The Conners

A few weeks ago, I watched the finale of The Conners, the spin-off/continuation of the TV show Roseanne. Once the show ended, I found myself in a depressive funk that was unexpected, and it took me some time to figure out exactly why the show ending bothered me so much.

Roseanne began airing in 1988, just shortly before my fourth birthday. I have a distinct memory of a specific townhome we lived in, and the opening sequence sometime during that first season. But Roseanne was not something we watched in our household, in fact, we didn’t really have family TV time. My dad watched what he wanted in the living room, and me and my brother tended to watch what we wanted in our bedroom.

Roseanne ended in 1997 and was airing in syndication when I was in high school. I began watching the show and quickly fell in love with the quirky family who seemed to deal with problems that I could relate to. In fact, in all of television, The Conner family was the most similar to my own. Between money problems and snarky joking between family members, I found a reflection of my own upbringing, and then eventually my own life in The Conners. They always seemed to be just one bad moment from breaking, and that is more relatable than the cast of Friends, Frasier, or Seinfeld whose problems always seemed superficial.

In the late 2000’s, I picked up a DVD set at Target of the first two seasons of Roseanne. It had been quite some time since I had watched any of the show, so I was excited to revisit The Conners and see all the episodes I missed. Over the next eight months, I slowly accumulated all of the seasons on DVD, and I truly fell in love with the show. So much so, once it ended, I just started it all over. Sure, the last season and a half were a waste, but the quality episodes far outweigh the bad ones, and every episode would get a chuckle or two out of me.

It was during this time, around the recession, that money and uncertainty became two of my biggest worries. I wasn’t speaking to either one of my parents at the time, and I felt extremely isolated. The Conners acted as a supplemental family for me, and in a strange way, I picked up on coping techniques from this fictional television show to help guide me through the trying time. I think the timing of me watching those episodes really connected me with the characters and their plights.

I wanted more of what Roseanne offered, but sadly, the show had been over for more than ten years and there wasn’t much else out there. There were no tie-in books, so I resorted to reading Roseanne’s biographies that were far from the TV show Roseanne. I even remember giving her standup comedy a watch and her reality TV show, but I wasn’t in love with Roseanne nor the character Roseanne. It was Dan and Jackie that made the show work, and the family is what I connected with.

Roseanne posted on a blog what she thought the family was up to all these years later, and I remember reading over that list and letting my mind go wild. I wanted more Roseanne in my life, and this was the closest I’d ever get, or at least that’s what I thought.

Fast-forward another decade and out of the blue a Roseanne continuation was announced. I was absolutely over the moon. Finally, I’d get to see my TV family once more and I made sure I was watching the night it debuted. The show wasn’t great… but it was good, and I was happy to hear about the tremendous ratings.

As the show continued, it got a little better, but it really wasn’t the same. I had to accept that just like in real life, people change, circumstances change, and despite my passion for the past, things can’t always be like they were before. So, I found the good moments and leaned into them and anxiously awaited to see if the show was going to continue.

Then Roseanne pulled a Roseanne. She went a little crazy on social media and suddenly this rating success story was cancelled. I was bummed. Big time.

Shortly thereafter, rumors began to swirl that the show may go on without her and eventually deals were made and The Conners was announced. Much like the family, it was hard to keep The Conners down, and we got seven seasons of new stories with this family. Over the course of thirty-seven years, hundreds of stories were told, and finally finished up in 2025.

The Conners improved on the last season of Roseanne, but it was very hit and miss. The show lacked direction, and in typical sitcom fashion, storylines and characters came and went without much explanation. The show suffered because of the modern run times on sitcoms which forces the jokes to come quickly, and the scenes to be short. It was rarely given time to breathe, and despite adding so wonderful cast members, I do feel the show could have been so much more. That’s not to say the show was terrible, it just was a step down from the original run of Roseanne.

Alicia Goranson was the standout. Her character began flat, as did her acting, but she became a bit of a show stealer by the end of the series. Laurie Metcalf is amazing in everything she does, and she kept Aunt Jackie on the verge of cringe and slightly unhinged. Sara Gilbert was the stabilizing force, who managed her days with stark cynicism and sarcasm, much like her character’s mother, Roseanne. It was wonderful to see Estelle Parsons show up a few times, and great to see that even in her 90’s she could still play a great character.

John Goodman was rarely a focal point, and the show was better for it. I wouldn’t say he was phoning it in, but his character was by far the weakest (outside of DJ) of the returning family members and the on-going alcoholism never really went anywhere. Had I created the show, I probably would have saved him for a handful of episodes each season, and instead focus on the girls and their families, the way Fuller House did.

I’ve established that the show wasn’t amazing, so why did it ending bother me so? That was what I pondered that Saturday afternoon that I struggled to get my thoughts together.

For me, I do believe it was the ending of a connection. I had this fictional family, that I almost felt a part of, and even though it wasn’t living up to standards I wish it did (neither does my actual family), I will miss not being around to see the hijinks.

I also believe not seeing myself represented on TV often plays a role in my sadness. The character Darlene found herself in her forties, struggling to find a career, buying a home, and managing a household. So often, she’d make a comment that was something exactly out of my mouth or something I definitely felt. I don’t really have that connection with any other fictional characters, or even real people in my life. I very much feel like I’m on an island dealing with some of these problems, and the loss of that relationship is hurtful.

I also think age factors into this. As I mentioned earlier, these characters had been on TV for thirty-seven years (at least with syndication/DVDs). That is almost my entire life. There is something comforting about seeing things last that long (like The Simpsons) and as it came to an end, I think there is a part of me that is reminded of my own mortality and how as those characters have aged, so have I. I am now older than Dan was when Roseanne started and, in a way, that creates some existential dread within me.

I’ll never forget, sitting on the floor of my apartment, when I didn’t own any furniture, watching Roseanne and listening to them managing their money problems. I remember they found a way to laugh about it, and they taught me to do that as well. At its best, Roseanne and The Conners were about being around the people that you love and not allowing the circumstances of your life to bring you down, and when I sat in that apartment alone wondering if my life was ever going to get better, I learned to laugh.

I am going to miss The Conner family’s new adventures but I’ll always have my DVDs to revisit the old ones.