Just so you know: If you haven’t watched the final episode of The Conners, this story contains minor spoilers about its conclusion.
It’s not like Roseanne never broke sitcom rules — after all, it was the show that turned an entire season into a wish-fulfillment dream. So it wasn’t entirely out of character when Dan Conner broke the fourth wall in the final episode of The Conners, wistfully remembering his family growing up before making eye contact with the camera. He then broke into a sweet smile and bid viewers a final “Good night” before grabbing his beer and exiting the living room forever.
“I wanted to do it, and they let me, and they kept it,” John Goodman, who plays Dan, told Hollywood Reporter. “I thought it was just us saying, “Good night, folks. Thank you.”
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The goodbye was a scene Goodman never dreamed he’d get the chance to film. “I didn’t think (the Roseanne reboot) was going to go beyond the initial five or six episodes,” he said. “I thought it’d be a one-off thing.”
However, the return of Roseanne garnered massive ratings, ensuring the show’s revival. It looked like a steady paycheck until Roseanne Barr got into hot water, thanks to some especially ugly social media posts. “Roseanne got fired. I thought that was it,” Goodman explained. He and the rest of the cast also got the boot, freeing up Goodman to sign on to Righteous Gemstones. Little did he know that ABC would rethink the show, reimagining Roseanne as The Conners. “I didn’t know how long it would last, but I sure enjoyed it while I was there.”
Even though Barr was no longer on the show, Goodman stood by his old co-star when few others did. While he didn’t defend her online rants, “I know for a fact that she’s not a racist,” he told The Times in 2018.
“I felt bad for her. I just feel terrible about the whole thing,” he continued to Variety. “We had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
Even now, Goodman has fond memories of Roseanne’s early days. “We hit it off from jump street,” he told Hollywood Reporter. “She made me laugh, and I made her laugh, and wow, it was so much fun.”
Despite his public support, Goodman and Barr aren’t on good terms. “We haven’t talked for about seven or eight years,” he admitted. “I’d rather doubt if she wants to talk to me.”
Goodman knows better than to expect Barr to react to his heartfelt final scene. Her family claims that not only did Roseanne not watch a single minute of The Conners’ seven-season run, but she also had no idea the final episode had aired. “We don’t care about cheap knockoffs,” her son told Us Weekly.
Did Barr’s spite make The Conners tough sledding for Goodman and his fellow actors? “No,” he said. “We got a good cast, and everybody stands out.”
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