ET exclusively debuts a first look from Tuesday's episode.
Dan Conner really values his "me" time.
On Tuesday's episode of The Conners, titled "The Separation of Church and Dan," Dan (John Goodman) has set up shop outside the front door, leaving Darlene (Sara Gilbert), Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) and Becky (Lecy Goranson) a little bit concerned with the Conner patriarch's mindset following the sudden death of his wife, Roseanne.
In ET's exclusive sneak peek, they ask Dan why he's moved his favorite chair outdoors, with the family's signature blanket keeping him warm.
"Watching TV from the porch... cool," Becky observes, wasting no time asking her pops what's really going on. "Quick question: Why?"
"I wanted to watch TV and I'm getting some fresh air. Also, looking for a little alone time," Dan says, not moving from his comfortable perch.
"Nothing wrong with bein' alone," Jackie says, arms crossed as she looks disapprovingly at Dan.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Dan says, getting up from his seat, walking into the house and getting in one last word before shutting the door behind him. "But we won't know until we test it!"
The Conners' first episode picked up three weeks after Roseanne's funeral and the family in various stages of grief (and enjoying the latest casserole dish given to them by concerned loved ones). According to various family members, they believe Roseanne died from a heart attack while sleeping in her bed. But the truth, they soon realized, was that she died from an opioid overdose.
Goodman spoke to The Sunday Times in August, where he said that Roseanne Barr's character would be killed off in the spinoff and that Dan "will be mopey and sad because his wife's dead." Barr revealed how, appearing on the YouTube show, Walk Away, in September to say that her character dies from "an opioid overdose.” “It wasn’t enough to [fire me], they had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show,” she said at the time. “There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s done. It’s over. There’s no fight left.”
Roseanne was canceled in May, after Barr was fired due to a racist tweet against Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. “It’s an unknown," Goodman said of whether or not the spinoff will be successful.
Goodman also said he hasn't been in touch with Barr, but thanked her for clearing the way for The Conners to move forward with ABC. “She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on," he shared. "I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she’s still going through hell.”
The Conners airs Tuesdays 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
RELATED CONTENT:
