‘The Conners’ EPs Say They Tried To Get George Clooney Back On the Show -

Tomorrow, the credits will roll on The Conners for the last time when the series celebrates its grand finale. After seven seasons, the show proved that the world of the family from Lanford, Illinois had plenty of staying power even after their matriarch and original series star, Roseanne Barr, was killed off. Over the last few years, fans have caught up with the titular gang of relatives who we first met all the way back in the 80s thanks to a little TV show called Roseanne. During that time, we got to see a new generation of the Conners enter their young adult years, while favorites like Sara Gilbert’s Darlene and Lecy Goranson’s Becky continued into adulthood. At the same time, there were a few beloved characters from the flagship production who fans were upset they never got to see in the follow-up chapter.

Feeling a similar sense of disappointment as the fandom, executive producers Bruce Helford and Dave Caplan recently opened up to TV Line about the guests they had hoped for but never got. At the top of their list was none other than George Clooney, who appeared in Roseanne as Booker Brooks, the boss of Roseanne (Barr) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) when they worked at Wellman Plastic. The series was a stepping stone for the legendary actor on his way to the top, but, unfortunately, he didn’t reprise his part in The Conners.

“We never got Clooney! I don’t know what the hell else he was doing that was more important!” Caplan said, with Helford chiming in to explain,

“We did reach out to him numerous times and he said, ‘You know that I would, but if I do it for you guys, I gotta do it for everybody I’ve ever worked with who has a TV show because it would be wrong for me not to,’ so that was his out on that.”

Who Else Was Almost Part of ‘The Conners’?

Clooney is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to possible reprisals from the world of Roseanne. In addition to the Ticket to Paradise star, Helford said that Martin Mull was on their radar to return to his role as the former co-owner of The Lunch Box, Leon Carp, prior to his death last year. “Martin Mull passed before we had a chance to [bring back Leon],” Helford said, adding, “It would have been a conversation, definitely for the finale” had the Clue star not passed away. Tagging on, Caplan said, “His name came up in the writers’ room about what we can do, but then it became a moot issue [once Mull died last June].” In addition to Clooney and Mull, the duo were hoping that Johnny Galecki would come back to the fold after reprising his role as David earlier in the series, but that things just didn’t work out.

Prepare to say farewell to The Conners during the two-part series finale tomorrow on ABC.