'The Conners' ends — what happens to famous 'Roseanne' couch?

New York Post

24-04-2025

They're couching it.
After 37 years of sitting on their iconic plaid couch, the Conner family is getting up – and you might be able to own their sofa.
'They're actually auctioning it,' the 'Conners' executive producer Bruce Rasmussen exclusively told The Post.
The original 'Roseanne' piece is what's up for grabs. It's unclear what will happen with 'The Conners' fixture.
'When we did the reboot, we wanted to find the original couch,' Rasmussen said, referring to the 2018 'Roseanne' revival that was ultimately cancelled after Roseanne Barr's controversial tweets.
11 Actress Lecy Goranson poses on the couch from the television show 'Roseanne' at a press preview for Julien's Auction's 'Channel Surfing TV' Auction at Julien's Studios on April 22, 2025 in Gardena, California.
Getty Images
The show continued without her with 'The Conners,' starring John Goodman, Lecy Goranson, Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf. The show aired its series finale Wednesday, April 23 (8 p.m on ABC and streaming on Hulu).
Rasmussen said they weren't able to use the original 'Roseanne' couch on the 2018 revival because 'somebody bought it.'
'I don't even know whether they bought it from a prop house or what the heck. But, they had bought the couch. And the guy wanted like $2,000 for the couch. We said, 'We can make it for like $75.' So, we remade the exact couch…we didn't buy the couch from the guy.'
11 Estelle Parsons, Shelley Winters, and John Goodman on 'Roseanne.'
Courtesy Everett Collection
11 Roseanne Barr and John Goodman on the couch in 'Roseanne.'
Courtesy Everett Collection
Now, however, the auction house Julien's Auctions currently has the 'Roseanne' couch. It's listed as being up for auction on May 7 and 8, with a starting bid at $10,000. They estimate it could go for as much as $40,000-$60,000.
In an Instagram post, Julien's Actions proclaims, 'Featured in all 222 episodes of the groundbreaking series Roseanne (1988–1997), this original Conner family living room sofa and Afghan blanket are up for bid in our Channel Surfing: A Broadcast to Binge auction, taking place LIVE May 7–8 at 10AM PDT from Julien's Studios in Los Angeles — and streaming online to bidders worldwide.'
The auction house describes how the beige plaid sofa with its multicolored Afghan blanket 'wasn't just a prop — it was a character of its own, a symbol of blue-collar America, and the heart of the Conner home in Lanford, Illinois.'
11 Sara Gilbert and Johnny Galecki on the couch in 'Roseanne.'
©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection
11 John Goodman and Roseanne Barr in 'Roseanne' Season 1.
©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection
The furniture was originally purchased at Sears in North Hollywood in 1988 and custom-altered for the show.
'This sofa held the likes of Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, and more,' the description reads. 'The afghan was so beloved that cast members joked it was 'as much a member of the family as any of the kids.''
In 2018 when the 'Roseanne' revival premiered, The Post reported that the 'Roseanne' couch was owned by collector John Comisar.
11 Lecy Goranson and John Goodman in 'The Conners.'
Disney
11 'The Conners' cast on the couch: Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner, Ames McNamara as Mark Conner, Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris, John Goodman as Dan Conner, Emma Kenney as Harris Conner,Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner, and Jay R. Ferguson as Ben.
Disney
When asked if Comisar is the person who is now selling the couch to Julien's Auctions in 2025, a Julien's rep told the Post, 'The owner wishes to remain anonymous.'
At the time that the 'Roseanne' revival aired in 2018, production designer John Shaffner told The Post that Comisar's demands were not compatible with TV production.
'The show said, 'We can't have a full-time security guard for a sofa and store it in a temperature-controlled environment,'' Shaffner recalled.
Together with set decorator Anne Ahrens, he bought two couches in LA on Craigslist for a total of $400, cut one, and combined them to fashion his own design.
11 Michael Fishman as DJ Conner, Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner, Roseanne Barr as Roseanne Conner, Alicia Goranson as Becky Conner, John Goodman as Dan Conner and Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris on 'Roseanne.'
ABC
11 John Goodman as Dan Conner in 'The Conners.'
Disney
They then embarked on a search for the famous plaid pattern, ultimately finding an RV manager in the Midwest who had bolts of brown plaid.
'I call it 'Middlebrow Brown.' It's the definition of 1970s brown,' Shaffner said, while commenting that the color has fallen out of fashion.
He also aged it by bringing in 'a guy with a sander to wear down the edges to make them look softer' for that 'hard-used, 15- to 18-year-old sofa.'
11 John Goodman and Roseanne Barr on the couch in 'Roseanne.'
Courtesy Everett Collection
11 Roseanne Barr and John Goodman on the couch in 'Roseanne' in 2018.
AP
'The Conners' aired for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025 — and there's no sign of future spinoffs just yet.
'There's no discussion of it,' Rasmussen told the Post. 'We really want this moment to be a genuine celebration of the scope of 37 years of keeping this family alive, and just honoring that legacy right now.'
The show, however, is 'never' dead.
'Because we literally brought people back from the dead to do the show,' he noted, referring to how Dan was killed off on 'Roseanne' Season 9, before he was brought back for 'The Conners.'
'Right now, it is just about this end, and this moment.'