‘The Conners’ Trying to Bring Back Beloved ‘Roseanne’ Character

The Conners Season 5 will be a turning point for the show, which started off as simply a Roseanne spinoff without Roseanne Barr and has morphed into its own show. Michael Fishman, who has played D.J. Conner since he was 6 years old, is not returning, but there still could be a big surprise Roseanne return. Executive producer Bruce Helford also said they are hoping to bring back Estelle Parsons.

“We’re working on [getting Estelle Parsons back] now,” Helford told TVLine. “We’re just figuring out dates, but we’re cautiously optimistic that Estelle will be returning… We’ve got a couple of important episodes we’d like to do with her.” Parsons, 94, played Roseanne’s mother Beverly Harris on Roseanne and has already appeared in six episodes of The Conners. Parsons made her most recent appearance in “Jeopardé, Sobrieté, and Infidelité,” which aired in May 2021.

During the Season 5 premiere, audiences will learn that D.J. left Lanford to reunite with Geena (Maya Lynne Robinson) offscreen. There will also be a surprise return of a Roseanne character not seen since the original show ended in 1997 and a previously unknown Conner family member. “Louise [Katey Sagal] and Neville [Nat Faxon] have a nephew, a teenager, and they find out that he needs a place to live,” Helford said. “He could go live with his Aunt Louise [and Dan], or his Uncle Neville and [Jackie], so that’s going to be very interesting.”

Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and Ben (Jay R. Ferguson) and Dan (John Goodman) and Louise will go on a joint honeymoon in the season premiere as a cost-saving measure. While they are on their honeymoon, the rest of the family goes to a waterpark, where Harris (Emma Kinney) and Mark (Ames McNamara) bond after Mark discovers his ex-boyfriend started dating someone else. The premiere will set up an ongoing theme in Season 5, exploring differences between what people expect from marriage and reality.

Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) is also moving in with Neville, while Darlene and Ben will continue living with Dan and Louise for at least the first half of the season. “Realistically, that house [of theirs] is not being built in two months,” Helford explained. Darlene is still concerned about what people will think of the Conners though. Becky (Lecy Goranson) also has plans to move in with Darlene and Ben once their house is finished. Becky is also going through a personal crisis as she tries to figure out what to do next in her life.

Season 5 will also be the first time Louise will consistently be a main part of the show. During Season 4, she was on tour with her band because, in reality, Katey Sagal was recovering from a car accident. Now that Louise is the woman of the house, she has to get on her feet as the new matriarch.

“She starts to find her comfort level as a stepmom, and what it means to be the newer matriarch in the family – or if that’s even what she wants to be,” Helford told TVLine. “She realizes that there are so many responsibilities that come with being Dan’s wife and they involve – I don’t want to call it parenting, exactly – but being the adult and having to help manage the family. It’s an evolution for Louise into – and put quotes around this – into the ‘mother’ role.” The Conners returns on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET.