LOS ANGELES—Discussing how narrative cohesion would be maintained in the new sitcom, the showrunner of the upcoming Roseanne spinoff told reporters Tuesday that he hoped the giant puddle of blood in the set’s kitchen would adequately explain the former main character’s absence. “Sure, we could have had one of the many remaining characters just come out and explain what happened to Roseanne, but we have too much respect for our audience to spoon-feed them the storyline that way,” said Conners executive producer Bruce Helford of the bright red puddle of prop blood that is shown spreading across the titular family’s linoleum kitchen floor in the first episode of the new series. “As it happens, if you listen closely, you should be able to tell exactly what we’re going for with the blood. At one point in the script, D.J. says, ‘It’s a shame what happened to Mom,’ while pointing at the puddle. We also have Jackie referring to the puddle as ‘Roseanne’ in a couple scenes. Hopefully that will do the trick.” Sources confirmed that before the show taped, Helford ordered a set dresser to drop a few tufts of brown hair to the puddle for added realism.

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