Roseanne Barr says she will be in Israel during 'Conners' premiere

Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Roseanne Barr said she will not be in the United States when The Conners debuts on ABC this fall.

The sitcom is a spinoff of Roseanne, the recently revived show she created and starred in until she was fired for making a racist joke on Twitter.

"I have an opportunity to go to Israel for a few months and study with my favorite teachers over there, and that's where I'm going to go and probably move somewhere there and study with my favorite teachers," The Hollywood Reporter quoted the comedian as saying in a new podcast with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. "I have saved a few pennies and I'm so lucky I can go ... and study with any rabbi that I can ask to teach me, and it's my great joy and privilege to be a Jewish woman."

Barr said she doesn't plan to watch The Conners or follow the media coverage of it.

"I'm not going to curse it or bless it," she said. "I'm staying neutral. That's what I do. I'm staying neutral. I'm staying away from it. Not wishing bad on anyone and I don't wish good for my enemies. I don't. I can't. I just stay neutral. That's what I gotta do. I have some mental health issues of depression and stuff. I got to stay in the middle or I'll go dark, and I don't want to go dark again. I've done it. After all, I was married to Tom Arnold. Ha ha."

ABC said Friday that filming had begun on The Conners in Burbank, Calif. The network also released a photo of Barr's former castmates -- Sara Gilbert, Jayden Rey, Michael Fishman, Ames McNamara, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Emma Kenney -- practicing their lines with their scripts in the fictional family's iconic kitchen.

Roseanne initially ran 1988-97 and remained popular in re-runs. It earned high ratings when it returned last spring with new episodes and was renewed for an 11th season, which was swiftly canceled after Barr caused a social-media firestorm with a jab at a former adviser to President Barack Obama.

Barr has since repeatedly apologized for what she has called a joke, but she was widely condemned for the racial remark.

ABC announced in June it was moving forward with a new version of the show without Barr. The Conners is to debut Oct. 16.