'The Conners' Rise From the Ashes of 'Roseanne' With Whispers of the Death of Matriarch

Many fans of the now defunct "Roseanne" show will argue that while Roseanne Barr was the star of the show, the rest of the Conners' extended family members were just as entertaining as their matriarch. John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf's characters on the show, along with the characters played by Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, and Michael Fishman, are all vital pieces to this entertainment venue.

The reboot of "Roseanne" took off in the ratings and instantly became a hit show for the ABC Network, but the star of the show became too controversial to handle. As "Roseanne" was rising in the ratings and a second season was just about to film, Roseanne Barr's tweets were deemed racist and Disney had no choice but to sever ties with the comedian.

Within a blink of an eye, 200-plus people were without a job when this show was canceled and ABC was left with their top show suddenly tainted and no longer feasible for TV. According to CNN, the production company for the show started working behind the scenes to make a spin-off happen.

ABC was left with a group of characters that clicked and advertisers lining up to get a piece of this huge audience the show compiled, but many mountains to climb before a spin-off could happen. In order to move forward with a spin-off, this would constitute Roseanne Barr not having any financial or creative ties with the sitcom. With that said, she still had a contract.

Contracts for "Roseanne" were a bit "thorny" describes CNN and this is due to some of those documents dating back to the original days of the show. When Roseanne posted the tweets that led to the instant axing of the show, there wasn't time to rework all the contracts and jump from "Roseanne" to a spin-off."

In the weeks since the cancellation of the show, the contracts were approached, including Roseanne Barr's contract. Roseanne released a statement on Thursday night regarding her contract and her regrets over the demise of the show.

She conveyed that she regrets "the circumstances that have caused me to be removed" from "Roseanne." She also said that she has "agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved." She also passed along her best wishes for all involved in the new endeavor.

The cast got together and released a joint statement regarding the fan support they've received since the show was canceled. They conveyed that the fans let them know the characters on the show have a place in their "hearts and homes."

The cast is on board with the new spin-off and while there is no exact date for the debut of the show without Roseanne Barr, it is slated to air sometime this fall. "The Conners" will air in the same time slot that "Roseanne" occupied at 8 p.m. on Tuesday nights. ABC has requested 10 episodes of the new show, "The Conners."

While there will be an explanation of Roseanne's absence, it is not known at this time just what that will be. Entertainment Tonight suggests that "it seems very possible that the Conner matriarch could be killed off." They base this on the "official premise" coming from ABC, which seems to suggest between seasons something "ominous may have happened " to the Conners.

According to Fox News during their live broadcast on Friday morning, there are some fans of the show that won't tune in to watch this spin-off. They are upset over the firing of Roseanne Barr and feel the show will not be the same without her.

Fox News hosts discussed how this incident mirrors what happened with Charlie Sheen and "Two and a Half Men." They suggest the show was never the same. A talk of a boycott is already bubbling up, according to Fox.