The Conners Producers Might ‘Book’ George Clooney to Reprise Booker

The Conners Season 3 is bringing the action back to Wellman Plastics where Jackie and the late Roseanne were working when the show, originally called Roseanne, began back in 1988. So, naturally, the name George Clooney, who played plant foreman Booker Brooks, came up when reporters were asking questions at a recent virtual press conference for the ABC sitcom.

Will George Clooney Appear On The Conners?

Asked what it was like to work with the Oscar-winning star, Metcalf raved, “Well, I have to say that working with George is fantastic. He’s a great cast member because he’s infamous for being such a practical joker, and I think we all had stories about things George would pull on us.

“[I]t did hit me that we’ve come full circle,” Metcalfe continues, “because in that early…pilot that we’d done, that George was also on, he was our boss at Wellman Plastics and now we find ourselves back at Wellman this season.”

This all begs the question if Clooney will be reprising his role as Booker. He’s known to pay return visits to shows that have employed him in the past. (Hmmm.) Clooney once more wore Dr. Doug Ross’s scrubs on ER in that show’s final season. Might he pop back up on The Conners?

“There’s always ongoing conversations about people from the past of this show coming [back],” shared Bruce Helford, executive producer. “There’s no news on it yet, though.”

“Always ongoing conversations”? “Yet”? It sure sounds like The Conners producers might be thinking about inviting Clooney to return. However, the show says populating episodes with guest characters and background artists is being re-thought in the age of COVID-19.

“We are being very mindful about that because not only do we want a safe work environment, we are trying to really be mindful of how many actors we have in a scene,” notes Dave Caplan, executive producer. “So, it goes into the way that we are trying to construct these stories and construct the scenes… we keep everybody reasonably distanced. So, scenes with an awful lot of extras really are, kind of, off the table for now. We want to keep our people safe. That’s our number one priority. So, we think about that as we are writing the shows.”

There’d be a variety of ways to incorporate Clooney and Booker into the show if an in-person appearance isn’t do-able. The character could appear via video or in flashbacks. The Conners stars, in addition to Metcalf, John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Alicia Goranson (Becky), and Michael Fishman (D.J.). The Conners returns for Season 3 on Wednesday, October 21 at 9 p.m. ET.