Question: I really can’t believe that they are trying to have Dan (John Goodman) be with another woman on The Conners. I love Katey Sagal, but this feels wrong. No matter how people feel about the real Roseanne, the character of Roseanne Conner deserves better. It may be real life, but this isn’t real life, it’s TV, and I can’t see Dan and Roseanne’s marriage be forgotten or made to be nothing. If I didn’t want to watch The Conners before, I don’t want to watch it now. —Lorraine
Matt Roush: Don’t even Roseanne’s survivors deserve a little happiness? Look, Roseanne Barr is the architect of her own misfortune when it comes to the way this revised reboot has played out, and besides, according to our reporting in the our Returning Favorites issue, “Dan is still having difficulty getting over Roseanne” this season, even if Sagal’s character of Louise is intended as a possible romantic interest for the widower. Sounds to me like, as with last season of The Conners, the show and the fictional family will continue to operate in the long shadow cast by its former title star, and if Dan attempting to move on presents emotional hurdles, that’s in keeping with the way real life, not to mention life on TV, tends to play out. And I don’t see how expecting the character of Dan to stay in a perpetual state of mourning would honor the character of Roseanne anyway.
To submit questions to TV Critic Matt Roush, go to: tvinsider.com
