The Conners

The Conners is an American television sitcom 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 controversial 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 eleven.
On March 22, 2019, the series 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 totaling 20 episodes. The second season premiered on September 24, 2019. In May 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on October 21, 2020. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth 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.
While the show follows on from the series "Roseanne", producer Bruce Helford has explained that the creative staff have chosen to deliberately ignore certain developments from the sixth season of "Roseanne" onwards, including the birth of Jackie's son Andy as well as almost all of "Roseanne"'s controversial ninth season.
Episodes.
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Production.
Development.
On May 29, 2018, ABC cancelled "Roseanne" despite initially renewing it for an eleventh season, following racist remarks made by Roseanne Barr (who starred as Roseanne Conner) 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 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, which premiered on October 21, 2020. On March 18, 2021, the show's sound engineer and boom operator Terrel Richmond died after suffering a medical event on set. On May 14, 2021, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season.
Taping.
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. Production on the third season began on August 17, 2020.
Release.
The series premiered on October 18, 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 (2.2 rating) as well as in total viewers (9.5 million). 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 (behind the final season of "The Big Bang Theory" at #1, and its spin-off "Young Sheldon" at #2), 31st place overall in total viewers and as the #4 comedy in total viewers (behind "The" "Big Bang Theory", "Young Sheldon" and "Mom" on "CBS").
Even with the overall solid ratings performance of "The Conners", it is worth noting that viewership has decreased drastically. The "Roseanne" revival 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 (1.2 average rating) 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.
The 2019-20 TV season was a turbulent one for the industry, with most networks and programs seeing a rather dramatic decline in ratings. 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 were remarkably consistent from one episode to the next, down only slightly from season one. The show actually improved its rank with younger viewers; it was the #2 highest rated comedy in the 18-49 demo (with the final season of "Modern Family" edging it out for the top spot by around 275,000 young viewers per week). In total viewers, "The Conners" again improves on its season one ranking, now coming in as the third highest rated comedy on TV (after "Young Sheldon" and "Mom"). "The Conners" remains by far the highest-rated comedy on ABC. 
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".