ABC has been chugging along with the “Roseanne” spinoff, “The Conners,” without former star Roseanne Barr and now we have our first look.
In May, Barr essentially tanked the revival of the classic sitcom with her racist remarks on social media about former Barack Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. The network fired her and abruptly canceled the series, which had drawn an impressive 27.3 million eyeballs to its premiere. A month later, ABC announced the spinoff.
The first image from “The Conners,” which debuts in October, was released on Friday and it shows the gang all back together sans Roseanne.
In the behind-the-scenes photo, the new cast ― including original series regulars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalfe and Sara Gilbert ― are gathered at the family’s kitchen table for a script read-through.
Production on the new series kicked off in Burbank, California, this week.
As for what lies ahead for Barr’s alter ego, Goodman revealed that she might be six feet under when the family returns to TV. “I guess he’ll be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead,” Goodman told The Times of London when asked what’s to come for his character Dan.
Representatives for ABC declined to address HuffPost’s request for comment regarding how Barr’s absence will be handled.
Goodman also weighed in on Barr’s firing, telling the Times that he knows “for a fact that she’s not a racist.”
While the actor said he hadn’t heard from the comedian since the show got the axe, he said he’d sent an email thanking her for relinquishing her rights to the show, which allowed ABC to pursue a spinoff.
“She was going through hell at the time,” he said. “And she’s still going through hell.”
On Monday, Barr thanked Goodman on Twitter for “speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network.”
“The Conners” premieres Oct. 17 on ABC.