Roseanne Barr Claims Dan Did Not Die in Original Series Finale

Roseanne Barr is rewriting the storyline of Roseanne after she says fans missed important clues in the original series’ ending.

Two months ahead of the series’ revival on ABC, Barr appeared with castmates and producers at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Monday to discuss the upcoming family comedy.

For Barr, that meant clearing the air about her TV husband Dan Conner’s (John Goodman) death in the original series finale.

“I think you should rewatch it,” she said, maintaining that Dan did not actually die in the show.

“A lot of the reason that I did that was to add another layer of freshness for people who are going to watch the series over and over,” she added.

In the original series’ ninth season, a collection of bizarre scenes were thrown together after the family “won” the Illinois state lottery, only to be told in the final episode that it was all made up as Roseanne’s way of coping with Dan’s death. Audience members thought Dan survived a heart attack at the end of season 8, but the finale episode revealed all the events shown after were fictional tales from the already fictional family — or so we thought.

When the Roseanne revival was announced, a source told TV Line “they’re going to pretend like [Dan’s death] never happened.” But according to Barr, he was always meant to live.

The cast has had some laughs in the revival promo teasers, though, poking fun at Dan’s return from the “dead.”

One of the clips shared in December shows the Conner family reunited on their family couch as Dan watches TV and Roseanne adds quirky commentary to whatever he’s watching.

In the first promo, Dan criticizes the current Chicago Bulls lineup, saying they couldn’t compete with the ’96-’97 iteration of the team, as Roseanne and the couple’s daughter Becky Conner (Lecy Goranson) look on.

“You can’t live in the past, Dan,” Roseanne replies. “When things are gone, they’re gone forever.”

Fans were left with serious questions about how Dan made it out alive, but Barr didn’t budge with providing an explanation.

All questions should be answered when Roseanne returns to ABC on Tuesday, March 27 for its tenth season.