Why The Conners Turned Johnny Galecki's David Into A Deadbeat Dad

Contains spoilers for "The Conners" Season 7, Episode 5 — "Exercise Bands, Money Plans, and Faraway Lands"

Bad news, "The Conners" fans — the show's last episode didn't bring with it a surprise cameo from Johnny Galecki's David Healy. While his absence has been deeply felt since he last popped up in Season 2, David only rated a brief, indirect mention in the two-part series finale — and it wasn't a positive one. Even worse: dialogue and plot points scattered from Season 3 to Season 7 have turned him into a self-centered bounder and a deadbeat dad. 

According to showrunnner and executive producer Bruce Helford, Galecki's unavailibility forced the writers' hands. "He really did not want to keep doing it," Helford told Deadline. "He loved us and we loved him, and he was always invited and we're all very close with him. We were kind of in a position where, how do you explain this guy without killing him? This guy isn't around. So unfortunately his character got tarnished in that way." Since Galecki has kept a low profile since "The Big Bang Theory" ended, that makes sense. 

David's status as a bad father is further cemented by Darlene (Sara Gilbert) during "Exercise Bands, Money Plans and Faraway Lands." While she waits with Mark (Ames McNamara) for the cab that will take him to New York City, she tells her son, "You grew up poor and without a dad, and that scared the hell out of me."  A lot of fans dislike these changes to the sensitive David they remember from years past, and they haven't been shy about it.

Fans of "Roseanne" and "The Conners" have never really bought David's transformation into a bad father. "He never would have walked away for Darlene, [daughter] Harris and Mark. He would have died first," u/stpony remarked on "The Conners" subreddit. Fans also had plenty of ideas as to what David could be doing instead of abruptly abandoning his children. "They could have had him in the peace Corp or something like that. So Darlene could be divorced but David was always away. He didn't have to be a deadbeat dad who wasn't in contact with his kids," u/SamEdenRose suggested. 

But a number of fans are willing to believe that a combination of experiences and time might have made David who he is now. Some even declare that he's been a flawed person going all the way back to "Roseanne." "David was never ambitious, leeched off Darlene when she went away to school and never had a job or plans for college etc. both brothers held the sisters back from potential," said u/cbatta2025, referring to Darlene's sister Becky (Lecy Goranson) and David's brother, Mark (Glenn Quinn). With "The Conners" now a closed shop, fans may never see David redeemed. But hope springs eternal that another spin-off will give him one more to improve himself.