John Goodman says the “Roseanne” spinoff “The Conners” is going well, despite not having Roseanne Barr among the cast.
Goodman was accosted by a TMZ reporter at the airport on Dec. 13. He was asked how the spinoff is going.
“It’s so much fun, man. It’s great,” he said. “I hope we get a deal for next year. It’s wonderful.”
Goodman also said he has not been speaking with Roseanne Barr.
The “Roseanne” show was canceled in late May after Barr issued a racially charged tweet for which she later apologized.
Most of the “Roseanne” cast transferred to the spinoff, which was made possible by Barr relinquishing the rights to the series content.
“I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she’s still going through hell,” Goodman said in August.
He also vehemently defended her, stating: “I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist.”
In October, Goodman said he was glad to continue in his role as Roseanne’s husband but would miss Barr.
“It felt great to be back, but there’s a hollow center. I miss Rosie real bad,” he said.
“The Conners” series premiere in mid-October drew in about 10.5 million viewers, a strong result but far lower than the 18.2 million that the 2017 premiere of the “Roseanne” reboot drew in. Viewership for the second episode dropped about 25 percent. Its most recent episode, on Dec. 11, drew in 6.6 million viewers, and there are reports of a pending renewal for a second season.
In the series premiere, Barr’s character was killed off by an opioid overdose, which stirred controversy. Barr weighed in, calling her character’s death “grim and morbid.”
“While we wish the very best for the cast and production crew of The Conners, all of whom are deeply dedicated to their craft and were Roseanne’s cherished colleagues, we regret that ABC chose to cancel Roseanne by killing off the Roseanne Conner character,” Barr said in a statement.
“That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show.”
A writer for the show later discussed why the Roseanne character was killed off in that way.
“There was a lot of chatter in the ether about how we should explain Roseanne’s absence: Should she have a sudden heart attack, a mental breakdown or go off into the sunset on a boat with her son Jerry Garcia?” said Bruce Helford, who co-wrote the series premiere.
“But back in the writers room, we firmly decided against anything cowardly or far-fetched, anything that would make the fierce matriarch of the Conners seem pathetic or debased.”
He claimed that he wanted a “respectful sendoff” for Roseanne.
Drug overdoses killed more than 71,500 Americans in 2017, fueled by opioids. The opioid epidemic was said to be behind the decline in life expectancy in the United States.