Roseanne ended with more twists than an episode of This Is Us. In the series finale, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) revealed she had rewritten a lot of her story. Sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) was a lesbian, her daughters were with each other's spouses and Dan (John Goodman) died after his heart attack. The character dictated her story. Forget about that.
At the 2017 TCA Summer Press Tour, Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, revealed some of those twists are going away.
"I'm not going to talk too specifically about the season," Dungey said about the finale reveals. "I wouldn't say that it's ignoring the events of the finale, but I can say that Dan is definitely alive."
As for The Big Bang Theory's star Johnny Galecki's involvement, discussions are ongoing, Dungey said. Regarding the show's creative direction, Dungey said, "We had a lot of conversation with Tom Werner when he first came in…We've now heard the broad strokes of the creative for these eight episodes and feel confident that it'll return to the show we all love."
"It is very much tonally similar to the original show. It is unflinching, it is honest, it is irreverent at times, and it's also really, really funny," Dungey said about the new season. "Very topical. We're not talking specifically about the universe that we live in in that way, but we are addressing issues like foreclosure. We're addressing how difficult it is for people to get medical insurance. We're talking about topics in a bigger, broader way. We're not necessarily talking about the occupants of the White House."
Finale problems are nothing new for TV revivals. Will & Grace is undoing its finale that saw Will and Grace have kids and drift apart.
"I kind of think the very…that was more or less a fantasy, it was a projection, that episode, into the future," co-creator David Kohan told audience members at the Will & Grace panel. "And I think what we missed was the dynamic between the four of them more than we missed the possibility of what their lives would be like as parents."
"We never would've gone in that direction if we thought we weren't ending the show," co-creator Max Mutchnick said.
"Happy endings aren't really funny," Eric McCormack said. "We just took part out that little part at the end."
See how much to Roseanne cast has changed below.
Since Roseanne ended in 1998, Barr, who had won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her work on the sitcom, has hosted a talk show (The Roseanne Show), had a reality show (Roseanne's Nuts), served as a judge on Last Comic Standing, and was roasted on Comedy Central. She's also written three books and attempted to run for president in the 2012 election.
Hm...how will they explain this one? Goodman's gruff-yet-jovial character Dan died in the series finale, an ending fans are still upset about. Since the show ended, Goodman has starred in films such as Argo, 10 Cloverfield Lane and Kong: Skull Island.
Gilbert is reprising her role as the sarcastic Darlene for the revival, and she's also serving as an executive producer. Gilbert is currently an Emmy-award winning EP and co-host of CBS' The Talk, and had a recurring role on The Big Bang Theory as her former co-star Johnny Galecki's potential love interest.
The O.G. Becky is back! Goranson exited the series in its fifth season to go to college, with Sarah Chalke taking on the role in the next two seasons when producers decided to bring the character, who had eloped with her boyfriend, back. But then in season eight, the actors rotated the role, with Chalke taking sole Becky responsibility in the ninth and final season.
Where the hell have you been?! The Scrubs star took over the role of Becky later in the series after Goranson exited. But with Goranson back in action as Becky, Chalke is set to take on a different role.
Fishman was just six when he landed the role of D.J., and was 15 when the series wrapped. He reunited with Barr in 2000 as a co-host of The Rosanne Show, and appeared in a 2011 episode of her reality show, Rosanne's Nuts. He's now married with two children.
Metcalf is back as Rosanne's neurotic sister Jackie, who was revealed to be a lesbian in the finale. Since saying goodbye to the character, Metcalf has starred in Desperate Housewives and HBO's acclaimed Getting On.
Galecki, who played David, Darlene's eventual husband, has gone to become one of TV's highest paid actors after landing the role of Leonard on CBS' The Big Bang Theory. No word yet on how (and if) he will return for the revival, considering he's a series regular on another network.
Roseanne will return for eight episodes on ABC midseason.