Roseanne: ABC Boss Confirms Revival Will Ignore Dan's Series-Ending Death
Will & Grace won’t be the only soon-to-be-revived sitcom playing fast and loose with its canon.
As previously teased by TVLine, ABC’s forthcoming eight-episode Roseanne continuation will ignore the series-ending death of John Goodman’s Dan. “I wouldn’t say that it is ignoring the events of the finale, but I can confirm that Dan is definitely still alive,” said network president Channing Dungey Sunday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
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The series finale twist in question revealed much of the show to be a figment of the title character’s imagination — including Dan’s survival from a heart attack in Season 8 (turns out, it was fatal). In the closing moments of the swan song we also learned that Jackie was actually a lesbian and that all along Darlene had been in a relationship with Mark (versus Johnny Galecki’s David, who — in another curveball — ended up with Becky).
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Dan’s survival comes as little surprise considering Goodman’s name was attached to the revival from the get-go. He also made an appearance at ABC’s upfront event back in May alongside leading lady Roseanne Barr and co-stars Laurie Metcalf, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson.
Dungey, meanwhile, assured Roseanne fans that the revival will more closely resemble the sitcom’s Emmy-winning heyday (i.e. Seasons 1-8) versus the much-maligned ninth and final season. “We’ve now heard the broad strokes of the creative for these eight episodes,” she said, “and feel very confident that is going to be a return to the show everyone knew and loved.”
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