For Michael Fishman, the end of The Conners was not about screen time or storylines. It was about gratitude. Two weeks after the finale aired without him, he quietly took to Instagram with a message not of bitterness, but of love for the woman, Roseanne Barr, who helped shape his childhood and his career.
Fishman, now 43, grew up on set with Roseanne, playing her youngest son, D.J. Conner, since he was just six years old. Even though both of them were absent from the show’s final goodbye, his tribute was genuine and warm.
A defining moment for Michael Fishman as he honors Roseanne Barr
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On Mother’s Day, Fishman shared a post: a throwback clip of Roseanne with him and his TV siblings. Under it, he wrote, “Roseanne achieved her goal by creating the most authentic and engaging TV Mom.” His words were honest, direct, and full of warmth.
Just a few days earlier, he had posted one of his favorite scenes with her from their early days. It was a moment Roseanne offered him chili, and his young character, D.J., replied with a straight face, “It’s a little bit bland.” The memory made him smile. “This was a defining moment for me as a young actor,” he wrote. But more than that, he said, it showed how much love they shared.
“I’m always going to have love for her.”
Despite being left out of The Conners finale, Fishman made one thing clear: he is not holding on to resentment. When fans started asking questions, hoping for controversy, he calmly shut it down. “All I’ve ever had was empathy and understanding,” he said in a video. No shade. No shots fired—just peace.
Fishman explained that not including D.J. in the final episodes was simply a creative decision. Not personal. Not dramatic. He has chosen to let it go. “I move forward,” he told one fan. As for Roseanne, her son later revealed she had not watched a single episode of the spinoff and did not even know it had ended. Still, for Fishman, that doesn’t erase what she meant to him. “I’m always going to have love for her.”