After 7 seasons, “The Conners” has ended.
A show forced into being when Roseanne Barr blew up her career, “The Conners” had a finale tonight to wrap up most of the loose ends of the show.
There were some flashbacks to “Roseanne,” but nary an image of the comedian who invented the show almost four decades ago.
John Goodman, maybe on his own or as part of the script, acknowledged Barr in a way. In the final scene, the family visits Roseanne’s grave. After everyone says goodbye, Goodman places a stone on it, a nod to the real Roseanne, who is Jewish. It was obvious because Roseanne Connor was not Jewish. It’s unclear if she had a religion.
If Barr hadn’t Tweeted a racist post about Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, she might not have needed a stone. When the “Roseanne” show was, they should have let the sitcom go. Barr, never a comforting presence, had gone into TV exile without anyone knowing what was lurking under all thsoe facelifts.
But bringing Barr back a time when she had unbridled access to social media was the mistake. The real Barr — conservative, racist, full of hate, actually crazy — had been hidden. When she leveled that hate at Jarrett, the party was over.
Now “Roseanne” and “The Conners” head off into syndication. The survivors are very wealthy Metcalf heads back to Broadway, Goodman has movies. Katey Sagal will be back on some show by September.
For most of them it’s a happy but bittersweet ending. The producers gave everyone a little farewell except for Michael Fishman, who played and Goodman and Barr’s son until a couple of years ago. No one even mentioned him. The Conners seemed sentimental at the end, but they’re just like the worst people they portray.
