Tuesday saw ABC announce when The Conners will return to television in the next season and it saw Roseanne Barr lend her opinion to the current situation regarding James Gunn, something she has an indirect influence on it seems. But the more interesting aspect of this news is The Conners, and not because we know the return date for the show. It gives a timeline for answers on how this show will work, what we can expect, how the cast feels about continuing on without Roseanne, and how they’ll deal with her character’s exit from the series.
The first hurdle according to CNN will come in two weeks during ABC’s Television Critics Association panel in Beverly Hills, showcasing its new fall lineup:
“The Conners” will debut on Tuesday, October 16 with an 8 p.m. timeslot, serving as an opening act for the premieres of three other family comedies — new series “The Kids Are Alright,” returning vet “black-ish” and Season 2 of “Splitting Up Together.”
Nathan Fillion’s cop drama “The Rookie” anchors Tuesday nights and will also premiere on the same date.
As for the former star, she couldn’t stay quiet during the ongoing controversy surrounding James Gunn and his dismissal from Guardians Of The Galaxy due to past tweets featuring highly offensive jokes. Many made the connections between Gunn’s situation and Barr’s dismissal from her show, including how the current episode was likely a response to the former one. Many have come to support Gunn in the wake of his firing, calling it an alt-right stunt that should’ve been sniffed out by Disney before they made their decision. This did not sit well with Barr on Twitter:
“I’m disgusted to read all of the support for James Gunn’s pedophile jokes – as the same people supported blacklisting me for a joke they didn’t even understand,” she tweeted.
Barr was fired from Roseanne after a string of controversial tweets tied to political conspiracy theories, culminating with her racist tweets about Obama aide Valerie Jarrett that she defended first as a joke fueled by Ambien, and then as a comment on someone she thought was white. Many felt the comments were indefensible, much like Gunn’s jokes, but the differences are there for those willing to take the time.
Will it matter? Probably not. This is where we are, though.