‘The Conners’: 10 Ways Roseanne Could be Killed Off

ABC’s surprise spinoff to their highly successful Roseanne reboot is still a few weeks from its premiere, but fans are anxious to find out how they will explain the exit of Roseanne Barr’s Roseanne Conner.

In his first interview since the ABC comedy was canceled following a racist tweet from Barr’s official Twitter account, series star John Goodman revealed that his character Dan will be sad in the beginning of the new show.

“It’s an unknown. I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead,” Goodman told The Sunday Times.

The details as to how the series will write off the titular character from the show are still left under wraps, but with Goodman’s confirmation we have some time to speculate.

Scroll through to see some ways we think The Conners might write off Roseanne from the new series.

Knee Surgery

As many Roseanne revival viewers will remember, Roseanne Conner was anxious about an upcoming surgery to replace her knee. In the final scene of the season, Roseanne talks to the heavens and asks for the surgery to go well so she can return to her family.

Maybe the message got lost in the mail.

Flashback

The Conners could alter the timeline of the show a bit and make it as though the Roseanne revival season was actually a few years in the past.

The season starts with Dan finishing journal entry of him reliving Roseanne’s final days and then The Conners timeline starts.

Revisiting an Old Twist

In a similar light to No. 2, with a slightly darker twist, the Roseanne season could all have taken place in Dan’s imagination as he mourns the death of his wife.

The Conners could kickstart with Darlene (Sara Gilbert) moving in with him (for real this time) to get him out of his depression.

Freak Accident

If the show chooses to stay on the same timeline, maybe Roseanne chose to take herself to her knee surgery without any help and her car brakes failed and she just died suddenly.

Not much explanation but still effective.

Murder Mystery

If The Conners really wants to tap into the mystery of Roseanne Conner’s death, the first episode could start with the family finding her body, with the 10-episode first season revolving around police and the family working together to solve her murder.

Dan Can Wait

Things didn’t end up too well for CBS’ Kevin Can Wait, but other sitcoms have gotten away with worse.

The first episode finds the family a year after Roseanne’s death and Dan is seen in a grief support group trying to cope with his spouse’s passing. No explanation is give for cause of death, and they just make one joke about it before moving on.

Twitter Trolls

Since Barr got in trouble for tweeting, maybe Lanford’s Twitter trolls are a little more dangerous than the usual and they jump Roseanne Conner for her controversial Twitter commentary.

The Conners has to have at least one Twitter joke in the premiere, at least.

Trip to Walmart gone wrong

During the revival season, Darlene once criticized her mother for not taking care of her health, which led to her passing out at their neighborhood Walmart.

Maybe she just doesn’t wake up the next time it happens.

Too Many Pills

Roseanne Conner revealed in a late episode of the revival that she had a problem with prescription pills. Being a careless old lady, she could accidentally overdose after her knee surgery and pass away in her sleep.

Faked her Death

So, what if The Conners uses any of the first nine suggestions as their “cover” for the real twist of the show? Roseanne never died.

While producers and network executives agreed with the decision to quickly cancel the show, many in the cast were shocked by the sudden end of the series due to Barr’s racist tweet.

The Conners could air for one or two more seasons, and in its eventual series finale the show brings back Barr for the final scene where she just looks at the camera and yells “I thought the b— was white!”

Fade to Black.

All questions will likely get answered when The Conners premieres Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.