‘The Conners’ Gets ‘Subtle Revamp’ of ‘Roseanne’ Theme Song

When the Roseanne spinoff The Conners premieres this October, audiences might notice a subtle difference with its opening theme song.

According to Sara Gilbert’s wife Linda Perry, the theme song will be a little different from the familiar Roseanne theme song, but the “working class” DNA will still be there, as reported by Variety.

Perry’s We Are Hear Music record label and publishing house was hired to come up with a new opening theme for the Roseanne spin-off. Although Gilbert’s connection did not give her company a leg up in the competition, the job still went to We Are Hear writer, Antonio Beliveau.

Perry said Beliveau will give The Conners‘ music a “subtle but effective revamp” compared to the Roseanne sound. It will still have the “working class blues” sound from the original series though, meaning the soundtrack will still feature heavy sue of slide guitar, harmonica and saxophone.

Beliveau also contributed to the soundtracks for Zombieland (2009) and The Iceman (2012).

As for Perry, she and Gilbert have been married since 2014. She is the former lead singer of 4 Non Blondes and has written hits for Christina Aguilera, Pink, Gwen Stefani and many others. She is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The opening for the Roseanne revival used the same iconic theme from the original run. It also used the same format, with the camera following members of the Conner family getting ready to sit for dinner.

ABC cancelled Roseanne in May, hours after star Roseanne Barr tweeted a racist message about Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. A month later, ABC ordered The Conners, which will star Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, John Goodman, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson.

On Thursday, Barr appeared on Sean Hannity to apologize again for the tweet, which she insisted was political, not racist.

“I’m so sorry that you thought I was racist and that you thought that my tweet was racist, because it wasn’t. It was political. And I’m sorry for the misunderstanding that caused… my ill-worded tweet,” Barr said when asked what she would tell Jarrett if they met. “And you know, I’m sorry that you feel harmed and hurt. I never meant that and for that, I apologize. I never meant to hurt anybody or say anything negative about an entire race of people, which I think 30 years of my work can attest to.”

The Conners will debut on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET in the same timeslot Roseanne had last season.

Although ABC has not said how Barr’s departure will be handled on the show, the synopsis mentions a “sudden turn of events” that shakes up the Conner family.

Photo credit: ABC