How do you end such a beloved sitcom like Roseanne/The Conners? It's always hard to put a bow on something that tracks across multiple decades. Additionally, not every show gets that golden opportunity to go out on their own terms. Consequently, John Goodman and co. really had to knock it out of the park when ending The Conners. Usually, you trust the writers to come up with something poignant and powerful and the actors have to execute. However, according to one of the producers, liberties were taken for the better.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Recently, executive producers Dave Caplan and Bruce Helford spoke with The Wrap after the moving conclusion to The Conners. Spoilers ahead obviously: the show ends with each member of the family saying goodbye to Dan Conner, played by John Goodman. Then, when it was just him left on the couch, he tenderly addresses the audience by breaking the fourth wall and saying good night. Apparently, this wasn't something any of the producers expected out of the ending.
John Goodman Surprises Producers of The Conners With Stirring Final Scene
"We did not know they were going to get there emotionally," Caplan says. Meanwhile, Helford reveals that this was a choice made completely by Goodman. "I don't think I've ever seen that in a sitcom, or maybe even a drama, where the actors show the real emotions they are having. It was so touching and so real that we decided to leave," Helford says. "Dan saying goodbye to the audience, that was all John and it was wonderful."
It's an emotional closer and one that desperately tries to avoid TV cliches by rooting in reality. That final scene with Goodman and the family comes after Dan Conner only received a measly $700 settlement check for his lawsuit against a drug company. The Conner family were trying to seek justice for the Roseanne character's accidental opioid overdose.
In such a stark aftermath, the producers want the viewers to take something profound from Goodman and the rest of the Conner family. "The lesson of The Conners is that if you think you're going to get over on the big guy, it's probably not going to happen," Caplan says. "You're going to have to struggle. But if you struggle and you hang together, good things can still happen. So it had to be an ending that kept in concert with the tone of The Conners."
