ABC News has announced plans to move forward with a ‘Roseanne’ spinoff series without the show’s fiery superstar Roseanne Barr.
The new spinoff, titled “The Conners” will center around daughter Darlene Conner, played by openly lesbian actress Sara Gilbert, 43.
The spinoff will feature the Roseanne revival cast as a modern working class family with their own take on progressive left-wing social issues. The series features a black grandchild and a cross-dressing boy.
Original cast members John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman will also reprise their characters in the new series.
ABC has ordered 10 episodes of the series to take over the Tuesday 8 p.m. slot this fall.
Roseanne, 65, agreed to a large payout to walk away from her show as the creator and star of the original sitcom.
But Roseanne’s fans vow to boycott the spinoff series. As one fan put it: “what’s the sense in watching the Roseanne show without Roseanne?”
Roseanne will reportedly have no financial or creative involvement with the show after she was fired over a single racist tweet directed at former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, in which she referred to her as an “ape”.
“I regret the circumstances that have caused me to be removed from Roseanne,” she told Entertainment Tonight in a statement. “I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved.”
