Dan Conner Is Alive And Well In The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot

The long-anticipated reboot of “Roseanne” premiered on March 27, and fans finally got some answers to their burning questions about how certain problems posed by the original series would be explained.

When viewers learned that John Goodman would reprise his role as Dan Conner despite his character’s death in the original series, they wondered how the new show would bring him back without going into soap opera territory.

They got their answer in the opening scene of the reboot when Roseanne and Dan were laying in bed and Roseanne frantically yelled, “Dan! Dan! Dan!”

Dan was startled awake and had a sleep apnea mask attached to his face. When he asked his wife what was the matter, she told him, “I thought you were dead!”

The audience had a good laugh as, of course, that’s what we had thought as well. Dan explained that he was only sleeping and asked, “Why does everyone always think I’m dead?”

While the “Roseanne” creators could have just left it at that, the show went a little farther. In the 1997 finale of the original series, it was revealed that the entire show was actually a memoir Roseanne was writing based on her life.

While the audience had believed Dan survived a heart attack, it was shown that his survival was just how Roseanne wrote it in her memoir when in reality, he had died.

This backstory was acknowledged in the premiere of the reboot as well, when Dan and Roseanne come across the manuscript of her memoir.

“This would’ve sold like hotcakes if only you hadn’t killed off the most interesting character,” Dan told her. “He was a gentle giant.”

Another potential issue that was cleared up in the first episode was “the two Beckys.” In the original series, daughter Becky Conner was portrayed first by the actress Lecy Goranson and later by Sarah Chalke. The reboot found a way to incorporate them both without resorting to an evil twin plot line.

In the reboot, Goranson is playing Becky, while Chalke plays Andrea, a wealthy woman who hires Becky to be her surrogate.

The two share a joke about how alike they look.

“It was so cool,” Chalke told E! News about working with Goranson. “She’s fantastic. I was so excited when I heard our storylines would be tied together.”

Well, there you have it! Will you be watching the “Roseanne” reboot?

Find out what the cast has been up to, and see some photos from the new episodes here: