The Conners Killed A Roseanne Character Off-Screen

In a recent episode, The Conners killed off a pivotal Roseanne character off-screen. Premiering in 2019, The Conners is a spinoff of Roseanne, which aired from 1988 to 1997. Roseanne was revived briefly, for what would be its tenth and final season, in 2018. The revival resumed its focus on a working-class family, led by Dan and Roseanne Conner, as they struggled to get by on a limited income. Airing on ABC, the premiere episode was watched by more than 18 million viewers. Critics greeted the return of the popular 1990s sitcom warmly as well, praising the revival for keeping the spirit of the show intact after such a long absence.

Given the generally strong reviews, in addition to the fact that the ratings held steady throughout season 10 of Roseanne, ABC would have certainly liked to keep the successful sitcom running without any major changes. However, after Roseanne Barr made racist remarks on Twitter, she was fired as the sitcom’s lead. Subsequently, Roseanne was cancelled. To address Barr’s absence from the spinoff, it would be revealed that the matriarch of the Conner clan passed away after an accidental opioid overdose. Being central to the show, the character is still occasionally mentioned and mourned.

As part of a recent episode, while keeping the death off-screen, The Conners killed off another important figure from the original series. In “Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns”, the 13th episode of season 2, Dan discovers that his father, Ed, has died. He learns the news while reading the local paper’s obituary page. Portrayed by retired actor Ned Beatty, Ed appeared in six episodes during the original run of Roseanne. Though he was charming, often bringing presents to his grandchildren, Ed had a difficult relationship with Dan. This is partly due to the fact that Dan grew up feeling neglected by his dad, while also having to deal with his mother’s mental illness. The father and son duo would frequently clash, with Dan quickly growing irritated by Ed’s presence.

The mourning process is confounded by the arrival of Ed Jr., Dan’s half-brother, played by Shameless star Noel Fisher. In his first appearance, Ed Jr. reveals a different side of Ed Sr. A touching scene involves Dan giving his half-brother the 10 letters he wrote to him but were never received; due to being intercepted by their father. Dan tells his younger sibling that, though their dad did his best to keep them apart, Dan never wanted to abandon Ed Jr. The younger brother, ultimately, can’t quite relate. Ed Jr. had a good father, while Dan did not. The scene is heavy, seeming to provide no easy answers. In a style typical to Roseanne, and that The Conners has hoped to maintain, the writing can ably shift from comedic to dramatic.

It is not all that unusual for characters to be killed off-camera, for reasons related to the story or due to unforeseen real life circumstances. In “The Body”, Buffy returns home to find that her mother has suddenly died. The Walking Dead does it, too. It is perhaps more noteworthy in the case of The Conners: a sitcom which began by announcing that a previously central character had expired out of view.

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Abdullah Al-Ghamdi
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Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019, focusing on movie and television news. In January of the same year, he wrote a 3500+ word piece on why Primo Colón is underrated. He considers it his finest work. When he’s not arguing for the merits of his favorite wrestler, he can be reached at: [email protected].

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