The Conners Chuck Plot Proves The Show Can Honor Roseanne’s Memory
Although The Conners has struggled to separate its former heroine, Roseanne's Roseanne, from her actor, Roseanne Barr, one season 4 episode proved the show can honor the character's memory. The death of Roseanne has always been a sticky situation for The Conners. The sitcom spinoff came into existence because Roseanne was canceled in 2018 when its star, Roseanne Barr, made racist comments on Twitter and was let go by the show.
The Conners replaced Roseanne by continuing to focus on the rest of the titular family, with the rest of the cast reprising their roles and the series premiere killing off Roseanne off-screen. Although The Conners has acknowledged Roseanne’s legacy, mentions of her character on the show have been few and far between. Generally, these comments come in the form of mean-spirited gags like one of her children joking that she probably ended up in Hell, which can occasionally seem more like the writers of The Conners distancing themselves from Roseanne’s real-life actor than an attempt to honor her character’s memory.
However, after the showrunners announced earlier this year that “nothing was off-limits” when it came to The Conners referencing Roseanne, the spinoff has been making an admirable attempt to grapple with the shadow that the character of Roseanne casts over the series. By revealing that The Conners guest star Chuck’s home life fell apart without his wife Ann-Marie around (and, crucially, none of his kids were able to pick up the slack), The Conners implicitly focused on the positive elements of Roseanne’s character in "Messy Situation, Miscommunication and Academic Probation” (season 4, episode 15). The comments by The Conners showrunners could have been read as a promise (or a warning) that the sitcom was revving up for more jokes at the expense of the eponymous clan’s dead matriarch, so it was a heartwarming surprise to discover that they meant the sitcom spinoff could also feature poignant tributes to the character, rather than only acerbic barbs.
For this approach to succeed, however, The Conners still needs to stick with this. Before its season 5 renewal, The Conners has to fix a lot of overarching plot problems, and one storyline that admits how important Roseanne was as a character won’t be enough to make up for the series fastidiously avoiding mention of her for almost three seasons. Although more storylines admitting that the family dynamic has never been the same since her death would be risky, it would also be a worthwhile creative decision for The Conners.
Some of the most compelling moments of The Conners season 4 have been rooted in the show attempting to broach Roseanne’s memory, such as Dan warning Darlene that Mark’s prescription pill problem could escalate. The secretly sad joke about Dan not taking his pills was another case of The Conners subtly acknowledging the impact that losing his wife had on John Goodman’s character, and these sort of small touches go a long way in helping The Conners divorce the beloved character from her controversial actor. For The Conners to truly embrace Roseanne after her death the show needs to memorialize the Roseanne character more and avoid attempting to forget she existed, but season 4 has done a solid job of proving this is possible.