Broadcaster ABC and the other cast members wished to keep the show going in some form without Barr, and this culminated in the announcement of The Conners, a separate series from Roseanne with Dan as the protagonist, on June 21, 2018.
[1][2][3] When John Goodman was chosen to play Dan, co-star Roseanne Barr stated that she was happy with the casting, adding that she had a "big crush" on him from the start.
[4] Dan is a loving, easygoing, funny, witty family man who at the beginning of the series was looking for a job, but quickly became a drywall contractor.
Ted Harbert, boss of ABC Entertainment, commented that Barr was excited to return for a ninth season, with or without Goodman, which could be about her and her sister, Jackie Harris, as single parents.
[7] Los Angeles Daily News editor Phil Rosenthal criticized Harbert for his comments, describing Dan as the emotional anchor of the series.
Rosenthal compared Dan to daughter Becky Conner, who was portrayed by two different actresses due to scheduling conflicts over the years, and son D.J.
Rosenthal brought up similar departures that caused their respective programs to slip in quality, and warned that Roseanne may suffer the same fate if Goodman left.
A notable exception occurred onscreen (and played for laughs) in "Dan's Birthday Bash" when he knocks out an obnoxious bar patron with a single punch.
The event led to Dan's temporary incarceration in Lanford's city jail (and created a great deal of local notoriety for the family), though Fisher later dropped the charges.
[4] MSNBC commentator Gael Fashingbauer Cooper called Dan one of the first TV dads to be seen struggling to make ends meet.
An article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune called their relationship realistic, commenting that while they mock each other, viewers can feel their love while they deal with the kinds of problems real families face.
[15] The potential absence of Dan from all or most of season nine prompted Phil Rosenthal of the Los Angeles Daily News to describe it as a rare occasion where ending the show would be preferred to doing without.