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More than a week after Michael Fishman announced his departure from The Conners, one of the executive producers of the series revealed how D.J. Conner gets his exit from the show in season 5.
Fishman portrayed D.J., the son of Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Dan (John Goodman), on all nine seasons of Roseanne and returned in the role for its 2018 spin-off The Conners.
However, when the show returns for another season this month, D.J. won’t be seen in Lanford and will reunite with someone special: his wife Geena (Maya Lynne Robinson), an Army lieutenant whose job is overseas.
“She was involved in the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and she is still overseas on assignment, so he is going to be going over and spending time with his wife,” Conners executive producer Bruce Helford said in an interview with TV Line.
“It does get addressed in the first few episodes.”
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The Conners Door is Open
After her first appearance on Season 1 of The Conners, Geena was written off the show through her deployment in Afghanistan when Robinson left the production to take a role on the CBS sitcom The Unicorn. Eventually, however, the actress made a brief return in the Season 3 finale.
And just like Robinson, the door for the Conners returnees seems wide open for Fishman.
“We love him,” Helford stated. “He’s part of the family. There’s certainly no one saying he will never be on the show [again]. It’s just a matter of whether storylines come up that are built for that.”
After the news of Fishman’s departure, Fishman said it had been his “honor to play D.J. Conner.”
“While I was told I would not be returning for season 6, Lanford was a valuable place to grow up, learn, and develop,” he continued.
“I was incredibly lucky to return home and demonstrate my expansion. As I venture into the world to build the future, I send tremendous love and success to everyone involved in the production.”
The Conners Season 5, which also stars Lecy Goranson, Sara Gilbert, and Laurie Metcalf, will premiere on September 21 on ABC.
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