8 Ways the Roseanne Reboot References the Original

With Roseanne coming back, the writers obviously have to deal with the sticky issue of how a lot of “canon” was erased by chalking it up to having been part of Roseanne’s writing in the final season of the original. The biggest one is Dan’s death. In the original series finale, Dan surviving his heart attack is revealed to be part of Roseanne’s writing as a way to cope with the fact that he actually died. In the reboot — spoiler alert — Dan is not dead. And the show makes a couple of wink-wink references to it.

With Darlene living back under her parents’ roof, they are naturally turning into parental surrogates to her children — and not much has changed in 20 years. Roseanne’s word is still final, Dan still hides in the garage to drink beer, and they’re both still supersupportive parents, in their own ways, just like they were 20+ years ago.

It’s been known for a while now that the reboot wrote a part for Sarah Chalke, the actress who took over the role of Becky Conner when Alicia Goranson left the show to attend college. In the reboot, Chalke plays a wealthy woman who is hiring Becky to be her surrogate. No spoilers, but when they meet in person for the first time, the show gets in a couple great zingers about how they both played Becky all those years ago.

Roseanne never shied away from tackling social issues, and the reboot is no different. In the first two episodes alone, they jump head first into politics, the 2016 election, gender identity, a woman’s right to autonomy over her body, and homosexuality (briefly, in a funny running joke). It’s great to see that the groundbreaking show isn’t afraid to go there after all these years.

Roseanne visits her kids’ old school when she takes Mark to his first day of school, while Harris is attending Lanford High, which is where her mom went. We’re excited to see if other locations pop up throughout the reboot, like the Lunch Box, Dan’s lodge, the Lobo Lounge, and more.