Sara Gilbert Speaks Out About Roseanne Spinoff: 'I'm So Excited' About The Conners
Sara Gilbert is looking forward to the Roseanne spinoff without Roseanne Barr.
“I’m so excited, thank you all so much. I really appreciate it,” Gilbert, 43, said on Monday’s The Talk after co-host Sharon Osbourne congratulated her on the news of The Conners, the spinoff that ABC greenlit on Thursday after the Roseanne reboot was canceled in May due to Barr’s racist tweet.
John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman are also returning with Gilbert.
Though a premiere date has yet to be announced, ABC will be airing a 10-episode, straight to series order with the working title, The Conners, that will follow “the Conner family who, after a sudden turn of events, are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.”
The synopsis continued, “This iconic family – Dan, Jackie, Darlene, Becky and D.J. – grapples with parenthood, dating, an unexpected pregnancy, financial pressures, aging and in-laws in working-class America. Through it all, the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns – with love, humor and perseverance, the family prevails.”
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On Thursday, cast members Gilbert, Goodman, Metcalf, Goranson and Fishman released a joint statement about moving forward with a new installment of the original series without Barr.
“We have received a tremendous amount of support from fans of our show, and it’s clear that these characters not only have a place in our hearts, but in the hearts and homes of our audience,” the cast said.
“We all came back last season because we wanted to tell stories about the challenges facing a working-class family today. We are so happy to have the opportunity to return with the cast and crew to continue to share those stories through love and laughter.”
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ABC canceled Roseanne on May 29 after Barr, who starred as wife and mother Roseanne Conner, shared (and then deleted) a tweet comparing former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is black, to an ape.
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj,” she wrote, using Jarrett’s initials in response to a conspiracy theory about the Obama administration.
Barr later tweeted that she “mistakenly thought [Jarrett] was white.”
In a statement, president of ABC Entertainment Channing Dungey announced that the show had been canceled: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
RELATED: Roseanne Barr ‘Forgives’ Costars Sara Gilbert & Michael Fishman for Condemning Her Racist Tweet
In an interview that aired Sunday, Barr broke down in tears as she opened up about the racist tweet that caused ABC to cancel the Roseanne reboot.
“It’s really hard to say this, but I didn’t mean what they think I meant,” Barr told Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s podcast.
“I don’t want to run off and blather on with excuses, but I apologize to anyone who thought, or felt offended and who thought that I meant something that I, in fact, did not mean. It was my own ignorance, and there’s no excuse for that ignorance,” she continued.
Becoming tearful, she added, “I definitely feel remorse.”
“I’m a lot of things, I’m a loud mouth and all that stuff, but I’m not stupid, for God’s sake,” Barr tearfully told Boteach. “I never would have wittingly called any black person … a monkey.”
