The Conners Boss Wanted a ‘Respectful Sendoff’ That Will ‘Inspire Discussion’; Roseanne Calls It ‘Grim and Morbid’
Just hours after the series premiere of ABC‘s The Conners, showrunner Bruce Helford is opening up about why he chose to — spoiler alert! — kill off the character of Roseanne Conner. [pmc_inline_gallery]
In Tuesday night’s debut, the Conner family was still in mourning three weeks after the death of its former matriarch. The family believed Roseanne had died of a heart attack, but a phone call from the coroner’s office revealed that she actually was felled by an opioid overdose, stemming from a prescription painkiller addiction she developed during last spring’s Roseanne revival.
In a column for The Hollywood Reporter, Helford (who was an executive producer on the original series and also served as co-showrunner on the revival) says that the decision to end Roseanne Conner’s life was to give the character as respectful a sendoff as possible, while also affording the series (and its titular family) the chance to evolve without her.
“There was a lot of chatter in the ether about how we should explain Roseanne’s absence,” Helford says. “Should she have a sudden heart attack, a mental breakdown or go off into the sunset on a boat with her son Jerry Garcia? But back in the writers room, we firmly decided against anything cowardly or far-fetched, anything that would make the fierce matriarch of the Conners seem pathetic or debased.
“After much discussion by all parties, it was decided that we would have to make her departure clearly permanent,” he continued. “On a personal note, Roseanne [Barr] helped launch my career, and while we had our disagreements… I wanted a respectful sendoff for her, too — one that was relevant and could inspire discussion for the greater good about the American working class, whose authentic problems are often ignored by broadcast television. If you watched the first episode, I hope you’ll agree we did that.”
Immediately following Tuesday’s broadcast, Barr responded to her character’s death on Twitter. “I AIN’T DEAD, BITCHES!!!!” she exclaimed. She went on to release a joint statement with her rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, which in part read, “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. That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show.”
TVLine readers gave The Conners premiere an average grade of “B-,” with 67 percent saying they will keep watching.
It was grim and morbid. Laurie Metcalf was stellar. But it lacked the poignancy of losing a beloved matriarch – and that’s because Roseanne Barr is very much alive. Barr didn’t kill anyone, and she practically begged for forgiveness. ABC knew Barr’s proclivities when they signed on for a “Roseanne” reboot (so did Sara Gilbert, and her treatment of Barr has been shameful). I don’t agree with her Tweet, but to John Goodman’s point (and he’s known her 30 years), Roseanne Barr is not racist. Instead of firing, degrading, and humiliating her, ABC should have took this as a healing moment for the nation. Barr and ABC (then) had the audience to do it. ABC’s schedule and ratings – abysmal. Channing Dungey should be fired. She’s not competent to carry a network. She’s slowly making ABC irrelevant. I know the editor-in-chief of this website gave “The Conners” an A grade. I respectfully disagree. PEOPLE – we have got to learn to forgive! Where is the love?? Is this what we have become. Our differences link to our commonalities more than we think. I miss Roseanne Conner; she was flawed and outrageous; loving and compassionate. You know – human.
I respectfully disagree that she begged for forgiveness. All of her apologies felt forced and never truly contrite. And ABC knew about her social media activity and had actually had conversations about her not posting things, but she couldn’t help herself.
Yes, we should forgive. But she also needs to give people a chance instead of constantly releasing statements that only remind people of the incident and her other polarizing views.
Totally agree with this statement!
There comes a time when the repetitive “I’M SORRY” are hollow and just words, when actions displays a totally different scenario. I do believe in forgiveness but one usually learns and don’t keep repeating obviously in this case she had to feel the consequences to maybe self examine herself. This wasn’t her first offense, and until she starts self reflecting it won’t be her last. I think the way they killed her was actually a great way considering the drug epidemic the U.S. face.
Oh Mary…I think what you mean is that “I’M SORRY” should only be believed if you’re not a conservative or a republican. Which, of course, you’ll deny like all of your left-leaning ilk do & claim that you have no bias even though it’s clearly reflected in your words/tone. So, pleasedo us all a favor and save your sanctimony and keep drinking the left’s “kool-aid” that allows you to believe/preach fairness for all when we all know it’s a load of BS.
Ken The conservatives barely know how to forgive anyone so look in the mirror dude. As far as Roseanne-she’s a talented and funny woman who’s has spent so much time posting horrible things that she’d run out of second third and fourth chances. That said, she made the choice to let The Connors occur. She could have easily said, Nope-my creation. You can’t move forward without me. And since she did, she has no right to dictate why ‘Roseanne’ is t on the show
So, seriously, you know EVERY conservative out here? You can state “conservatives barely know how to forgive anyone”–with a straight face? I’m sorry, that statement alone is meaningless to any conversation–look in your own mirror dude and try again…..wow. I became an Independent this year after being a moderate Democrat for the past thirty–I know many liberals–and I still wouldn’t make a statement like that. (But, comments like that were one of the reasons I became an Independent among other reasons.) I never presume to make statements about other political parties–perhaps you shouldn’t either.
Whatever Ken way to make it political. I guess when the truth smacks you in the face you must deflect to justify your ignorance. Carry on in you alternate universe.
Roseanne Barr was specifically put in the direct spotlight and confronted PRIOR to the return premier last year on Kimmel. he grilled her directly about her history of racism, and her conservative tweeting habit. She kept asking why it was necessary to bring up “teh past” when they were there to promote the shows return. The point kimmel was making was – have you changed? you used to be this racist hateful person, but what have you learned, how have you grown, what will be different? a few weeks later – the leopard again went back to her old ways and couldn’t change her spots. Then blamed it on medication, then couldn’t believe cast members “turned against her” and “threw her under the bus”. Forgiving implies that people actually understand what they were doing, turned a corner, shed the skin and are ready to be better then they were before. How many chances? How many examples? Our differences make us human, but when its extreme, hateful, poisonous, continued….there must come a time to cut people loose. How many sex offenders do you see working in schools? How many thieves do you see in a bank? make all the exuses you want – you cant and shouldn’t want to be around people that keep poisoning the well water.
She has shown ZERO remorse.
She’s mentally unhinged.
She got everything she deserved.
Take the Conners show and shove it Roseanne made tHEm a holes what they are today
Roseanne herself was the one who gave her character an opioid addiction in the first place, so now she just sounds like a hypocrite. The episode was very respectful of the character, they never bashed her despite what the actress did in real life.
THIS
Agreed
“…an otherwise happy family show.”
How many storylines dealt with Roseanne and Jackie still trying to heal from the physical abuse dealt by their father, Darelene’s depression, Jackie’s abusive boyfriend, Dan’s health…
The Conner family and their circle of friends were always dealing with dark realistic struggling family problems but their sacarasm, snark, and LOVE for each other always saw them through. I never never be embarrassed or hesitant to name Roseanne and The Conners among my favorite shows because of their willingness to love each other through it all.
Furthmore, I understand the descision to cancel Roseanne and remove her from the new series. I more than agree with the decision than I don’t, but it’s not a 100% either way issue with me. I do find it fascinating to watch my favorite television family go forward without their matriarch. The spirit of Roseanne—both the character and than the business woman—was alive in every scene. Roseanne is among the few sitcoms that could pull this kind of storyline off, and a part of me is kind of glad I got to mourn the character’s passing along side of the family.
Was this a dark way for Roseanne to die? Absolutely, but it made complete sense in the history of the show, and the seen between Dan and Marcy was brilliant hard-hitting television.
It would have made more sense if the opioid od was because they couldn’t afford her surgery. But, she had her surgery and it was a success and it was not true to the character.
Having a successful surgery does not make a drug addiction disappear. It was established last season that Roseanne was hiding her pills all around the house. Her addiction was deep; one does not just magically recover. The story was sadly very true to the character and life.
If anything, surgery contributes to the addiction. You’re given norco or another painkiller afterwards, you get addicted and that’s the end. As ianandjane said, surgery doesn’t magically cure addiction.
Surgery doesn’t magically make an addiction go away. If anything it makes it worse. I thought the show was pretty good. It was a dark subject matter but I thought handled pretty well. I will continue to watch. I like all of the characters.
News flash for producer, opioid abuse is wrongly associated as just a American working class issue. Opioid addiction know no gender, social status, or racial boundaries. Abuse rates are so that 1 out 4 people have a love one (spouse, child, family, and close friends) struggling with addiction. Many are highly functioning, going to work, catching coffee with friends. It is not a working class problem. It is an everyone problem. Perpetualating myths does not create dialog.
It would have made more sense if they’d accurately portrayed opioid addiction rather than perpetuating this myth that people who are given prescriptions turn into addicts when the real issue is illegal and much more potent street versions of drugs such as fentanyl.
I watched simply because Roseanne Barr was no longer involved. I found it a little lacklustre and disjointed, but I’ll give it another couple of episodes before writing it off or continuing.
Even though she helped to create the original series, Roseanne poisoned that well with her behavior on and off set, and was essentially unemployable after it ended. Years later, she was an irrelevant nonentity and had been for years when Sara Gilbert came up with the idea for a revival. So she was plucked from obscurity, and then screwed up her second chance — and screwed it up even after being told multiple times in multiple ways what line not to cross. She was a child who cried for a toy then immediately broke it. And now, instead of respectfully allowing everyone to move on, she continues to attack and demean those who plucked her from irrelevance in the first place… blaming them for acting like humans after she screwed up. This after first promising not to say anything and second promising to move away so she wouldn’t interfere with the premier.
Meanwhile, the right… despite not caring at all about her two years ago… are now utilizing her as a soapbox because — let’s face it — it’s fun to troll the left and whine about the inhumanity of having consequences for being inhuman. And the left takes the bait, as always, and the fight ensues like it is fated to… even though I’m 99.9% sure no one has ever convinced another person of their political point on a message board.
And now for as long as “The Connors” is on, Roseanne will scream and cry and try to remain relevant, while we wait for the day she can finally slink off to that bitter, unhappy place she was for a decade before her phone rang.
My problem with killing her off by an opiod addiction, (And i had this problem on the original reboot as well) is it puts even more of a stigma on the forgotten victims of the “opiod crisis.” Chronic pain patients. I will be very open. I have a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis. In short, it is a tumor disorder. You can learn more at nfnetwork.org. This disease causes tumors to grow on nerve endings inside and outside the body including internal organs. While the tumors are not always cancerous, they can easily turn. Additionally, even the benign tumors are extremely dangerous if they grow in the wrong place. My grandfather passed away when they grew in his lungs. I have several tumors on the base of my spine. Chemo does nothing for NF and radiation feeds the tumors. While Surgery could be possible, the risk factors from their location make it extremely dangerous and could paralyze me. I am in constant pain. I am on several pain medications including Norco as needed. Even with these pain medications my pain does not go away completely but brings it to a manageable level. While i am lucky that my doctor understands I have been called an abuser by pharmacists who said I didn’t “look” like i really needed it and i was just trying to get pills. I am tired of the constant stigma about how dangerous opiods are. Almost all of the deaths come from illegal street versions that are laced with other things. The number of deaths from people taking legal prescriptions according to doctors orders are almost zero. I am tired of most of the media calling me an addict, when all i want to do is live my life without pain.
Very sorry about your condition. Many people who take opioids for pain management are able to control the way they use them as is obvious in your case. Others cannot regulate their use. Opioid deaths do not stem mostly from bad/illegal ones. Any long term use or over use of these types of drugs can cause problems that lead to death. (Not sure where you got that the incorrect info that prescription drug deaths are almost zero.) Taking these types of meds can lead to damage of the heart and other organs. In turn, an accidental or intentional overdose can more easily cause death. It is a very large problem in society today, and I felt it suited the show well. I’m sure the plan if Roseanne had not been fired was to continue to show an average person fighting an addiction that stemmed from chronic pain. People from all walks of life struggle with and die from prescription drug addiction every day. There’s nothing about this episode that made me think every person taking opioids for pain management is an “addict.”
That info is actually correct; there are multiple studies showing that the rate of addiction from prescription use is very small, showing that deaths attributed to drugs are not accurately reported, and that most deaths reported as due to opioids were not actually attributable to prescription or medical use. Deaths attributed to opioids come predominantly from street-level drugs and bad combinations of same when the statistics are correctly reported, and it is the same with addiction – people are addicted to illicit fentanyl, not low-grade codeine used for pain management. If you’d like to educate yourself on this matter, you can access the studies yourself with a simple google search or through pain patient advocacy services.
+1 +1 +1 +1 *hugs if you want them*
I was impressed with the premiere. It was actually better than last season’s premiere where it seems like it was just one soundbite after another between Roseanne and Jackie about Trump. This premiere is much more grounded and the four main characters’ reaction to Roseanne’s death were very well done. As expected, John and Laurie knocked it out of the park. Jackie’s scene at the end with Darlene had me tearing up and then laugh out loud with the unexpected joke at the end. I am most interested to see how Jackie will change with Roseanne gone since she depended on her all her life.
Agreed
It could have been the best thing ever on TV and she would still have never liked it. I am/was a Roseann fan.
I found it funny for a family in mourning ( 3 weeks) not to have one single picture of her up , I watch the revival because I loved the original, ( wasn’t a fan) but kept watching, I checked The Connors , didn’t like it , I will watch the Reruns ( Tvland put them back on Saturday afternoons again)
Roseanne sold her rights to the character as well as the rest of the Conners for a lot of money. We don’t know if she didn’t want her image/photo to be shown on the show anymore as part of the agreement so not showing a picture of her might be because of Roseanne.
Makes sense ty
I enjoyed the show. As far as I’m concerned, Lecy had the funniest line/delivery of the episode when she said “That is the one thing in mom’s closet that I wanted”…. referring to the pills.
I was hoping she left a letter and somehow we got a reference to “Muslim Brotherhood and planet of the apes”.
Bruce Helford must be smoking some of that Canadian pot.
it was an honest death ! well done to them ! a lot better than two and half men!
Bruce Helford couldn’t run an ice cream parlor. Roseanne Barr is a star. Her absence from the new show proves they can’t make it without her. The ratings are falling like drops from a cloud.
Well we now know that ABC is no insurers of success. Roseann Barr is a star and well liked. Look how the new shows ratings fell without her.
I thought they did a very good job, actually. The two items at issue were 1) how to remove the character, and 2) what storyline to use in the removal. For point 1, this show is about the Connor family. Roseanne was the central character in that family, so I don’t know how you realistically remove Roseanne from her family other than death. Sure, you can send her off somewhere, but do you want to be camp and ridiculousness, like the final season of the first run? Or do you want to stick with the actual fabric of the show? I think it’s clear that the former totally didn’t work, and that’s why they undid it all for the revival. There’s no believable way you remove Roseanne from her family other than death. So, death was the right way to write her out. For point 2, I like that they made it her opioid problem. It was extremely prescient. It was extremely on point and relatable. And every character reacted in the exact right way — true to their nature. I was really impressed by every one of them. John Goodman, in particular, was amazing. He just delivers with every line, every look, every moment he’s on screen. I believed everything he said and did. and what’s most important … I laughed. Yes, it’s a morbid subject, but they did it in the right way, with the right amount of humor. Excellent job, Connors. I’m in for the long haul.
I am glad she is gone and the overdose death is fitting for her. Good riddance.
It was a respectful and sympathetic send-off.
People may be mad at the situation, but premiere episode did exactly what it was supppsed to do.