The Conners


The Conners is an American sitcom television series created for ABC as a spin-off continuation of the long-running series Roseanne. The series is produced by Werner Entertainment, with Bruce Helford serving as showrunner, and stars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey, and Maya Lynne Robinson, with all except Robinson reprising roles from Roseanne.
Development on a spin-off began following the cancellation of Roseanne in May 2018, due to insensitive comments by Roseanne star Roseanne Barr on Twitter. The next month, ABC ordered the series and confirmed the adult principal cast's involvement, while Kenney, McNamara, and Rey were confirmed in August. The series premiered on October 16, 2018, airing in the Tuesday, 8:00 PM slot its predecessor was scheduled to hold during the 2018–19 television season. On October 26, 2018, ABC ordered an extra episode, bringing the episode order to 11.
On March 22, 2019, the show was renewed for a second season of 13 episodes. On May 14, 2019, ABC ordered six extra episodes, expanding the order to 19. An additional episode was then ordered, with season 2 totalling 20 episodes. The second season premiered on September 24, 2019. In May 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season.

Premise

The show follows the Conners, a working class family struggling to get by on a modest household income. After the death of the original show's lead character Roseanne, they are forced to face the daily struggles of life in their home in the fictional mid-state exurb of Lanford, Illinois, in a way they never have before.

Cast and characters

Main

Season 1 (2018–19)

Season 2 (2019–20)

Production

Development

On May 29, 2018, ABC cancelled Roseanne despite initially renewing it for an eleventh season, following racist remarks made by Roseanne Barr on Twitter about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to Barack Obama. In June, reports swirled that the show could possibly be re-tooled as a spin-off focusing on Sara Gilbert's character, Darlene. Around June 15, 2018, reports emerged that ABC was close to making a deal to indeed continue the show as a Darlene-centric program. Barr is not involved in any way in the new program, and likely received a one-time payment in return. John Goodman had stated that Roseanne Conner would be killed off, which indeed was the case.
On June 21, 2018, it was announced that ABC had officially ordered a 10-episode spin-off tentatively titled The Conners, and that rather than focusing on Darlene, it would involve every cast member except Barr. On August 28, 2018, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, and Jayden Rey, who starred as Harris Conner-Healy, Mark Conner-Healy, and Mary Conner, respectively, throughout the tenth season of Roseanne, were subsequently officially confirmed as series regulars for The Conners.
On December 15, 2018, it was reported by Deadline Hollywood that preliminary negotiations were underway with the cast for a second season. Deadline later reported on March 21, 2019 that renewal was close. On March 22, 2019, ABC renewed the show for a 19-episode second season, which premiered on September 24, 2019.
On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season.

Filming

Production on the series began on August 31, 2018, at the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank, California. On October 26, 2018, ABC announced it had ordered an additional episode, bringing the first season's total number to 11.

Release

Broadcast

The series premiered on October 16, 2018, on ABC in the United States, on CTV in Canada and on Network Ten in Australia.

Reception

Ratings

The Conners has been a strong and consistent performer for ABC, ranking as the #1 new comedy for the 2018 TV season in both the key demographic of adults 18-49 as well as in total viewers. When compared to all other broadcast network TV shows, The Conners finished the 2018-19 TV Season as the 16th highest rated program in the 18-49 demo, the third highest-rated comedy in the 18-49 demo, 31st place overall in total viewers and as the #4 comedy in total viewers.
Even with the overall solid ratings performance of The Conners, it is worth noting that viewership has thus far fallen quite short of the blockbuster ratings achieved by its predecessor. The Roseanne reboot finished the 2017-18 TV season with a 5.0 rating in the 18-49 demo, and 17.8 million viewers, making it the #3 show overall in both the 18-49 demo as well as in total viewers. Still, The Conners has been an undeniable hit for ABC, with its first season ratings nearly doubling the average rating of all prime time shows to air on ABC during the 2018–19 season. ABC finished that season in last place among the "big four" TV networks in the 18-49 demo and second-to-last in total viewers with an average of just 5.6 million, making The Conners one of the few ratings bright spots on the ABC schedule.
So far the 2019-20 TV season has been a turbulent one for the industry, with most networks and programs seeing a rather dramatic decline in ratings. Not one hit show premiered on a network in 2019. Viewership across the board has been "paltry" and "inauspicious"—a "rude awakening" for the television industry, according to Deadline. Bucking the industry trend in its second season, however, The Conners ratings have been remarkably consistent from one episode to the next, and are only down slightly from season one. The show has actually improved its rank with younger viewers; it is now the #2 highest rated comedy in the 18-49 demo. In total viewers, The Conners again improves on its season one ranking, now coming in as the third highest rated comedy on TV. The Conners remains by far the highest-rated comedy on ABC.
Due to its continued ratings success in season two, particularly with younger viewers, and the uncommon steadiness of those ratings, The Conners is considered a "sure bet" for renewal for a third season by the industry analysts at TVByTheNumbers and is the only ABC program to receive that designation so far this season.

Season 1

Season 2

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating for season 1 based on 54 reviews, with an average score of 7.86/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Conners offers the comforts of its source show, but more focus on the family's ever-evolving dynamics adds a welcome layer of working-class empathy without losing any of the laughs." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". As part of the conditions of receiving an advance release, critics were forbidden from divulging how Roseanne Conner was written out of the series.
Roseanne Barr said having her character killed by an opioid overdose "lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show."
Lecy Goranson received particular praise from critics for her performance in the season one episode "Miracles".

Accolades