The dead are walking among the living on…Roseanne. What, did you think we were talking about The Walking Dead?
When Roseanne returns after 20 years off the air, some things will be rewritten. The series finale of the beloved sitcom revealed Dan Conner (John Goodman) did not cheat on Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr), he died. The majority of the series was fictionalized by Roseanne. Some characters were gay, others were with different husbands—she had changed it all to serve her needs. Well, that's about to change in the revival.
In the latest commercials for Roseanne's return, below, Dan is alive and well, watching TV with Becky (Lecy Goranson). He says the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s would beat the current team.
"You can't live in the past, Dan! When things are gone, they're gone forever," Roseanne says.
Wink wink.
The other commercials feature Roseanne, Dan and Darlene (Sara Gilbert) in character discussing basketball. Returning cast members also include Laurie Metcalf, Sarah Chalke, Michael Fishman, Johnny Galecki, Estelle Parsons, Sandra Bernhard, James Pickens Jr., Natalie West and Adilah Barnes. But no, there will not be two Beckys with Chalke and Goranson both in the cast. Chalke will play Andrea, a woman who hires Goranson's Becky to be her surrogate.
So just how will Dan come back? That's being kept under wraps. "I'm not going to talk too specifically about the season. I wouldn't say that it's ignoring the events of the finale, but I can say that Dan is definitely alive," ABC boss Channing Dungey said at the 2017 TCA summer press tour.
NBC's Will & Grace explained away its finale that featured kids and time jumps by having it be a dream Karen (Megan Mullally) had. And it looks like Mad About You may need to explain its finale that featured a time jump, a revival is taking shape.
Roseanne returns Tuesday, March 27 on ABC.