When Roseanne returned to the airwaves after many years back in midseason 2018, original series fans saw many of their favorite characters back on the small screen. The revival managed to nab most of the original cast to reprise their roles, even bringing both Beckys on board for an arc! One character that didn't appear in the first season of the Roseanne revival was Jackie and Fred's son, Andy, and fans shouldn't get their hopes too high for an Andy appearance on The Conners. The spinoff showrunner Bruce Helford weighed in on Andy, saying this:
We debated whether Andy was part of the 'dream period' or whether he existed. He'd probably be off at college if he does exist.
Andy was born as the son of Jackie and Fred in a Season 6 episode that aired in August 1994. He wasn't old enough to be much of a player in the Roseanne shenanigans when the original series was still on the air, so his absence in the revival wasn't altogether distracting. Still, longtime fans were undoubtedly taken aback by the fact that there was no mention of Andy at all. Jerry at least was established as on a boat. According to Bruce Helford's comments to TVLine, Andy may not have been mentioned because he may not exist!
As many undoubtedly recall, the ninth and then-final season of Roseanne was a bonkers batch of episodes that seemingly featured the Conner family after they won the state lottery, but the finale revealed that the entire final season actually took place in Roseanne's imagination as a way to cope with her husband's death. Since Dan was very much alive (and John Goodman was almost in Emmy contention) for the revival, the dream season obviously didn't happen, and the show could remove Andy from the Conners universe.
That possibility isn't perfect, as Andy wasn't born in the dream season. He was born back in Season 6 and was around in episodes well before Roseanne Conner started concocting a story that was better than dealing with her husband's death. If The Conners wants to use the dream season as an excuse for the omission of Andy, it will have to expect viewers to fudge the timeline. Then again, most viewers probably won't be too upset about a character who appeared for a few seasons as a very young child back in the 90s.
All of this said, it's possible that The Conners will reveal that Andy has been off at college this whole time. He'd be 24 or so by this point, so higher education could have kept him out of the Roseanne revival. Now that Roseanne Conner has been killed off for the sake of the spinoff, perhaps there will be more time for characters like Jackie. Bringing her son back into the mix could certainly provide her with some stories. If Johnny Galecki and one more can come back, surely Andy can come back!
Find out how the characters are coping with the death of Roseanne Conner when The Conners premieres in the fall TV lineup on Tuesday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ahead of the premiere of The Kids Are Alright.
