The Conners season 7 is just days away from returning, though some familiar faces won’t be back. It was recently announced that The Conners season 7 will be adding Austin Powers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Seth Green for a three-episode run as a new friend of Darlene’s. However, when the dysfunctional family, which has been on television for decades, returns to ABC on Wednesday, March 26 at 8 PM ET on ABC, a trio of crucial characters won’t be present.
TVLine reports that David (Johnny Galecki), DJ (Michael Fishman), and Bev (Estelle Parsons) will not appear during The Conners season 7, with the news coming from executive producer Bruce Helford. Having served as the showrunner on the spinoff with Dave Caplan, Helford offers some context on the missing characters. When it came to David, he said that the character does get a mention but pointed to The Big Bang Theory alum’s availability:
“[David is] very much mentioned, very much alive in the story. We love Johnny, he was always welcome, but he has more or less started life anew down in Nashville [following the conclusion of The Big Bang Theory].”
“Honestly, once you see the arcs [you will understand]. What we never want to do is just bring somebody in just to see that person on the show. We want everyone to have something important to play.”
As for DJ, who last appeared in The Conners season 4 finale, his absence comes down to the same reason of not having a huge role in the story. Bev, who received significant focus throughout the spinoff and the original Roseanne, also gets a mention. However, the character’s absence comes from the fact that the Oscar-winning Parsons, at 97 years old, lives far away from where the sitcom films in Los Angeles.
What The Latest Cast News Means For Bev
She Got A Fitting Send-Off
Bev’s absence is not altogether surprising. So much of season 6, arguably its best moments, focused on the reconciliation between Bev and Jackie. It served as a poignant swansong for a character that shares important history with some of the most important Conners characters. Keeping in mind that Bev has been losing her memory, however, at least there will be an update or two on how she’s doing.
In the third episode of The Conners season 6, “Moms and Rats,” written by Helford and directed by Jody Margolin Hahn, the sentimental mixes with the ridiculous. Bev comes back into the picture when her family becomes concerned about unauthorized charges on the grandmother’s credit card. It eventually becomes clear that Bev’s mental facilities are starting to slip, but she wants to spend some quality time with Jackie.
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The Conners: Bev’s Season 6 Farewell Explained
Estelle Parsons may have appeared as Bev Harris for the final time in The Conners in a poignant send-off to Jackie and Roseanne’s mother.
In the end, however, despite her steadily declining condition, Bev isn’t in favor of quietly waiting for her death to come. She decides to board a train and go on an adventure. Jackie does try to stop her mom at first, but the two eventually arrive at an understanding, and Jackie waves goodbye to her mother. As an added bonus, Bev says that the Conner clan can enjoy the false charges that they’ve made on her credit card.
What The News Means For DJ & David
Their Departures Were More Abrupt
DJ’s exit was less eventful. After he made his last appearance in The Conners season 4, it was revealed that DJ had reunited with his wife Geena, who was stationed overseas in Germany. They’ll ultimately be joined by their teenage daughter, Mary, as the upcoming episodes confirm. It is something of a happy conclusion for the Conner sibling, even if it is off-screen. The culmination of DJ’s arc occurring off-screen reflects that the spinoff didn’t seem to always know what to do with Roseanne’s son.
In spite of being credited as a main cast member, DJ appeared infrequently on the spinoff and was often not a central focus in terms of pushing the story forward. On the whole, by the time he bowed out at the end of season 4, DJ appeared in just 36 episodes of The Conners. Fishman also stepped behind the camera, directing five episodes. There had been some hope that the actor would return in a guest appearance, but that is officially not in the cards.
As for David, despite how he has made appearances in the spinoff, Galecki’s Roseanne character has been revealed as an absent parent to Harris and Mark and an overall distant ex to Darlene. That was the show’s way of dealing with Galecki’s unavailability, as it represented a shift for a supporting player that had been significant. At one point in Roseanne, it looked as though David and Darlene might some day find their way back to each other.
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Even in The Conners season 2, David said that he would try to be better and more present. Ultimately, the producers felt they had to address why David was never actually around for his kids. That’s why, as they explained in a TVLine interview, they had to paint David in a more neglectful light. Helford said, “We didn’t want to say anything negative [about the character] because you never know if Johnny’s going to want to come back.” In any case, Ben has stepped up as a father figure to Darlene’s kids and has built a particularly solid bond with Mark.
Our Take On The Absences In The Conners Season 7
Six Episodes Is Too Short
It’s nice that the decades-spanning titular family are getting six episodes to say their goodbyes, but that count is too short for The Conners to tie up a world that has built up a lot of history since first appearing in 1988. Some character absences are inevitable because of the ability and willingness of actors to appear. Others, like DJ perhaps, might have worked if the farewell event was a little longer. Unfortunately, brief mentions will have to suffice.
Source: TVLine
