ABC Orders 'Conners' Spinoff Without Roseanne

by Fern Siegel , June 22, 2018

Roseanne is out, but her namesake series will remain — with a twist.

ABC has ordered a spinoff comedy series, with the working title “The Conners,” slated for this fall. Ten new episodes will appear in the previous “Roseanne” time slot: Tuesdays from 8-8:30 p.m.

Roseanne’s daughter Darlene, played by Sara Gilbert, will be the main character.

ABC said Barr will not receive payment for the new series.

“The Conners’ stories demonstrate that families can always find common ground through conversation, laughter and love. The spinoff will continue to portray contemporary issues that are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago,” ABC said in a statement.

The network cancelled "Roseanne" in May, immediately after Barr posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to President Obama. Barr, a vocal supporter of President Trump, blamed the sedative pill Ambien for her Twitter tirade.

In addition to Gilbert, key cast members John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman will also star in the season.

In a joint statement, the five said their characters "not only have a place in our hearts, but in the hearts and homes of our audience.”

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2 comments about "ABC Orders 'Conners' Spinoff Without Roseanne".

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Tom Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, June 22, 2018 at 12:55 p.m.
No surprise. Even as Barr was imploding, reports claimed the cast was under contract for another season, and they would have to be paid whether there was a show or not. "The Conners" will come back for its 10 episode run, do lousy, Game Over, the circus will move on.

There was a fascinating post about all this involving some weird voodoo sh!t in New Orleans on CDAN a while back, but I can't find it.
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Ken Kurtz from creative license, June 22, 2018 at 1:03 p.m.

Agree Tom, but not so sure about the "do lousy" part. Initially, at least, there will exist inherent interest in how Roseanne's character "disappears" and how the rest of the family handles that disappearance. From there, considering the "real life" context, there might be multiple interesting story lines that could organically bubble up to keep the show relevant, and ratings worthy. Of course, there's also the relative "schlock" that is being broadcast by so many networks today. Not a particularly high bar...