While The Conners season 6 premiere was mostly a fun comeback for Roseanne’s spinoff, one major character was missing from the outing. After evolving from Roseanne into The Conners, a spinoff that focused on the show made due with a composite cast of characters from both the original series and the revival, minus Roseanne herself. Since losing Roseanne, The Conners has maintained a largely consistent cast of characters composed of Roseanne’s widower Dan, her sister Jackie, her children DJ, Becky, and Darlene, DJ’s daughter Mary, and Darlene’s children, Harris and Mark.
As The Conners continued, the show’s production was held up by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and the writer’s strike and actor’s strike in 2023. The Conners season 6 began airing in February 2024, but not all of the show’s regular cast members were present in its first episode. It remains to be seen, though, if this will be an indication of things to come, or an outlier of what may or may not be the final Conners season.
Mark Is Absent From The Conners Season 6 Premiere
Ames McNamara as Mark in The Conners with a Contrabassoon
Amex McNamara’s Mark doesn’t appear in The Conners season 6, episode 1, “The Publisher Cops Show Pilot.” Darlene’s son is attending college, but that alone doesn’t explain Mark’s absence since it’s not been established that the character no longer lives at home. After all, Darlene currently works as a lunch lady at Mark’s college. This means it would make financial and practical sense for him to live at home with her instead of paying for accommodation on the school’s campus.
Despite this, Mark was only mentioned in dialogue and didn’t get any screen time in the episode. This was particularly striking because another recurring character from earlier seasons of The Conners, Jayden Rey’s Mary, left the show before season 6 began. Only time will tell whether Mark’s role in the series has been reduced now that the character is in college, although the fact that his sister Harris played a major part in “The Publisher Cops Show Pilot” makes it clear that season 6 won’t be ignoring Darlene’s children entirely. What made Mark’s absence even more surprising was the episode’s unusual structure.
The Conners Season 6 Episode 1’s Structure Made Mark’s Absence Stranger
Ames McNamara’s Mark sitting on a couch frowning in The Conners
“The Publisher Cops Show Pilot” was weirdly structured, with scenes of Dan hanging around at The Lunchbox that took place both before and after his road trip with Darlene. Thanks to this choice, it seemed like the episode covered a few days. This means Mark would likely have been home during that time. This structure made Mark’s absence even more glaring, and it could imply that he rarely spent time with the family since beginning college. However, the Roseanne spinoff’s supporting star always took school seriously, so it would be no surprise if The Conners hero was overworking himself in college during the premiere.
