Though The Conners may have wrapped up its seven-season run on ABC — on an unplanned final note, thanks to John Goodman — that doesn’t mean fans will stop appreciating the iconic sitcom family anytime soon, especially since it and its predecessor Roseanne can both be found airing in syndication. And for the past few years, repeats have been the only way for fans to see O.G. star Michael Fishman’s D.J. still popping up, considering he was written out of the show going into Season 5.
Fans were definitely bummed about D.J. not returning for The Conners’ finale, which also failed to land its white-whale George Clooney cameo. However, the actor can be seen sharing his thoughts and memories about working on the seminal ‘80s-’90s comedy on CMT, which announced remastered versions of all 222 Roseanne episodes began airing in March. Fishman took to Instagram to share one such interview spot where he addressed the sitcom’s impact on LGBTQ+ representation on TV.
Directly addressing the Season 6 installment “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in which Roseanne joined Sandra Bernhard’s Nancy and Laurie Metcalf’s Jackie on a trip to the gay bar Lips, and had her own lips smooched by Nancy’s girlfriend, as portrayed by Mariel Hemingway. According to Fishman, Roseanne played into its innate comedic strengths to tackle less-targeted topics. In his words:
If you can make people laugh, you can tackle big moments in ways that you just don't really imagine possible any other way. You give people a way of looking past kind of their own preconceptions or their own hesitations, and it's an amazing gift. . . . Meryl Hemingway is another one who came and did the kiss with Roseanne, and that was The Kiss. Like, it was just called The Kiss at the time, and the world went nuts.
The Roseanne episode of note aired all the way back in March 1994, and was easily one of the only instances at the time where gay and straight characters kissed on TV, especially where half-hour comedy was concerned. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the filmed episode resulted in some hectic behind-the-scenes conversations between ABC, whose censors were eager to keep the ep's kiss from airing as filmed, and Roseanne Barr, who threatened to take her hugely popular sitcom away from ABC.
Cooler and more agreeable heads prevailed, and not only did the episode become an instant classic for Roseanne fans, but it allowed the show to further the relationship between Martin Mull's Leon and Fred Willard's Scott, while also introducing and developing other LGBTQ+ characters. Fishman spoke about the impact the episode had off the screen as well, saying:
But it was so interesting, growing up in an environment where I had friends and crew members and cast members who were in the LGBTQ community. For them to get to see some representation of them on television at that time was unheard of largely, and we got to break ground in that way. It was so brave.
One can easily argue that if it wasn't for Roseanne embracing gay characters and culture, the sitcoms might never have written Darlene and David's son Mark as gay, and we might never have seen his relationship with Logan blossom (and wither). Or for trans actress Alexandra Billings to join the cast as Darlene's boss.
For all that it was a groundbreaking moment for the LGBTQ+ community at large, it's not like Roseanne was just instantly into it or anything, and Fishman chuckled when remembering Barr's character improvising the character's reaction to the kiss.
Then I just remember Roseanne, totally unscripted, doing the thing where she like wipes her mouth on her shirt afterwards. And it was a great comedic moment, but a real moment in life that kind of changed the world around us.
Michael Fishman shared his thoughts about not returning to the sitcom at any point during its shortened final season, and shared how appreciative he still was for the sitcom franchise's impact on his life, and harbored no ill will. Amazingly enough, Roseanne Barr's son shared that she also wanted to let bygones be bygones now that The Conners is done and her previous firing is no longer a point of contention. Maybe Barr and Fishman will team up for something in the future.
Roseanne is currently airing in syndication on CMT (while The Conners reruns are airing on The CW), and can be found streaming in full with a Peacock subscription.
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