Roseanne spinoff The Conners could be successful, but only if Roseanne Conner is killed off

Vulture

ABC's The Conners announcement seemed to hint that Roseanne Barr's character would die, which should absolutely happen, says Kathryn VanArendonk. "If The Conners is going to be Roseanne without Roseanne but the character doesn’t die, the show will quickly tilt toward the same self-loathing, ironicized mess of the original Roseanne’s ninth season," says VanArendonk. "It wouldn’t be a show about a working-class family; it’d be a show about the strangeness of its own existence. Plus, anything less than Roseanne’s death leaves the door open for her return, which would be a remarkably craven gesture." VanArendonk offers several reasons why The Conners could work, including that Barr had been holding the show back because her acting ability in the revival paled in comparison to her co-stars. "In addition to the consequences of her cruel, racist, and harmfully conspiratorial Twitter feed, Barr also offered much less natural acting in the revival than she had in the original series," says VanArendonk. "While (John) Goodman, (Sara) Gilbert, (Laurie) Metcalf, and the rest of the cast hit their beats and made the show’s rhythm their own, Barr often seemed to be reading from cue cards. What once came off as a refreshingly, bracingly direct style on the original series did not translate well into the revival, where Barr seemed less concerned about being within the story and more obviously concerned about performing the story. I’m curious what The Conners could look like without that stilted performance element."

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