How 'The Conners' deals with the absent Roseanne - and why it's worth having the show go on

It doesn't hurt The Conners, either, that many of the cast members who are continuing with the story of this Lanford, Ill., family — particularly Goodman, Gilbert, and Laurie Metcalf — are strong actors, some stronger, honestly, than Barr, whose vision may have been largely responsible for Roseanne's success, but who never got over cackling the loudest at her own jokes.