<em>The Conners</em> Frees Itself of Roseanne Barr<em> </em>
The retooled sitcom debuted with an episode that wrestled with the death of its fictional matriarch.
“People die. Whaddaya gonna do?” So says Joey (Ashton Pulis) upon hearing the news of Roseanne Conner’s death in the pilot episode of , which aired Tuesday night. “Seen a little too much action in ’Nam, Joey?” replies a deadpan Dan Conner (John Goodman), just three weeks removed from the loss of his wife. So goes the message of ABC’s hastily assembled replacement for its hit revival , which ended after its co-creator and. Dying is a fact of life, and while it’s normal to mourn, sometimes the best way to do so is with a wry joke.
