The Conners lovers had better prepare themselves for a world without Michael Fishman’s DJ Conner.
According to TVLine, Fishman has left the sitcom ahead of season 5 – 34 years on from his first appearance as Darlene and Becky’s younger brother in Roseanne.
Despite there being no concrete plans for a future return just yet, the door has reportedly been left open should the actor fancy reprising his character again.
In brighter news, Jayden Rey (who plays DJ’s daughter Mary) is remaining onboard as a series regular.
We’ll also be seeing plenty of other familiar faces return, too. John Goodman (Dan), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Lecy Goranson (Becky), Emma Kenney (Harris), Ames McNamara (Mark), Jay R Ferguson (Ben) and Katey Sagal (Louise) have all been confirmed to reprise their characters in season 5.
The show has seen plenty of exits and newbies over the years, most notably when lead star Roseanne Barr left the show shortly after the reboot returned to TV. In 2018, Barr found herself in the midst of a racial scandal and was subsequently fired by ABC.
The controversial star previously addressed her character’s dark fate in an open letter co-penned by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in the wake of her character’s death storyline.
“That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show. This was a choice the network did not have to make,” she claimed back in 2018.
She also stated she apologized numerous times for her behaviour, but it fell on deaf ears. “After repeated and heartfelt apologies, the network was unwilling to look past a regrettable mistake, thereby denying the twin American values of both repentance and forgiveness,” Barr said.
The Conners airs on ABC in the US.
Source: digitalspy.com