The dust has mostly settled following ABC’s firing of Roseanne Barr from her highly successful show revival due to the star’s messy, racially charged Twitter behavior. The network continues to push forward with The Conners as a Roseanne-free spinoff, and as if to prove that status, ABC has released the first on-set photo. The above image simply shows the principal cast — Sara Gilbert, John Goodman, Michael Fishman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, Jayden Rey, Ames McNamara, and Emma Kenney — during their first table read as they regroup for the future.
It’s certainly not an exciting image and doesn’t give any indication of the cast’s demeanor as they prepare for uncharted territory. That is to say, The Conners will debut in less than two months, but so far, neither the network nor the stars have confirmed exactly how Barr’s sudden absence will be explained. Recently, Goodman hinted to the The Sunday Times that the titular character has died, although he didn’t provide definitive word on the matter. “It’s an unknown,” Goodman stated regarding Roseanne’s fate and how his character will handle the matter. “I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead.”
The key utterance there would be “I guess.” Goodman can’t be having an easy time with this transition, but the show really must go on.
The Conners will premiere on October 16 in the 8:00pm EST time slot.
