‘Roseanne’ Spin-Off ‘The Conners’ Won’t Mention “Trump Stuff”

Roseanne has always been political (the same goes for its disgraced star, Roseanne Barr), but does the same go for its upcoming spin-off series, The Conners? According to executive producers Bruce Rasmussen and Dave Caplan, the answer is no. In a new interview with Variety, Rasmussen and Caplan insisted that The Conners will stay away from “the Trump stuff” that made the revival so contentious — particularly the pilot — and will instead focus on the lives of the working-class family America has come to love.

While Rasmussen noted that some fans may interpret “working-class” issues to be inherently political, he promised that this is not The Conners’ express intention. “We are living in a time where people are very anxious and can’t afford to go to the doctor and all that other stuff. So we’re writing in the same way we wrote last year about the economic things,” he said. “If some of those feel political, they’re political, but we’re not doing any more of the Trump stuff. It’s more about working-class people and how they live their lives. If that comes off as political in spots then that’s how people will perceive it.” While this may seem like somewhat of a workaround answer, it’s nice to know that, at the very least, The Conners will avoid Trump. We have to deal with him enough in real life — we don’t need him popping up in sitcoms, too.

In order to avoid politics — and to fill in the very large void left by Roseanne — the spin-off will focus more on each individual character. “The other characters came to the fore more” after Roseanne’s departure, explained Rasmussen. “We’re going to get more involved in the characters’ personal lives this year. It really is where they are at in their lives now and what does that mean and what are they going to be dealing with?” he said.

The producers hope that watching the characters grieve for Roseanne will resonate with viewers, including those who have never seen the original sitcom. “The absence of the Roseanne character,” said Caplan, “puts them through changes that are interesting for people that know these characters. And even if they’ve never watched the show before it’s still going to be fascinating to see how people adapt when something happens in their lives.” Tragedy is something we all understand, after all.

Of course, at the end of the day, The Conners will still pay tribute to Roseanne. “A lot of people cared about that character and it’s separate from whatever feelings they had about the person and her political views and the things she said,” explained Rasmussen. “We wanted to honor that character. People can have their opinions after that.”

The Conners premieres Tuesday, October 16 at 8/7c on ABC.