‘The Conners’ Star Michael Fishman Says Carrying On Without Roseanne is “Bittersweet”

The buzz surrounding Roseanne spin-off The Conners just won’t die down. On Thursday, two days after The Conners premiered on ABC, star Michael Fishman spoke with TMZ about moving on without his disgraced co-star, Roseanne Barr, and he had only positive things to say about the former Conner matriarch. Fishman told TMZ that carrying on without Roseanne is “bittersweet,” as the cast has been together since the sitcom first started in 1988, but he believes that viewers will still “really like” the direction the spin-off is headed, even without its controversial lead.

When asked about The Conners’ premiere, Fishman seemed excited that (most) fans were so receptive. “I think it went pretty well. It’s a complex show with a lot of stuff, so it was good,” he said. But, as the entire world knows, there’s one major difference between the original and the spin-off. “It’s bittersweet, it really is,” Fishman said about Roseanne’s absence. “But the thing about it is, that’s where you have to come together.”

The Conners debuted to lower ratings than the Roseanne Season 10 premiere (although the premiere held steady with the Roseanne finale in May), but Fishman told TMZ that he believes viewership will continue to rise. “I think people are going to really like the direction we’re headed. So I think people will grow with us,” he said. As for why the Roseanne revival premiered to about 8 million more viewers than The Conners, Fishman said that time was on the reboot’s side. “Well, we had 20 years of people waiting,” he explained about the return of Roseanne.

In the premiere, fans learn that Roseanne Conner died from an opioid overdose, a decision that Fishman said was “made based on a lot of things that are going on in this country.” He continued, “We’ve always tried to handle things realistically and honestly.”
Watch Fishman’s entire interview with TMZ here. The Conners airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.

Where to stream The Conners