Roseanne fans have been keeping up with the Conner family since the 1980s, from the original sitcom to its short-lived revival and hit spinoff, The Conners.
The ABC series premiered in October 1988 and followed the lives of Roseanne (Roseanne Barr), Dan (John Goodman) and Roseanne’s sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), as well as the couple’s three children: Becky (Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke), Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and D.J. (Michael Fishman).
The show — which was lauded for its realistic portrayal of a working-class family living in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois — was on the air for nine seasons, ending in May 1997 with Dan’s controversial death.
Nearly 20 years to the day of the series finale, ABC greenlit a revival featuring the original cast reprising their iconic roles. The new series premiered in March 2018 and centered on a modern-day Roseanne, Dan (yes, he’s alive after all), Jackie, Becky, Darlene and D.J. alongside the now-grown-up Conner children’s own families.
The new Roseanne turned out to be a huge success for the network, scoring a season 2 renewal just three days after its premiere. However, ABC swiftly canceled the revival in May 2018 after Barr posted a racist tweet about former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Three weeks after pulling the plug, ABC picked up The Conners, which killed off Barr’s character by way of an opioid overdose when it premiered in October 2018. The controversial comedian has no financial or creative involvement in the spinoff.
Like the Roseanne revival once was, The Conners has been a ratings juggernaut since it debuted. The cast wrapped up season 2 in May 2020, and the network picked up a third season later that month.
Scroll through the gallery below to see how the Roseanne cast has changed over the years!
