Will Roseanne Conner ever appear again? If it’s up to the cast of The Conners, it’s possible! Roseanne was abruptly canceled after Roseanne Barr, who played the title character, made racist remarks on Twitter in May. In response, ABC picked up a spinoff focusing on the family sans their matriarch. The Tuesday, October 17, premiere of The Conners revealed that the character had died of an opioid overdose.
However, Michael Fishman revealed that he’s not ruling out the possibility of having Barr, 65, appear in a future episode.
“At the current time, we haven’t really discussed that but that’s one of those things, I would never say never,” 36-year-old Fishman, who portrays Roseanne’s son D.J. Conner on the show, told Variety at PaleyFest New York on Tuesday night. “I’m a big believer in second chances and forgiveness. I think that’s a really big thing. I think this country is kind of built on that. People go through a lot of things. People make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. The most successful people in our world aren’t the people who don’t make mistakes but the ones who learn the most from them.”
During the panel, star John Goodman shared that when the show was picked up, he was most excited to have another opportunity to bring the family back to TV.
“Getting another chance and leaning on each other, that was the juice for me, the gratitude,” Goodman, 66, told the audience, adding that he was very thankful. “You know you can’t count your chickens before they’re hatched but you can’t prepare for everything in life, so I like to get myself to a state where I can embrace change more, and I’m just grateful for the shot.”
Sara Gilbert, who plays Roseanne’s daughter Darlene, also added that she’s hopeful audiences will continue to watch the new stories play out.
“I just hope people will join us, give us a couple of episodes and see what you think. That’s all we can really ask for,” said Gilbert, 43. “We love our fans. We owe them our careers and we just hope you’ll trust us to come along for the ride.”
It appears that many people did give the show a chance, as it premiered to 10.5 million total viewers. The Roseanne revival averaged 13.5 million a week.
The Conners airs on ABC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
