Many 'Roseanne' Cast Members Are in 'The Conners,' but Some Aren't So Lucky

Every millennial can remember turning on the television and finding an episode of Roseanne playing. The sitcom began in 1988 and ran until 1997 before it was revived in 2018. However, because of a racist tweet from Roseanne Barr, the revival killed off Roseanne’s character and rebranded as The Conners, which is still running today.

Roseanne was considered influential because of its emphasis on a “real-life” working-class family in the Midwest. It was also one of the first television shows to center around fat people without making them the butt of the joke. Despite Roseanne’s modern-day views, she did a lot for women and other disenfranchised groups. While much of the original cast is in The Conners, what are they all doing now?

Before she became known as America's outspoken mom on Roseanne, Roseanne Barr was a stand-up comedian. She wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind, so it's no surprise she was "canceled" after making a racist comment on Twitter about Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett.

Although Roseanne's character was killed off for The Conners, she continues to perform comedy and released her Fox Nation special, Cancel This, in 2023. She lives with her partner, Johnny Argent, on a 46-acre macadamia nut farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Many of us remember John Goodman as Fred Flinstone in the 1994 film, The Flinstones, but that's far from his most impressive credit. He has continued acting since his time on Roseanne all the way through to his most recent major role as Eli Gemstone in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones. He's also concurrently starring as Dan in The Conners, despite the character getting killed off in the original series. He's married to Annabeth Hartzog and has a daughter, Molly Evangeline Goodman.

Laurie played Roseanne's younger sister, Jackie, on Roseanne, and is still in The Conners as the kids' loving aunt. While Roseanne was one of Laurie's earliest television roles, she has since made moves, winning an Emmy for her guest role in Hacks in 2022 and an Academy Award nomination for her role as Marion McPherson in Lady Bird. Most often, however, Laurie returns to her Broadway roots. In 2023, she starred in Grey House and Somewhere in Queens. She has four kids: Zoe, Will, Mae, and Donovan.

Lecy Goranson played the original Becky, although she left temporarily to attend Vassar College. Her sporadic appearances and scheduling were played as a gag, so she returned in full to The Conners as Becky later on. She had small guest roles between the original series and its spin-off, but nothing quite as significant as Roseanne. She now advocates for abortion rights and takes care of her fur babies.

When Lecy had to step out of Roseanne, Sarah Chalke stepped in. She even appeared in the Roseanne spin-off as a new character, Andrea, who wanted to use Becky as a surrogate. After her original Roseanne stint, Sarah starred in Scrubs, Rick and Morty, and most recently, Netflix's Firefly Lane. She has two children with her ex-fiancé, Jamie Afifi, a son born in 2009 and a daughter born in 2016.

Sara's role as Darlene in Roseanne was her first major role after acting in commercials and television movies. Since the series ended and she graduated from Yale in 1997, Sara appeared in various long-running television shows with a two-season arc in ER. She had a three-season arc on The Big Bang Theory (alongside former Roseanne actor Johnny Galecki) and went on to create her talk show, The Talk.

Sara came out as gay on The Talk in 2010, discussing her relationship with her ex, Ali Adler. Now, Sara has three kids: Levi Hank, Sawyer Jane, and Rhodes Emilio Gilbert Perry.

The youngest of the Conner kids, Michael came into his role in Roseanne completely inexperienced. Between the original series and its spin-off, Michael appeared in guest spots on several shows and even co-hosted The Roseanne Show alongside his former TV mom. However, after The Conners' fourth season, Michael was told he would not return, hinting that he was fired from the show. He has two children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Briner. They divorced in 2019.