‘Roseanne’ Reboot: Fans Confused About the Two Beckys

The revival season of Roseanne premiered on Tuesday night, and one of the biggest points of confusion among fans was the presence of both actresses that played Becky in the original series.

In its original run, Roseanne relied heavily on the child actors who played the Conner children. This didn’t always work out, as young actors occasionally need to prioritize school over their burgeoning careers, no matter how well their TV shows are doing. That’s why Lecy Goranson, who starred as Becky Conner for the first five seasons, had to take a break from season six.

Roseanne producers replaced Becky with Sarah Chalke, the actress who later went on to star in Scrubs and Rick and Morty, among other things. She filled in as Becky off and on from seasons six through nine, whenever Goranson was unable to.

Many fans may remember the haphazard switching of actresses in Roseanne‘s later seasons. It was not unlike the recasting of Aunt Viv in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or Carol on Friends. However, Becky Conner was an odd case, as the original actress returned on occasion, so the change wasn’t permanent.

As a result, producers couldn’t decide between Chalke and Goranson for the revival season. They opted to cast Goranson as Becky, but wrote in an entirely new character for Chalke — Andrea, a woman who is interested in hiring Becky as a surrogate for her child.

The new recurring addition to the cast has already made for some funny moments in the two-episode premiere of the reboot. Keeping with the politically charged theme of the new season, Andrea is a bleeding-heart liberal type, and she clashes with Roseanne on some cultural points when they first meet.

Andrea brings the Conner family ionized water, and notes that the glass bottle are better for the environment. To defuse Andrea’s high-minded, try-hard behavior, Roseanne jokes, “Oh, I love plastic bottles. Cause when you’re done with them, you just gather them up and throw them in the lake.”

Still, the exposition didn’t keep fans from getting confused, and since Roseanne was the number one trending topic on Twitter while it aired, some fans went there to express their puzzlement.

One fan wrote, “are they both the daughter?” in response to a tweet from ABC about the big reveal.

“This was such a good way to incorporate both Becky’s into the show!” chimed another. “Glad to have both Sarah and Lecy back!”

The Roseanne reboot is now occupying the 8 p.m. slot on ABC.