Roseanne Barr reveals how her character will be killed off in upcoming 'Roseanne' spin-off

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

The new TV season is starting up, and there's one show that's going to look a lot different: The Conners, aka, Roseanne without Roseanne. Can a sitcom survive losing its main character? The Office suffered a dip in quality, after Steve Carell left to pursue a movie career. Meanwhile, Two A Half Men soldiered along for five more seasons, after replacing Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. However, ABC hasn't hired another famous comedic actor to replace Roseanne. Instead, the show will focus on the other cast members from last year's revival.

By now, we all know Roseanne Barr was fired for a racist tweet. In the midst of a partisan rant about Middle Eastern politics, she tweeted, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." "VJ" referred to Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama advisor, and an African-American woman who was born in Iran. ABC immediately fired the actress from her own sitcom, calling the post "abhorrent" and "repugnant." So, pro-tip for all you sitcom stars: Don't tweet racist jokes comparing black people to apes. Instead, tweet, like, a photo of your cat or something. People like those.

Roseanne deleted her tweet, apologized, and blamed her behavior on the sleep-aid medication Ambien. (Apparently, racism is one of the side effects?) ABC was not willing to take the comedian back, but they were interested in continuing the show without her. After all, last year's "revival" of the classic 90's sitcom got monster ratings. So, Roseanne relinquished the rights to her own creation. "I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved," the actress explained in a statement.

Now, viewers are curious to see how the show will deal with her character's death. That's right, Roseanne Conner will be killed. John Goodman, who plays her husband, Dan, let the news slip during an interview with The Sunday Times. When asked how Dan will fit into the show he said, "It’s an unknown. I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2SeIk5dUrU]]

But how will Roseanne Conner die? Will she have a heart attack, like Bill McNeal on Newsradio? Get struck by a train in Paris, like Charlie Harper on Two And A Half Men? Get hit with a T-shirt gun and fall off the bleachers, like Maude Flanders on The Simpsons? In an interview with right-wing activist Brandon Straka, Roseanne revealed her character will die of an opioid overdose. (Which you might have guessed, given the revival season’s painkiller addiction storyline.)

“Oh ya, they killed her," said Roseanne. "They have her die of an opioid overdose. I wanted to show [opioid struggle] in the show. 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."

Well, they already retconned Dan's death, didn't they? So hey, never say never! The Conners premieres October 16 on ABC.

Roseanne Barr reveals how her character will be killed off in upcoming 'Roseanne' spin-off

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

The new TV season is starting up, and there's one show that's going to look a lot different: The Conners, aka, Roseanne without Roseanne. Can a sitcom survive losing its main character? The Office suffered a dip in quality, after Steve Carell left to pursue a movie career. Meanwhile, Two A Half Men soldiered along for five more seasons, after replacing Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. However, ABC hasn't hired another famous comedic actor to replace Roseanne. Instead, the show will focus on the other cast members from last year's revival.

By now, we all know Roseanne Barr was fired for a racist tweet. In the midst of a partisan rant about Middle Eastern politics, she tweeted, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." "VJ" referred to Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama advisor, and an African-American woman who was born in Iran. ABC immediately fired the actress from her own sitcom, calling the post "abhorrent" and "repugnant." So, pro-tip for all you sitcom stars: Don't tweet racist jokes comparing black people to apes. Instead, tweet, like, a photo of your cat or something. People like those.

Roseanne deleted her tweet, apologized, and blamed her behavior on the sleep-aid medication Ambien. (Apparently, racism is one of the side effects?) ABC was not willing to take the comedian back, but they were interested in continuing the show without her. After all, last year's "revival" of the classic 90's sitcom got monster ratings. So, Roseanne relinquished the rights to her own creation. "I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved," the actress explained in a statement.

Now, viewers are curious to see how the show will deal with her character's death. That's right, Roseanne Conner will be killed. John Goodman, who plays her husband, Dan, let the news slip during an interview with The Sunday Times. When asked how Dan will fit into the show he said, "It’s an unknown. I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2SeIk5dUrU]]

But how will Roseanne Conner die? Will she have a heart attack, like Bill McNeal on Newsradio? Get struck by a train in Paris, like Charlie Harper on Two And A Half Men? Get hit with a T-shirt gun and fall off the bleachers, like Maude Flanders on The Simpsons? In an interview with right-wing activist Brandon Straka, Roseanne revealed her character will die of an opioid overdose. (Which you might have guessed, given the revival season’s painkiller addiction storyline.)

“Oh ya, they killed her," said Roseanne. "They have her die of an opioid overdose. I wanted to show [opioid struggle] in the show. 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."

Well, they already retconned Dan's death, didn't they? So hey, never say never! The Conners premieres October 16 on ABC.