Roseanne Barr says John Goodman declined a cameo in her self-financed sitcom 'Meemaw'

What Barr said

Roseanne Barr says John Goodman, who played her husband Dan Conner on the sitcom Roseanne, declined an invitation to appear in her new series. The remarks come from an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that outlets summarized on Oct. 20 and 21, 2026. Comic Basics reported that Barr said of Goodman: "He doesn't want to work with me." ^{[1] [2]}

Barr also said her son asked Goodman to take part and that he refused, according to Comic Basics' account of the interview. The site added that Barr says she does not get along with Goodman or with Laurie Metcalf, who played her sister Jackie. ^[1]

Radar Online, in a report syndicated on AOL, said Barr answered "Of course not" when asked whether she stays in touch with either actor. It reported that she described her friendship with Metcalf as on pause and said she is deeply saddened by the situation, preferring to remember the good times. ^[3]

The Hollywood Reporter piece itself could not be opened for this report, so the quotes above are as relayed by the outlets cited. None of those reports carries a comment from Goodman or Metcalf on Barr's latest statements. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The show at the center

The series is Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable, a single-camera comedy Barr financed with private investors, according to Comic Basics. It says she shot eight episodes in Austin, Texas, starting in November 2025 as a union production, and that she co-wrote it with Allan Stephan and Allen Covert. ^[1]

Barr plays the matriarch of a mixed-race family in Texas. The cast includes Drea de Matteo, Omar Gooding and Randy Quaid, with Jon Lovitz and Tony Hinchcliffe reported for guest roles. Reality Tea, which credits The Hollywood Reporter, describes the project as loosely inspired by Barr's life in the Texas Hill Country. ^{[1] [2]}

The season is finished, but Comic Basics says no network or streamer has agreed to distribute it and there is no premiere date. It reports that Newsmax has been explored as a possible home, with no deal announced. ^[1]

Background on the split

Goodman and Barr played Dan and Roseanne Conner on Roseanne from 1988 to 1997 and reunited for a 2018 revival. ABC fired Barr that May over a tweet about Valerie Jarrett, and the network continued the show as The Conners without her character, according to Fox News. ^[4]

Radar reports Barr as saying the new show's decision to kill her character with an opioid overdose was insulting. That account comes from Barr's own statement in the interview and is not independently characterized by the outlets. ^[3]

In July 2025, Fox News reported that Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter he and Barr had not talked for about seven or eight years. He added that he would "rather doubt if she wants to talk to me." Fox also reported that Barr had told it the month before that she does not speak with any of her former co-stars. ^[4]

What is not known

Goodman's reasons for declining, and whether he received the invitation in the form Barr describes, are not stated in any of the coverage reviewed. Reality Tea notes that its report does not include his reasons, and its headline that he appears to have closed the door on Barr is the outlet's own reading. ^[2]

Why searches for the pair rose on Oct. 21 is not established by the sources, though several outlets published about the interview that day. Whether Meemaw finds a distributor remains open. ^{[1] [2] [3]}