This story contains important details from Tuesday's premiere of "The Conners" on ABC.

R.I.P., Roseanne Conner.

Viewers have learned that the TV matriarch died at the top of Tuesday's premiere of "The Conners", the parallel sitcom that replaced "Roseanne" after a The racist May, tweeted by star Roseanne Barr, caused her dismissal and the cancellation of the highest-rated sitcom.

The cause of death? Consumption of opioids aggravating existing health problems.

Unsurprisingly, Barr adopted a different tactic in a tweet – the form of communication that caused him problems – shortly after the broadcast of the episode on the East Coast.

"I AM NOT DEAD, BITCHES !!!" she wrote.

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There had been much speculation that death would be the only way for a new series on the working class Conners to explain the permanent absence of the person at the center of the family.

John Goodman, who plays Roseanne's husband, Dan, has hinted that Roseanne died in a summer interview with a British media outlet, but ABC, producers and stars were silent about the character's fate.

Later in the Tuesday episode, to Conners' surprise, it was revealed that opioids had played a role in Roseanne's death. The family members thought her heart was the cause, but Roseanne also had a painkiller problem last season caused by knee pain.

Dan found a way to pay for his knee surgery and said that he had thrown away all his drugs – at least he thought so. A search of the house by Roseanne's sister Jackie and her daughter Darlene revealed a secret hiding place of pills.

Family members (Laurie Metcalf, left, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson and John Goodman) learn how matriarch Roseanne Conner died in the premiere of "The Conners", a spin-off of "Roseanne" quickly set in place after the dismissal of Roseanne Barr and the cancellation of the iconic May comedy. (Photo: Eric McCandless, ABC)

Jackie announced the news: "I just got a call from a friend in the coroner's office. The autopsy revealed that it was not a heart attack. Roseanne OD on opioids. "

Dan was in shock. "It's not possible, we knew she had a problem, she was taking pain pills only two days after the surgery, and then it was just ibuprofen, that's wrong."

Jackie: "Well, I'd like it, but they think that she has to take the pills just before going to bed and that her health problems were enough to stop breathing."

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