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It's a hole that will not be filled. This overwhelming feeling of loss that can haunt a family suddenly abandoned permeates "The Conners", the derivative of "Roseanne" presented for the first time on Tuesday, October 16 on ABC.
It's Roseanne without Roseanne.
In exchange for an early projection of the pilot and the fourth episode, The Chronicle agreed not to reveal what happened to the character before the broadcast of the show. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the character and Roseanne Barr will never come back.
The laughing cartoon, whose stand-up act on the status of "domestic goddess" inspired the original sitcom, has disappeared. All because ABC fired Barr after his racist tweets about former presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett. But Barr let the show continue, and this resumes shortly after the end of last season.
This is a unique situation for the network and for the public, and a calculated business risk. Do fans have enough interest in these characters – on television for nine seasons, then for a decade, then last year – to watch it without the woman at the heart of the sitcom?
Let's hope so, because it's a very solid show.
The pilot faces the new reality of the family in 22 minutes. Everyone is back: John Goodman and Dan, Laurie Metcalf and Jackie, Lecy Goranson, original Becky, Sara Gilbert (also producer), Darlene and Michael Fishman, DJ. The sensitivity of the characters remains at the rendezvous, as well as the reason why this show has resonated over the years.
Removing Roseanne's character changes the equation, but does not invalidate it.
Maybe the loss is easy to bear because Roseanne was always irritating, even before anyone reads her Twitter feed. His voice could merge the vertebrae. And she was part of this cohort of personalities who were funny but could not play despite a television series.
When the show came back last year, with Roseanne's red MAGA cap and Jackie's Pink Pussyhat symbolizing the politically divided family, Trump's jokes were already obsolete. Judging by these two new episodes, "The Conners" is current and not political. Maybe these days it's hard to separate the two, but there is a distinction. It's a show that goes beyond the party tags.
As well as the original. Viewers for whom an old couch with a crocheted Afghan was not a kitsch museum, but a focal point of the show, instantly linked to the Conners. They worked in jobs that no one wanted to aspire to and who paid doctor bills.
Over the years, the family has faced alcoholism and cheating, growing and aging, starting a business and raising children. They knew that whatever your age, your mother always drives you crazy.
And most importantly, they knew that sitting around the kitchen table with the family was more important than anything else.
It was the soul of "Roseanne" and it's the same for "The Conners".
In Roseanne's absence, the others must understand their new reality. Becky swigging now vodka at 6:30. Darlene, always the sharp-tongued girl, takes care of business. DJ, in harmony with the mythology of the show, blends into the background.
And Jackie, who lived vicariously with her older sister, is deeply shaken. She takes care of rearranging the kitchen and cleaning this iconic couch.
Of course, no one is as ruled as Dan. In the pilot, who silently tries to find his place in the world – and in his bed suddenly too big – Goodman is great.
Darlene, separated from her longtime love, David, is now a single mother who is raising a teenage daughter very much like her sardonic mother and a 9 year old son who travels. Their father, played by Johnny Galecki, returns in the fourth episode, broadcast on November 13.
At that time, "The Conners" sits in a traditional comedy. David presents himself at a parent-teacher meeting with a ditsy girlfriend, Blue, played by Juliette Lewis (a fun meeting for the two brothers who played the role of brothers and sisters in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" in 1989).
The fact that Darlene does not stifle Blue shows her restraint. Between Geena (Maya Lynne Robinson), DJ's wife, and Darlene, the series always features wise women with a sharp mind and zero tolerance for idiocy.
Yes, in some ways Roseanne will never be replaced. But in other respects she has already been.
NOT"The Conners": First 20h Tuesday October 16th on ABC.
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