“Roseanne” actor John Goodman revealed that Roseanne Barr’s character will be dead in ABC’s sitcom spinoff of the show, currently referred to as “The Conners.”
Goodman, Roseanne’s husband in the show, said he was uncertain how his character would handle her absence.
“It’s an unknown,” Goodman said, according to the Times of London. “I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead.”
ABC announced in June that “The Conners,” will focus on the family’s struggles and how they cope with parenthood, dating, and an unplanned pregnancy, among other things.
“The Conners’ stories demonstrate that families can always find common ground through conversation, laughter and love. The spinoff will continue to portray contemporary issues that are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago,” ABC said in a statement.
Barr has agreed to not participate in any way with the new series. She and executive producer Tom Werner had previously discussed permitting Werner Entertainment to produce the series devoid of creative or financial input from Barr.
“She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on,” Goodman said. “I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she’s still going through hell.”
ABC canceled the reboot of “Roseanne” after Barr sent racist, anti-Semitic tweets in late May. One of those tweets referred to former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, saying “muslim Brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” Barr apologized afterwards, but ABC went ahead with discontinuing the show.
