Halloween is coming early on ABC's The Connors. Co-star Michael Fishman will be making his directing debut in another traditional holiday special. We caught up with Fishman and discussed the show's current plot-lines and the upcoming presidential election.
Five Things You Need to Know:
- This season, they've focused on bringing topical issues into the series' storylines, including the pandemic lockdown, COVID-19, the election, and racial injustice.
- This is the show's third season and the second without the show's original star, Roseanne Barr, who left in 2018, after she was let go for comments that were called racist by many.
- Fishman, a 39-year-old L.A. native, first worked on Roseanne from the age of 6 to when he was 15. Since then, he has executive produced, wrote, directed, built sets, and worked the camera. He says it was a relief to get back to work after the pandemic lockdown. "After being quarantined so long and coming back to set, we have all these new protocols, one way walk ways, face masks and shields and washing stations and all these things that add an extra layer and separation that limits the amount of time," he said.
- Regarding the show's coronavirus protocols, Fishman said, "We get tested every single day, so it’s a very in depth process. We get our results that night so we know day to day what’s coming up so everyone is clear. When you are planning as a director, you try to keep cameras six feet apart."
- Relating to the diverse storyline and fictional family was easy for Fishman. "I have a very blended, multi-racial family between my biological kids and my adopted kids. I don’t get to see enough of that in entertainment, so I’m trying to be a voice and a bit of a spokesperson for people sharing what are universal stories."