Review: Roseanne spin-off “The Conners” starts with a big change

Illustration by Jake Barnard

Although I’ve heard of “Roseanne” many years ago, I thought I could give its spin-off continuation “The Conners” a try.

For those of you who are “Roseanne” fans, “The Conners” will be off to a great start. The latter sitcom started its series premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 16, on ABC.

“Roseanne,” on the other hand, aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997 and revived in spring 2018.

“The Conners” starts off without Roseanne Barr, who was fired from “Roseanne” for making an offensive tweet regarding former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett in May, causing the show’s cancellation after 10 seasons.

However, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman reprise their roles from “Roseanne” as Dan Conner, Jackie Harris, Darlene Conner, Becky Conner-Healy, and D.J. Conner, respectively.

One thing about the series premiere was that the Conners, a working-class family in fictional Lanford, Illinois, were attempting to move forward with their lives following the passing of Barr’s main character Roseanne Conner, a beloved wife, mother and sister.

According to a 2018 ScreenRant article “The Conners Series Premiere Review” by Kevin Yeoman, the “aspect plays heavily into the events of the premiere, which makes great use of Mary Steenburgen as Marcy, a woman whose Dan learns played a role in his wife’s death.”

The final aspect of the show is that the end credits were similar to “Roseanne,” which had the opening credits, because it focused on the Conners and Jackie socializing in the dining room.

According to the Rotten Tomatoes website, “The Conners” is certified “fresh” with 95 percent.
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