Ever since news broke that the Roseanne reboot would be rebooted (again) without Roseanne Barr, speculation has run rampant about how The Conners might write off the original series matriarch. And now we all know. The Conners premiered on Tuesday night and didn’t waste any time addressing the fate of Barr’s character.
More: 5 Ways The Conners Is Different From Roseanne
While the family initially thought she died at night due to a heart attack, they realized after discovering painkillers stashed throughout the house that Roseanne suffered from an unknown-to-everyone-else addiction. Ultimately, an opioid overdose killed her.
Of course, this wasn’t entirely shocking. An episode in the first incantation of the revival showed Roseanne come to the realization she had a painkiller problem stemming from an operation.
During a panel at Paley Center on Tuesday night, executive producer Tom Werner explained that the show felt they had an opportunity to raise awareness about a very real problem in an authentic way.
“I think it was important that we all be respectful of Roseanne Conner and Roseanne Barr, but as we talked about it… what made the show work for us is I think we were touching on themes that were very relevant to our audience,” he told the crowd.
Werner added, “This is a problem — and again, we’re doing a comedy — this is a problem that has affects [sic] tens of thousands of people, opioid addiction — 80,000 people died last year dealing with opioid addiction and overdose. We felt that this is something that could shine a light on [the issue].”
More: The Roseanne Reboot Opening Credits Will Get You Pumped
Fan reaction to the way ABC decided to write Roseanne Conner off proved to be a bit of a mixed bag.
Some fans, to put it bluntly, weren’t fans at all.
https://twitter.com/Penelope_Books/status/1052580234908688384https://twitter.com/BeachBabe1227/status/1052493340158119936https://twitter.com/A5PHYX1413_VOX/status/1052346440834535426
I feel like you ALL have abandoned the person that helped make you! I love @therealroseanne and won’t be watching #TheConners I hope others will do the same! It’s not Roseanne without Roseanne 😡
— Randi (@Randislife1) October 16, 2018
However, plenty of viewers fell in love with the family all over again.
#TheConners Late to the party but I thought @TheConnersABC did an excellent job with this premiere. Blending death, drug addiction and normal family problems post loss is hard to do. They did it brilliantly….
— Sylvia K. Alston (@SylviaKAlston) October 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/MsHollywood081/status/1052353071047733248
@TheConnersABC is living up to the hype. A fantastic cast, stellar writing, and endearingly and unapologetically tackling current issues. Excellent. #TheConners
— BlondeNBlue1 (@blondenblue1) October 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/ammiep/status/1052352629576163328
Wow, the Conners was exactly what it should have been. Sad, touching, funny, familiar. It was very well written and I'm glad it's going to continue. @TheConnersABC#TheConners
— RobOnLocation (@RobOnLocation) October 17, 2018
Torn between sobbing and laughter. This premier is better than I could have ever expected it to be. This is an absolutely accurate portrayal of the opiod epidemic. #TheConners
— Julie Rose (@IzzysPinkiToe) October 17, 2018
Just watched @TheConnersABC! I Loved it! @THEsaragilbert and the entire cast, you guys did a great job! Bravo! Cant wait to see the rest of the season! #TheConners
— *Forever*//DRW+CMW* (@tazeena1313) October 17, 2018
Enjoying @TheConnersABC so far. What a great job the cast is doing moving forward. Witty, endearing and I'm loving it #TheConners.
— Joanne (@arjoon79) October 17, 2018
This might be the best episode of Roseanne I've ever seen..and I've seen them all..Well Done to the cast of #TheConners@TheConnersABC
— Margaret Cook-CWA National VP, PHEW Sector (@dj_diva) October 17, 2018
And some made a salient point: Addressing an issue not typically dealt with on primetime TV (in this case, the very real opioid crisis) is trademark Roseanne.
I’m loving the raw truth of the pill epidemic in this country , TRUE Roseanne style to tackle REAL issues , call the show whatever you want but as long as it’s honest real material i’ll always be a fan 👍🏻
— Veronica Sarles (@NYBRAT72) October 17, 2018
It comes as little surprise that Barr herself — who’d been fired in May from the Roseanne reboot due to a racist tweet — had something to say about the way her character’s death was handled in the spinoff.
“While we wish the very best for the cast and production crew of The Conners, all of whom are deeply dedicated to their craft and were Roseanne’s cherished colleagues, we regret that ABC chose to cancel Roseanne by killing off the Roseanne Conner character,” the actor said in a joint statement alongside her friend and frequent podcast collaborator, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.
More: The Conners Cast on How They Reacted to the Viral Tweet That Ended Roseanne
They continued, “That [Roseanne’s death] was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show.”
Barr and Boteach noted that Barr went on to reiterate that ABC didn’t have to fire Barr or kill off her character — per their statement, the “cancellation of Roseanne is an opportunity squandered due in equal parts to fear, hubris, and a refusal to forgive.”
While detractors will likely point out that The Conners, with 10 million viewers, didn’t perform as well as the Roseanne reboot (which had over 17 million viewers), it should be noted that The Conners numbers still make it the No. 1 new comedy series of the TV season. And excluding Roseanne — which isn’t counted due to being a revival — The Conners is ABC’s most-watched comedy series debut in four years.
Tune in and make the call for yourself on Tuesday nights at 8/7c on ABC.
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