Despite Roseanne Barr‘s absence from The Conners, her character was still front and center on the final season.
Roseanne originally aired on ABC 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. The spinoff was created without Barr’s involvement and she has never made an appearance.
During The Conners‘ series premiere in 2018, the family addressed Roseanne’s absence by revealing she suddenly died following knee surgery. They later realized Roseanne’s death was due to an opioid overdose, which uncovered her hidden drug dependency due to chronic pain.
“I just can’t bear it, so I don’t [watch],” Barr told The Los Angeles Times in February 2023. “When they killed my character off, that was a message to me, knowing that I’m mentally ill or have mental health issues, that they did want me to commit suicide.”
She continued: “They killed my character … And all of that was to say thank you for bringing 28 million viewers, which they never had before and will never see again. Because they can kiss my ass.”
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Multiple cast members have since weighed in on how the sixth and final season of The Conners pays tribute to characters no longer featured on the show.
“The series finale does show tribute the way we could,” Emma Kenney exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2025. “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 also spoke to Us about 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 shared that same month. “There’s touches of it without really landing on it and making it super heavy.”
Keep scrolling for every mention of Roseanne on The Conners:
Getting Justice for Roseanne’s Death
During the season 6 premiere, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) brought up a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company responsible for the opioids Roseanne took. She asked for Dan’s (John Goodman) help, but he was initially apprehensive. Even after a conversation with his now-wife, Louise (Katey Sagal), Dan was resistant.
It wasn’t until Jackie learned she didn’t have grounds to sue for Roseanne’s death that Dan stepped in.
Working Through the Timeline
An April 2025 episode laid out the timeline of Roseanne’s addiction as Dan tried to remember the details.
“The doctor never cut her off — he kept upping her dosage because she kept complaining it wasn’t stopping the pain,” Dan explained. “Then I found the extra pills she was getting from her friends. I knew she had friends, but I didn’t know they were swapping pills like a bunch of San Francisco hippies.”
Dan admitted he “thought she was done” with pills after her surgery. “It would have seemed that way to anyone,” he noted. Becky (Goranson) fired back, “You spin things however you need to make it sound like that.”
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Making Amends
The lawsuit ultimately caused Dan and Becky to fight. “I know addiction is complicated, but there had to have been a moment where someone could have done something to stop the worst from happening,” Becky told her father in an April 2025 episode. “Maybe realize that if someone had an addiction before surgery, they would still have one after?”
She continued: “You were with her all day and all night. How could you not see she was on something? Sometimes we want things to go away so we don’t have to deal with them.”
Dan was upset at his daughter’s insinuation. “She told me once her knee was fixed that she was done with them,” he replied. “Where were you in all this? Oh, that’s right. You were too busy with your own addiction to notice what is going on with your mother. Keep your own side of the street clean. I am not open to being accused.”
The father-daughter duo were eventually able to work things out.
“If I hadn’t been drinking, I think I could have helped her,” she said, while Dan noted, “You couldn’t have helped her. We are never going to lose the feeling that we could have done something more.”
