why was roseanne killed off on the conners

Roseanne Barr's character on "The Conners" was killed off due to her firing from the show after she posted racist tweets about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to Barack Obama. The writers chose to have her character die from an opioid overdose, a decision explained by the show's creators as a way to give the character a respectful and relevant sendoff that also highlighted an important issue affecting the American working class. This storyline was revealed in the first episode of "The Conners" in 2018, right after she was fired. Roseanne Barr was unhappy with how her character was killed off and felt the choice was a message directed at her personally. The showrunner Bruce Helford said that instead of a simple heart attack, they wanted a death that was truthful to the character's story arc, as Roseanne's opioid addiction had been hinted at during the revival season of "Roseanne." The death by overdose also ensured there would be no return for the character, allowing the show to continue without her while addressing a serious societal issue. In summary, Roseanne was killed off on "The Conners" because her actress was fired due to racist tweets, and the writers chose an opioid overdose as her cause of death to provide a poignant, socially relevant storyline and a definitive end to the character's arc.