Here's how Dan's death is explained away in the revival premiere

June 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Fans of the 1990's sitcom, Roseanne, are ecstatic that the show made a return 21 years after the original ended. However, they have questions.

The most prominent issue was the death of John Goodman's character, Dan Conner. In season eight, Dan had a heart attack at his daughter Darlene's wedding.

Please note that this article contains spoilers about seasons eight and nine of the original show, as well the season ten revival which premiered on March 27, 2018.

Season 9, which aired in September 1997, was a confusing time for faithful fans of the show. As reported by ET Online, the final season was mostly a figment of Roseanne's imagination.

More specifically, season nine was part of a memoir Roseanne had been writing about herself. She changed several aspects of her life to fit in with the story she was writing.

Even though Dan was present during season nine, Roseanne explained that the heart attack had claimed his life. Nevertheless, viewers still have unanswered questions about Dan's death.

Dan appeared in the posters and trailers of the tenth season, and viewers knew there had to be an explanation for his return from the dead, as it were.

That was all explained when the first episode of season 10 premiered Tuesday evening. The episode starts with Roseanne frantically yelling, "Dan! Dan! Dan!"

Dan wakes up, startled, with a sleep apnea mask still attached to his face. Roseanne is visibly relieved and joked that Dan looked so peaceful, she thought he had "moved on."

The next scene shows Dan and Roseanne discussing their daughter, Darlene, who had moved back to her childhood home with her two children.

Johnny Galecki, who played her boyfriend and husband in the original show, won't be joining the season ten cast. Galecki currently portrays the role of Leonard Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory.

Later in the episode, Dan is looking for something in the garage when he finds Roseanne's memoir from season nine. He joked that "it would've sold like hotcakes if only [Roseanne] hadn't killed the most interesting character."

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