The Conners‘ final season is missing some key Roseanne stars, but fans may feel their presence on the series finale. .
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Emma Kenney hinted at how certain characters will be addressed on screen, saying, “The series finale does show tribute the way we could. We’ve had so many amazing guest stars and recurring roles over the years. Everybody has been so fun and brought in something different to the show.”
Kenney’s costar and onscreen aunt, Lecy Goranson, directly addressed the idea of Roseanne Barr’s character being brought up in the final episodes. “It’s a really interesting thing. [The idea of] when to bring her up, how it has been through the series is when it seems right,” Goranson, 50, told Us. There’s touches of it without really landing on it and making it super heavy.”
Goranson was grateful that The Conners found a way by having Dan (John Goodman) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) at odds about suing Big Pharma for Roseanne’s death.
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“I think the way that Roseanne passed away on the show — and the fact that that was something that there’s a lot of in this country — that people say, ‘Hey, wait a second, it’s too easy for people to find these opioids and to get hooked on it.’ What’s important in our country is that the people have a voice,” she explained. “We know that a lot of these companies knew that these drugs caused addiction. They knew, and Becky is all on top of this as an addict and now that she’s in school for addiction counseling.”
According to Goranson, The Conners will find “very tasteful” ways to honor every character.
“If it felt like this is a Hollywood thing to bring all the guest stars back, that’s exciting for the audience. But it’s not really true to the world of the show,” the actress noted. “We’ve had people have feelings about the show since Roseanne left. But with what we have, it’s been really, really tasteful and well done, so I’m proud of it.”
Roseanne originally aired from 1988 to 1997. After being briefly revived in 2018 — and after Barr’s eventual exit from the series amid controversial social media posts — the story transformed into The Conners. (It was previously confirmed that Johnny Galecki, Michael Fishman and Estelle Parsons would not be returning for the final season.)
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“We did a lot of seasons of The Connors and I do feel it’s a show where the story lines can kind of continue on. It follows a family so there’s always something new that can come up,” Kenney, 25, who plays Harris, said about the ending. “This season definitely is going to hit home for a lot of people. There’s humor — always — but also some really emotional moments that resolve a lot of storylines and set the rest of the characters up for their next chapter off camera ultimately.”
Kenney “trusted the writers” when it came to wrapping up her arc, telling Us, “I liked the way my character Harris’ story ends and I could definitely envision the rest of her life if it were to be on camera too. … [The writers have] known all of these characters for so long now. I knew they were going to do all of the characters justice.”
The Conners airs on ABC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
