John Goodman Thanks Roseanne Barr for Allowing 'The Conners' to Exist: 'She Gave Up a Lot'

John Goodman was in good spirits during a laugh-filled chat with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and he had Roseanne Barr to thank for it. And so he did.

The star of "The Conners," the sitcom formerly known as "Roseanne," talked about the "crash" he experienced when ABC initially pulled the plug on the top-rated revival after Barr's infamous racist tweet.

"Last year was so miraculous and so unreal that when it went away it was almost like a dream," Goodman told Kimmel. "I thought, okay, I'll be a big boy and handle this. I just crashed for a couple of weeks."

As he'd previously detailed in an interview with People, his personal life suffered a couple of poorly-timed issues as well, with his wife getting sick and him falling down the stairs.

But he credits the huge sacrifice Roseanne Barr made in order to even allow ABC to consider retooling the show without her and continuing. "It was an effort by Sara Gilbert, Tom Werner and they got ABC to come around, from what I understand, and she gave up a lot so that people could work."

Goodman was referring to Barr giving up her financial stake in the spinoff show. As an executive producer and creator of "Roseanne" and its characters, she stood to make significant bank whether she was on the show or not. With ABC balking at this, she made the decision to step away entirely.

"She gave up a lot for us to be able to do this show and I can't thank her enough," Goodman said.

He also said that it was weird going back to that familiar set with the cast and filming that first episode without her. "She's my buddy," he said of Barr. "I mean, we'd just sit there and she'd make me laugh and I'd make her laugh, which is always fun 'cause there's always the danger of her peeing herself."

As the audience laughed, he admitted, "Yeah, I used to try to do that."

He also confessed that he has spoken about how Roseanne will be written out of the show, though it's been a closely-held secret at the network. "I got interviewed for a thing I was doing on the BBC in London and I go, 'Well it's London, nobody's gonna hear it.'"

But apparently they did, and so the answer is out there if anyone feels like digging around.

"Roseanne" was canceled after Barr wrote the infamous racist tweet comparing former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape. We'll see how Barr's departure is handled when "The Conners" premieres Tuesday, October 16 at 8/7c on ABC.

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