The Conners viewers were left confused by the Halloween episode that aired this week.
The spooky installment, titled, “Halloween and The Election vs. The Pandemic,” focused on the sitcom clan’s unconventional 2020 celebration, including at-home trick-or-treating, elaborate costumes, and plenty of timely one-liners.
But some fans couldn’t help comparing it to the original series, Roseanne, that aired more than 30 years ago and starred the family’s now-deceased matriarch, played by Roseanne Barr.
“This episode was so strained and forced, trying to recapture the magic of previous Halloween episodes,” one viewer commented on an Instagram post about the episode, which can be seen here .
In the comments section of the same post, some viewers questioned a scene that starred Conner siblings Becky (Lecy Goranson), Darlene (Sara Gilbert), and DJ (Michael Fishman) after patriarch Dan (John Goodman) mentioned he has three kids and that one is his favorite and two are “back-ups.”
“Also, the Conners have 4 children, not three,” the same viewer wrote.
“As a loyal, knows every show, kind of fan-you had 4 kids, Dan. What about Jerry??” another asked.
Fans also questioned the missing family member in another post, seen here , referencing later seasons of the Roseanne series when second son Jerry Garcia Conner was born. When the Roseanne revival debuted in 2018, it was explained that an all-grown-up Jerry was in Alaska on a fishing boat.
“I have to ask the original show had the 3 kids then they had Jerry. When the show re-aired they had the three kids on the show and spoke of Jerry being gone. But now this episode Becky said they had three kids. So which one is it?” a fan asked.
“That bothered me bc they said he was on a boat in the first episode of season 10 so they didn’t get rid of him, but now is he just forgotten about or is he nonexistent?” a fourth viewer wanted to know.
Some viewers pointed out that on the OG Roseann e finale in 1997, it was revealed that many things that took place on the show were the matriarch’s fictional account of her family life in chapters of a book she was writing. It was revealed that the Conners never won the lottery and that Dan died of a fatal heart attack. Jerry’s birth, however, was real as a widowed Roseanne noted that her baby had a difficult entry into the world.
The Conners showrunner Bruce Helford previously addressed some of the inconsistencies in the two series’, including the MIA status of Jackie’s (Laurie Metcalf) son, Andy.
“We made a conscious decision that certain years were going to be part of the dream that was revealed at the end of the run of the original Roseanne. Andy fell into the same category for us as winning the lottery; something we chose not to acknowledge , ” he told TV Line earlier this year.