shows to depict the working class in an honest way. There was a really funny scene where a politician running for office who was canvasing came to the door and Roseanne Connor had a sharp rebuttal to all of his campaign promises. It was the polar opposite of today’s Trump voter. I loved that version of Roseanne.
I hate revisionist history. I wish the media would stop saying she was fired for a single tweet.
Not true.
It was a series of tweets and racist, unhinged behavior that culminated in the final tweet.
That specificity matters.
“One tweet” makes it sound like the dismissal came out of nowhere.
It did not.
Well, the show itself was pretty diverse and presented many different issues. in fact, in some ways it was pretty liberal. The old and the new. The way she died seems pretty true to what they presented in the rebooted show. I may watch the new version but without Roseanne it does seem like it is missing something.
At its best, Roseanne was a show that dealt with real and heavy issues in an authentic way – which led to some great comedy.
The reboot didn’t feel right or true to the character of Roseanne – at first. About half way through, it stopped being heavy handed and kind of got back to what it was… a story about a family.
I haven’t watched the reboot-reboot The Connors yet, but I intend to.
Here’s the thing with the OD… I feel it is in keeping with the nature of the show. Opioid overdose is a very real problem for very real families and I think, if Roseanne Barr was still on this show and they killed off one of the other characters; she’d be saying how groundbreaking she was being.
Because it was her character Roseanne, she cries foul.
Her response is such a cynical take on opioid use, too. She clearly thinks she and her character are too good for that. Opiate addiction is one of the leading causes of death in the USA and is isn’t limited to economic status. Like domestic abuse, drugs don’t care how much money you have.
Not like I expected anything better from a crap person like Roseanne.
Very well said…
They should have just canceled the show. I don’t understand why Laurie and Goodman in particular are continuing this. They have money and other jobs. They didn’t need this.
I just watched last night’s episode on Hulu. I thought it was good. It’s still a show about family and some heavy issues. I watched the original show as well as all of last season’s reboot. I thought last night’s episode was a logical continuation of all the other episodes. It does have a bit of a different feel because Roseanne isn’t there but that is true in life when someone dies. If anything, it gives the rest of the cast some room to breathe. The character Roseanne often seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the room, you know? I will keep watching.
Totally agree with you. I really enjoyed last night’s episode without Roseanne. I would never have watched it again if she had still been in the show. You’re right–she sucked the oxygen out of the room.
I can’t get past writing off this show. It’s crazy to me how other set designers can’t manage a budget on par with their character’s supposed earnings. As a person who has aged ( and down-wardly socioeconomic-ed) their way out of the target demographics that are represented on t.v., it’s really very alienating, and honestly, very lonely. It makes you feel like the only failure in a world of boot-strapping successes.
Roseanne was always the exception to that rule , and I felt so betrayed to see it’s creator lose track of reality and empathy. I will keep with The Connors; one, because it was a really decent show that I enjoyed. Two; because I think that the cast did their best to respect the woman that ( arguably) made their careers, while expressing their individual dismay at what she had become, and three because I agree with the network’s decisions.
I know a lot of people didn’t think she should have been given any additional platform given her slow but outspoken decline, but we can’t just write off the people that have been duped into falling for these lies, not necessarily from a moral standpoint, but from a practical one. There are too many of them, and they are not dying off quickly enough to ignore. We have to build a framework through which they can re-enter decent society, or else they will continue to shore up numbers for their disastrous campaign.
The problem with echo chambers is that it’s not enough to want to be part of them. You have to be owned by them or face ostracisation. This is problematic for the free thinker who, whilst wanting to belong, doesn’t want to be owned.
Becky’s husband Mark, Glen Quinn, died of a drug overdose in real life so maybe it was “art” imitating life/death. Any power taken away from a racist is good in my book. Carry on Connors! I might just tune in.