Ever since Roseanne Barr, the living embodiment of the phrase “never Tweet,” was unceremoniously fired over a string of increasingly batshit racist tweets, the issue of how the show she left smouldering in her wake – initially Roseanne, now The Conners – would deal with her character’s departure has been up in the air.
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The show isn’t exactly unfamiliar with explaining away bizarre character write-offs; the revival of the series dealt with the pesky issue of killing off John Goodman‘s character by more or less shrugging their shoulders and suggesting “it was all made up?”
But thanks to the just-aired premiere of the technically spun-off The Connors, we now know how exactly Roseanne was 86’d from storylines.
The show aired its premiere episode just a short time ago in the US, and revealed that Roseanne was killed off, off-screen, thanks to an overdose of pain medication.
The premiere episode opens with the family still in mourning some three weeks after Roseanne’s (the character) funeral. After initially believing she died of a sudden heart attack, the family learns via a coroner’s report that she actually passed away due to a pain medication overdose.
From there, the show reveals that Roseanne had been stashing pills around the house, leading to a rather meta discussion about how the family not knowing her, before a guest appearance by Mary Steenburgen of all people reveals the grim news that pill trading in the town is rife because no one has adequate health insurance.
Y’know, real light-hearted fare for a by-the-numbers family sitcom.
‘Course that mode-of-death is exactly what Barr herself revealed in a recent interview, probably to the chagrin of show producers.
Still, the real lesson here is fairly simple: Don’t be an asshole on the internet.
Common sense advice we all can take to heart.
