The Conners season 6 gets a brand new update and unfortunately, it only makes it much clearer that the Roseanne spin-off needs at least one more year.
The latest update regarding The Conners season 6 argues why it needs to be renewed for season 7. ABC’s premier sitcom may have had a shaky start branching out from the canceled Roseanne revival, but it has established its own identity since it kicked off in 2018. Instead of finding a way to keep the door open for Roseanne Barr’s possible return, the network effectively killed any chance of her stepping back into the sitcom when it was revealed that the Conners’ matriarch unexpectedly died of an opioid overdose. Aside from its tragic nature, the manner of her demise perfectly encapsulates an American crisis that primarily plagues the family’s demographic.
It is an understatement to say that moving on from Roseanne was an enormous task for The Conners. While the original show was an ensemble, she was its core character. However, despite what happened behind the scenes, the spin-off sequel kept the legacy of the character alive. She is consistently referenced, although it doesn’t let the show get bogged down by lingering on the past. Somehow, ABC found a way to stay true to what Roseanne made so successful while also carving a fresh path for its offshoot. Five seasons later, it has fully developed its own identity. Unfortunately, it may also be nearing its end.
The Conners’ Jackie, Harris, and Dan looking perplexed.
ABC’s hit sitcom, The Conners may have a significantly shorter season 6, which will make its biggest challenge so much more difficult to overcome.
The Conners’ Possible Shortened Season 6 Explained
ABC may be looking at only a 13-episode The Conners season 6.
Gabriella Baldacchino on The Conners
Like the majority of network and streaming scripted series, The Conners was impacted by the historic dual strikes of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA. As a result, it has been indefinitely delayed, with no official release date from ABC. For context, reports have claimed that the majority of shows are scrambling to get back to work as early as post-Thanksgiving to ensure that they have several episodes that are good to go that can debut in early 2024. That being said, the pushback has already been significant that networks are eyeing a shortened run for the 2023-2024 TV season.
The Conners season 5 posted the highest number of episodes with 22.
According to the trades, The Conners season 6 is only looking at 13 episodes. Usually, the Roseanne spin-off gets around 20 episodes per year, which includes mini-breaks throughout its run, which is usually between late September and May. Despite the delay, ABC is set to still follow this schedule, which means narrows down the show’s air dates, hence the decrease in output. Assuming that this actually pushes through, it will be the second shortest season for The Conners, following its first year, which also debuted during the midseason and was only composed of 11 outings.
Why The Conners May Be Ending With Season 6
The Conners never actually scored a multi-year order.
Dan in a chair looking sad in The Conners
The Conners is still very popular after 5 seasons. Standing on the shoulders of its mega-hit parent series, the show is one of the very few revivals that not only lasted this long but is also continuously performing in terms of ratings. Considering this, ABC will understandably want to keep it on the air for as long as possible, and narrative-wise, it can. Unlike Young Sheldon, whose future is determined by its ties to The Big Bang Theory, The Conners can simply move forward without any end in sight. The family has already moved on from Roseanne, and each one of its members is currently tackling their own fresh arcs.
Despite this, however, people involved in The Conners have been vocal about wanting to end the series. Executive producer Bruce Helford was actually the first person to float the idea that the show may be ending after season 6. Meanwhile, Roseanne and The Conners’ Dan actor, John Goodman, also expressed his interest in wrapping up the show. It’s unclear what the rest of the cast thinks about this at this point, however, losing Goodman after Barr may be too much for the series to handle. Instead of pushing it and risking getting canceled unexpectedly, it may be better for The Conners to write its own ending.
The fact that ABC only renewed the show a single season at a time allows Helford, Goodman, and their co-workers to re-assess the future of the show every year. Although the Roseanne spin-off has consistently been a ratings performer for the network, it never actually scored a multi-year order. Whether this is intentional to keep the cast’s options open is uncertain, but it is beneficial to actors who don’t want to make a multi-year commitment filming a full season of a broadcast show.
What The Conners’ Shortened Season 6 Could Mean For Its Ending
Wrapping up The Conners season 6 with a shorter run means that ABC needs to be creative.
Any show hav
ing a significant decrease in output will always be disappointing for fans. However, this is the only way to ensure that The Conners can churn out new content as quickly as possible. Admittedly, ABC could have also pushed season 6 all the way back to the fall 2024-2025 season to ensure that it will get a complete set of outings, but that means more than a year of waiting to find out what’s next for Dan and the rest of his extended clan. Assuming that The Conners season 6 indeed marks the end of the sitcom, then it has its work cut out for it to deliver a satisfying finale.
This is particularly integral because it allows ABC to make up for the original Roseanne’s divisive ending. During the tail end of its run, the show’s writing became quite chaotic that the revival had to disregard some elements from it. Wrapping up The Conners season 6 with a shorter run means that ABC needs to be creative with how it will tackle its remaining plot lines. That may include dropping some arcs that don’t necessarily serve the overall franchise. The key here is for the network to recognize which narratives are the most important and focus on them.
The Conners Season 7 Is The Safest Way To Wrap Up The Roseanne Spinoff
ABC can push The Conners season 7 back to another mid-season release.
The Conners Cast Featured
At this point, ABC’s safest way out of this is to just renew The Conners for season 7. While it isn’t entirely impossible to properly end the show with a 13-episode final season, it’s too big of a risk, considering how beloved the Roseanne franchise is. If they can find a middle-ground, ABC can push The Conners season 7 back to another mid-season release for an additional 9 episodes just so the family comedy can essentially get a full 22-episode swan song. In any case, the cast and crew were already expecting to churn out that many outings anyway. The only difference is the production and release schedule.
