ABC officially greenlit the rumored Roseanne spinoff after the network pulled the plug on the revived sitcom's second season. The initial cancellation came swiftly after Roseanne Barr tweeted a vile and racist comment that compared former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape.
Now that the dust settled on the controversy, the remaining cast members are preparing to reunite for the new show, but speculation as to how the spinoff will proceed without its matriarch has the Internet buzzing.
The new show is tentatively titled: The Connors, and will center on Dan (John Goodman) and Darlene (Sarah Gilbert) as the main focus.
I'm excited to see The Connors this fall! Great news for the rest of the talented cast members and crew. YAY to… https://t.co/3wdB6MyjiY— Incorrigible Nitwit (@Incorrigible Nitwit) 1529636957.0
Fans of the show, while relieved they'll still see some of their favorite characters, are wondering how writers will kill off Roseanne. Many are skeptical as to whether the program's new formula without the show's namesake character could thrive on their own.
Twitter had a few theories as to how The Connors will give mom a viable sendoff.
Jonathan suggests Roseanne is still alive and well. We'll just never see her.
They should just keep it "Rosanne" and write around her absence. Episode 1: Roseanne has a contagious disease Epis… https://t.co/6bf4Llg7Qn— Jonathan Chait (@Jonathan Chait) 1529688991.0
Fact and fiction become blurred in Lanford, Illinois.
@jonathanchait How about ABC writes the new show so Roseanne is kicked out of the family and shunned because she is… https://t.co/88XMm01fZw— Edward Grass (@Edward Grass) 1529690033.0
Hire Ashton Kutcher to give Roseanne the Two and a Half Men treatment by replacing its contentious star.
Ashton Kutcher’s character from Two and a half Men walks into the Connor household “Oh hey guys... I just bought th… https://t.co/BNrROTiUuy— Callow! (@Callow!) 1529633460.0
Remember the sticom's lousy season 10 finale? Here's a proposal to reverse that blunder.
@jonathanchait The resurrected Dan at the start of the Rosanne reboot, they could just act like she's been dead since 1998...— ☠Ŧĥȅ Űńậḿẳżıŋġ Ħŭlĸ☠ (@☠Ŧĥȅ Űńậḿẳżıŋġ Ħŭlĸ☠) 1529689875.0
Maybe that whole first season reboot of #Roseanne could be Dan's dream and then he wakes up and it was really Roseanne who died?— Drew Pearson (@Drew Pearson) 1529641769.0
Someone made a case to justify her frequent absence from home.
@jonathanchait Roseanne is out of town testifying against Bill Cosby— Opus17 (@Opus17) 1529689490.0
The show can take a cue modeled after the website: "Garfield Minus Garfield," in which the titular cat was removed from the comic strips, leaving a lonely Jon Arbuckle searching for a reason to exist.
@anthakingston "Roseanne minus Roseanne" should be like "Garfield minus Garfield": don't change the scripts but rep… https://t.co/VmhfRpUUgf— Mike P (@Mike P) 1529673255.0
There's a new resident over at the cuckoo's nest.
@jonathanchait Episode 4:Roseanne has been committed indefinitely. Episode 5: Roseanne has enlisted in Trump's Spa… https://t.co/9EwQLToRrg— Debra King (@Debra King) 1529689485.0
There's drama at the border.
@jonathanchait Roseanne is mistaken for an illegal immigrant and is disappeared by ICE.— Jim Florin (@Jim Florin) 1529689788.0
@jonathanchait How about Roseanne gets arrested at the border without her ID's, gets thrown into a nice cozy detent… https://t.co/ndRqFEwxmi— Karen McLaughlan (@Karen McLaughlan) 1529720657.0
She becomes one of Trump's henchmen.
@jonathanchait Episode 5: Roseanne moves to Washington, where she replaces Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House pr… https://t.co/9cKFe4iMnS— Paul Krell (@Paul Krell) 1529689739.0
There's room for her in space.
@jonathanchait 4. Roseanne went to a pizza party but was kidnapped by alien beings who were fluent in 6 languages and wore trench coats.— Libertas (@Libertas) 1529691777.0
She emulates 45's favorite pastime: tweeting.
@jonathanchait In the back room tweeting all day— American Gaudy™ (@American Gaudy™) 1529695141.0
Plausible and relevant.
The @ABCNetwork should create a spinoff show called “The Connors.” John Goodman would get the lead role he deserv… https://t.co/NCsbVztcP4— Shomeo (@Shomeo) 1527643406.0
Tune into The Connors this fall on ABC and find out which of these theories came closest to fruition.
H/T - Distractify, YouTube, Twitter,