It’s been just over seven years since Roseanne Barr was fired from her self-titled series’ successful relaunch following a racist tweet about former President Barack Obama’s adviser Valerie Jarrett… which she infamously blamed on “Ambien tweeting.” It has, perhaps not coincidentally, been about the same amount of time since “Smurfs” star John Goodman has spoken to his sitcom wife.
“I’d rather doubt if she wants to talk to me,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We haven’t talked for about seven or eight years.”
Goodman, of course, went on to anchor the spinoff “The Conners,” which garnered consistently positive reviews, lasted seven seasons and 112 episodes without Barr, whose “Roseanne” character was killed off.
“I didn’t think [the ‘Roseanne’ reboot] was going to go beyond the initial five or six episodes,” Goodman said. “I thought it’d be a one-off thing, and then we got picked up, and Roseanne got fired. I thought that was it, and as soon as they dismissed the cast, I picked up ‘Righteous Gemstones.’ Then we got to do the show again as ‘The Conners.’ I didn’t know how long it would last, but I sure enjoyed it while I was there.”
In an expression of his goodwill to the fans, “The Conners” ended in April with a scene of Goodman alone, breaking the fourth wall and saying “Good night” while sitting on the show’s iconic couch. “I wanted to do it, and they let me, and they kept it. I thought it was just us saying, ‘Good night, folks. Thank you,’” he explained.
Goodman’s career remains busy as ever. In addition to voicing Papa Smurf in the upcoming animated “Smurfs” film, out July 18, he’s also recently lent his voice to series like “The Freak Brothers” and “Monsters at Work” (reprising Sulley from “Monsters, Inc.”). His HBO series “The Righteous Gemstones” aired its final episode in May, and he’s set to appear in the next Alejandro González Iñárritu film alongside Tom Cruise and Sandra Hüller, due for release in October 2026.
“There are a lot of funny moments in it,” Goodman said, describing the yet-untitled comedy. “Tom is a force of nature, and it’s fun to just hang on and see what he’s going to do. He’s a 63-year-old professional athlete and artist. He’s got the drive and the energy, and I wish I had half of it.”
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