ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey has answered our biggest question about the Roseanne revival: will John Goodman’s Dan Conner be returning to the family series? Dungey says that the new series will basically look past Dan’s fatal heart attack. “I wouldn’t say that it is ignoring the events of the finale, but I can confirm that Dan is definitely still alive,” she said. “We had a lot of conversations with [executive producer] Tom Werner when he first came in to talk about doing the show,” said Dungey. “We’ve now heard the broad strokes of the creative for these 8 episodes, and feel confident that it’s going to return to the show that everyone knew and loved.” There was no mention of zombies, so I think we’re safe, guys.
Other newsy items for Roseanne fans include an update that Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki (who played David Healy) is still in talks to return. “Those conversations are still in progress,” Dungey stated. The show will also be as topical as possible, but will not address issues like Donald Trump directly: “We’re not talking specifically about the universe that we live in in that way, but we are addressing issues like foreclosure; we’re addressing how difficult it is for people to get medical insurance; we’re talking about topics in a bigger broader way, and we’re not necessarily talking about the occupants of the White House.”