John Goodman Confirms Roseanne Barr Will Be Killed Off ‘The Conners,’ Says Revival Cancellation Caused Depression
Zack Sharf
Roseanne Conner, the character played by Roseanne Barr for 10 seasons on the comedian’s eponymous ABC sitcom, will be dead when the network launches “The Conners” in the fall. John Goodman, who starred opposite Barr as Dan Conner, confirmed to The Sunday Times that Barr’s character will be killed off for the new iteration of “Roseanne,” which will center around the other members of the Conner family.
“Roseanne” was revived for a tenth season earlier this year and premiered to record ratings, but the show was infamously canceled after Barr sent out a racist tweet referring to former White House advisor Valerie Jarrett as if the “Muslim Brotherhood and ‘Planet of the Apes’ had a baby.” ABC cancelled “Roseanne” on May 29 just hours after Barr published the tweet. The network announced in June it was reviving the series without Barr as “The Conners.” The comedian, who held the rights to the characters, allowed the show to continue without profiting from it herself.
Goodman revealed Roseanne Conner’s fate to The Sunday Times while discussing how his character will be different with Barr gone from the show. “It’s an unknown,” he said. “I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead.” The actor also revealed how the revival’s initial cancellation resulted in depression.
“I was broken-hearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go,'” Goodman said. “But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed. I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”
Goodman maintains Barr is “not a racist” and said he was surprised by the response. IndieWire has reached out to ABC for further comment. “The Conners” is set to debut on ABC this October.
