The Conners Didn’t Give One Major Roseanne Character the Respect They Deserved (2024)

For all its callbacks and references, The Conners lineup lacks one major character from its predecessor — and it’s not Roseanne. Dan Conner (John Goodman) still leads his familial flock. Darlene (Sara Gilbert) is as sarcastic as ever, still bickering with her younger sister, Becky (Lecy Goransen), years after the conclusion of Roseanne. Even Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) returns in many episodes. So, who’s missing?

David Jacob “D.J.” Conner (Michael Fishman) is notably absent from Seasons 5 & 6 of The Conners. The eldest of the Conner children appears in the spin-off’s first four seasons before a messy departure. Admittedly, he was never a pivotal part of The Conners, usually relegated to brief appearances. In fact, his daughter, Mary (Jayden Rey), often plays a larger role than her father. Nonetheless, D.J.’s absence is keenly felt, and fans wonder what his fate will be as the show nears its final season.

Who Is D.J. Conner?

• D.J. appears in 220 episodes of Roseanne and 36 episodes of The Conners.
• D.J. is portrayed by his original actor from Roseanne, Michael Fishman.
• Michael Fishman has portrayed D.J. Conner since 1988.

D.J. Conner is the family’s firstborn son, and he’s always had a more straightforward role than his siblings. In fact, thanks to The Conners’ many retcons, D.J. is ultimately the only son in the Conner family. Despite his boyish aptitude for mischief, D.J. was less troublesome than his squabbling sisters. As the youngest Conner child, he enjoyed a respectable amount of pampering and pandering.

Since his debut, D.J. has been the stereotypical “lovable mischiefmaker” sibling. He balanced out his sisters’ bickering. Thanks to his many pranks, his sisters had something to bemoan together. Conversely, his parents doted upon him, striving to give their youngest a sense of normalcy despite their economic hardships.

In the decades between Roseanne and The Conners, everyone has changed. That’s to be expected. Nobody stays the same forever; even beloved sitcom characters must evolve. To adapt to a new era, The Conners tweaked its dynamics but maintained its core cast.

What Happened to D.J. Conner?

• Despite his abrupt exit, producers left room for D.J. to return.
• D.J. is mentioned in the fifth season, but nothing is said about him in Season Six.
• No clear reason was given for Michael Fishman’s departure.

When The Conners first aired, it still bore the Roseanne banner. However, after a messy Twitter debacle in 2018, Roseanne Conner was abruptly killed off. The show relaunched as The Conners, but it remained an arm’s length away from the family’s only son. D.J. appears in all but one episode of the revival’s first season, but his appearances wane afterward. By season four, he’s relegated to only seven of twenty episodes.

That’s not to say he has no relevance. The Conners was eager to reveal the only son’s fate: D.J. retired from the military and is married to Second Lieutenant Geena Williams (Maya Lynne Robinson), with whom he has a daughter, Mary. However, his active-duty wife is often absent, leaving D.J. to raise Mary alone. Most of his on-screen presence hinges upon this relationship, framing D.J. as a loving father and lonely husband. The same is true for his final appearance, “A Judge and A Priest Walk Into A Living Room…,” wherein D.J. departs to spend more time with his family and newly retired wife.

Ultimately, he plays little part in the revival. In most cases, he only appears to collect his daughter, Mary, from his rambunctious family. During these brief moments, he’s portrayed as an abnormally normal member of the Conner clan. He rarely bickers with his siblings, maintains an amicable relationship with his father, and has a stable career. He’s the foil to his family’s outlandish dysfunctionality, and that may have been his downfall.

Fans Are Split on D.J.’s Absence

• D.J.’s wife, Geena, first appeared in Season Seven of Roseanne.
• Mark Fishman expressed appreciation for another chance to play D.J. when vacating the role.
• Prior to his departure, Mark Fishman experienced multiple personal tragedies.

Many Roseanne fans are upset about D.J.’s absence, while others are ambivalent. There are arguments on both sides, but the writing has made D.J. decidedly obsolete. Narratively, there’s little room for him. With his wife retired, he has no reason to retain his father’s babysitting services. He has his own home, so he can come and go as he pleases. He’s a stable, comfortable man with a content family. Mary’s precocious antics added some vibrant variation to the show’s usual formula, but even that isn’t enough to justify D.J.’s presence.

Did D.J. Conner Deserve a Larger Role?

• After Roseanne, Michael Fishman took a long break from acting.
• Some fans have suggested a spin-off based on D.J.’s family.
• The Conners follows the same model as Roseanne, using humor to highlight important issues of its time.

Many long-term fans of Roseanne voiced pointed discontent with D.J.’s departure. The pro-D.J. contingent maintains that removing D.J. is akin to gutting the show’s continuity and soul. Many of these fans believe that the writers of The Conners have forgone loyalty to Roseanne to tell a lesser story.

After all, Dan and Roseanne’s precocious son has graced television screens for literal decades. In some respects, he’s owed a better ending than what he got. All his growth has been curtailed by a curt departure, leaving no room for further evolution.

Fans argue that D.J. had more value to add to the show. By all accounts, The Conners gave D.J. few chances to reveal his past. In the years between The Conners and Roseanne, he joined the military and retired, citing PTSD. Notably, his PTSD is never solved, and fans are left to speculate why and when D.J. enlisted.

Other fans suggest D.J. was removed in favor of his sister, Darlene. This argument suggests that D.J.’s relevance played no part in his removal. Instead, he was seen as a low-value character. With only twenty-some minutes per episode, D.J. was cut to make room for more Becky and Darlene moments. However, there is no evidence to support this argument.

Has D.J. Conner Gotten His Happy Ending?

• The Conners’ production crew have promised the seventh season will be a heartfelt farewell to fans.
• Season Seven of The Conners will be its shortest yet.
• When exiting The Conners, Mark Fishman stated he was “proud” of his contributions to the show.

Missing plot points aside, D.J. has the most conclusively positive ending in The Conners. The Conner family’s only son has achieved personal and financial success, and there’s no arguing his departure was in any way depressing. He lives on his own alongside his loving wife and child. Beyond filling some personal gaps, his narrative role has ended.

Some fans suggest his absence is supported by Michael Fishman’s reluctance to return to big-ticket acting. After the end of Roseanne, he took a small handful of roles and cameo appearances. His short performances in The Conners are often outshined by Jayden Rey. So, some argue his departure was natural.

D.J.’s depreciated relevance has always been an issue. The Conners never gave D.J. a substantial role, preferring to relegate him to a supportive spot. His witty one-liners and occasional commentary kept his presence fresh and exciting. More importantly, his lessened importance built to his departure.

Like Darlene’s old boyfriend, David (Johnny Galecki), D.J. may have always been planned as a minor character. His rare appearances may be little more than nods to the show’s past. However, as The Conners prepares for its seventh — and final — season, there’s still time for D.J. to have one final grand bow.

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  The Conners

  A sitcom that follows the lives of the Conner family as they navigate the ups and downs of working-class life in Lanford, Illinois. After the loss of the family matriarch, the Conners band together to face daily struggles, including financial challenges, parenting issues, and personal relationships.

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  Roseanne

  The popular 1990s sitcom "Roseanne" centered on the everyday life of an American working-class family.