Michael Fishman leaving The Conners before season 5
According to a report from TVLine, the former Roseanne star will not be a series regular moving into the new season. While he did not appear in every episode, DJ was still a legacy character and had an impact on the overall world of the show. Fishman also directed a handful of episodes over the past few seasons.
The aforementioned report notes that the door is always open for a potential return, and of course there’s going to be speculation aplenty about why we’re losing Fishman at this time. One of the obvious reasons could be an attempt to cut costs; while a lot of sitcoms are cheaper than more elaborate single-camera shows, that may not be the case here. The Conners features an expensive cast of comedy heavyweights and keeping it going year after year is not an easy thing to do. It’s also pretty clear across the board that the TV industry is making a number of cost-cutting moves at this time.
We’re sure that season 5 will do at least something to explain away DJ’s absence; of course, the world of this show is no stranger to characters coming and going, and this won’t be the hardest challenge that these writers and producers have faced in the slightest. We do at least know that Jayden Rey, who plays DJ’s daughter Mary, will still return on a guest-star basis … though she is not expected to be a regular.
The Conners will be back on ABC this fall, and we’re sure that there’s going to be a lot more in the way of news to share in due time. For now, be sure to head over to the link here to get some more insight all about what the future could hold.
What do you think about Michael Fishman leaving The Conners?
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