THE CONNERS – ABC’s “The Conners” stars Emma Kenney as Harris Conner, Laurie Metcalf as Jackie … [+]
Flashback to October 18, 1988. Roseanne, the ABC comedy headlined by acerbic comedian Roseanne Barr, was about to give us something we were lacking after the Norman Lear era of storytelling. It focused on a working-class American family that simply felt real. The house was a mess. The bills were stacked high. The family bickered excessively. The issues were relatable. And we could not get enough of the clan called Conner – Roseanne, Dan (John Goodman), Becky (Lecy Gorsenson, then Sarah Chalke), Darlene (Sara Gilbert), and young D.J. (Michael Fishman). Another constant presence was Laurie Metcalf as Roseanne’s sister, Jackie.
By season two, Roseanne was the top-rated program in primetime.
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 24: ROSEANNE – “The Monday Thru Friday Show” – Season One – 1/24/89, … [+]
Of course, there was one big misstep – the Conners’ winning the lottery in the ninth – and final – season of Roseanne (in 1996-97). But, hey, it ended up all being a dream!
At a time when reboots were popping up right and left, Roseanne returned for a 10th season in 2018. And guess what happened? It finished as the third highest rated TV show of the season!
You know what comes next. The planned renewal for Roseanne’s eleventh season was scrapped in May 2018 due to controversial tweets by Roseanne Barr on Twitter. One month later, however, ABC ordered a spin-off called The Conners without Barr. Flash to the present, and The Conners returns for its seventh – and final – season on Wednesday, March 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
Not surprisingly, The Conners was just not be as good without Roseanne Barr. Yes, there were moments of excellence. And there were missed opportunities, particularly the overall emphasis on the spinoff. As a supporting character on Roseanne, Sara Gilbert was delightfully obnoxious as the angry teen Darlene. As more of the center of The Conners, Gilbert as the adult Darlene was just not that interesting. Ditto for Lecy Goranson’s Becky, which points to who is the core of The Conners – John Goodman as patriarch Dan. It should have centered on him. And more of Laurie Metcalf as Jackie would have been appreciated to.
Initially, there were two characters omitted from the Roseanne reboot – the Conners’ second son, Jerry Garcia, and Jackie’s son, Andy. Were they in the land of the lost TV child with Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days?
That aside, we did temporarily have the now adult Michael Fishman back as D.J., but the writers never gave him anything to do. So, it was off to oblivion for D.J. Conner, who is not returning for any of the final six episodes.
Then there were the weddings. Dan married Louise (Katey Sagal), but Sagal was absent for about half the episodes. Jackie married Neville Goldufski (Nat Faxon), Louise’s brother. But he, too, always seemed to be missing. Only Jay R. Ferguson as Ben Olinsky, Darlene’s husband, was around regularly.
THE CONNERS – Two More Years and A Stolen Rose The death of a beloved teacher from Dan and Jackie’s … [+]
Including 10 seasons of Rosanne, the fictional Conners were a presence on ABC for almost 17 years. Comparably, that makes them the longest running fictional comedy clan in primetime television history. Roseanne Barr was the anchor, but it was still good to have the extended cast back for these 112 episodes of The Conners. My hope, however, is that Roseanne returns for the final episode and wakes up. Could it all have been a dream?
Here is the trailer for this final abbreviated season of The Conners:
