'The Conners' Will Feature New Title Sequence, Will Catch Viewers by Surprise in First Episode

"There will certainly be a new opening," showrunner Bruce Helford told TVLine Sunday. "And you will see it in the first episode."

Helford said the opening will surprise many viewers because of its placement in the show.

For the premiere, the opening "won't be at the beginning of the episode," Helford explained. "It will be somewhere in the episode. And you'll know it when you see it."

A revamped title sequence for The Conners was expected, since songwriter Linda Perry's We Are Hear Music label was tasked with coming up with a new theme, Variety reported in early August. Perry, who is married to star Sara Gilbert, assigned songwriter Antonio Beliveau to give The Conners' music a "subtle but effective revamp" of the Roseanne sound. The score will still keep the "working class blues" sound of Roseanne, including slide guitar, saxophone and harmonica.

Last week, ABC began promoting the new show earnestly, with the first photo and teaser both released on the same day. The photo shows the Roseanne cast in the iconic Conner kitchen, with only one person missing - Roseanne Barr. ABC also dropped a 15-second teaser that shows just a shot of the Conner couch with Carly Simon's "Anticipation" playing. "What's next?" the teaser asks, without answering.

ABC's plot synopsis teased a "sudden turn of events," but it is not clear what that will be. Many suspect that Roseanne will be killed off, a theory apparently confirmed by John Goodman in an interview with The Sunday Times last month.

"It's an unknown. I guess [Dan]'ll be mopey and sad because his wife's dead," Goodman, who plays Dan Conner, said.

Goodman also said he was "broken-hearted" by ABC's sudden decision in May to cancel Roseanne after Barr posted a racist Twitter message.

"[B]ut I thought, 'OK, it's just show business, I'm going to let it go,'" Goodman told the Times. "But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed. I'm a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit."

Goodman also said he does not think Barr is a racist. Barr later thanked him for his support.

"I thank John Goodman for speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network," she wrote on Aug. 27.

Aside from Goodman and Gilbert, The Conners will also star Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman. Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara and Jayden Rey, who were introduced in last season's Roseanne revival, will also be back.

The Conners debuts on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC