'I ain't dead!' Roseanne responds to premiere of 'The Conners'

Can there be a "Roseanne" without Roseanne? The answer is yes.

ABC on Tuesday night aired the first episode of "The Conners," a spinoff of "Roseanne" without Roseanne Barr. An overdose of pain pills may be the explanation for the comedian's absence from the Conner dining table, but she still haunts it, at least in the new show's pilot.

The pilot begins three weeks after Roseanne's funeral, with the family still coming to grips with its loss in its own trademark way with off-color barbs. "I'm tired of crying. And laughing inappropriately is what mom taught us to do," Lecy Goranson's Becky says.

When husband Dan is offered a free sympathy beer at a bar, he successfully upgrades it from domestic to German.

Barr's absence makes sense since her addiction to opioids was a prominent story line in last season's reboot. ABC fired Barr from "Roseanne" after she posted a racist tweet (she apologized). Barr said she agreed to the spinoff to save the jobs of 200 cast and crew members who were idled when "Roseanne" was canceled.

But in case there was any doubt about Roseanne's true feelings, she tweeted shortly after the show debuted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.