Original Roseanne star Michael Fishman spoke out after the series finale of The Conners spinoff aired on ABC. Fishman, who played youngest child D.J. Conner in both series, did not appear in the finale—and his character wasn’t even mentioned.

I have to say, I was a little nervous, because there was so much backlash about her not being on the show,” said “The Conners” showrunner Bruce Helford.

The Conners premiered on ABC on October 16, 2018, as a continuation of the hit series Roseanne. This came after the Roseanne revival was canceled after one season due to controversial comments Barr made on X (then Twitter). Instead, the show spun off into The Conners, where Barr’s titular character was killed off in an accidental opioid overdose.