After Roseanne Barr's controversial 2018 tweet, the revival of Barr's eponymous ABC hit was canceled. But rising from the ashes was the spinoff series, The Conners, which premiered five months later and included the original cast with the exception of Barr. More recently, the offshoot reached the 100-episode milestone, and its star and executive producer, Sara Gilbert, celebrated the accomplishment while looking back at her time on Roseanne.
The Conners Season 6 premiered just last week, with this longer-than-usual wait for a new season being due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA writers' strikes. ABC Chief Craig Erwich spoke to Deadline about the show's 100th episode, which is set to air March. While doing so, the exec also explained just how Sara Gilbert marked the occasion, and it sounds sweet:
In March we’re going to have the 100th episode of The Conners which is incredible. I was actually at the cake-cutting for the 100th episode, which was an honor in itself. And [star and executive producer] Sara Gilbert had a copy of the 100th episode script of the Conners as well as a 100th episode script of the original franchise which it was based on [Roseanne], something very rarely done in television. The Conners is an amazing show, it’s ABCs No.1 comedy in total viewers, and we’re really excited about the 100th episode coming up in March.
That’s a beautiful way to celebrate such a landmark event for a TV show. The Conners may not have been ABC's initial plan for this franchise, but it's sure proven to be a success. Of course, it’s important to remember the sitcom that started it all. The nine-season comedy series introduced the world to two blue-collar characters, showing them working outside of their home and struggling to raise a family on a fixed income. The series also dove into then-taboo subjects such as addiction, domestic violence, birth control, sex amongst teenagers and more.
The 100th episode of Roseanne was a very important episode for Sara Gilbert’s character, Darlene Conner. In this episode, titled “The Dark Ages,” the Conner clan experiences a power outage for not paying their bill on time. Darlene and her boyfriend, David, are upstairs in her bedroom alone working on their comic, while Roseanne and Dan believe the two have slept together. Roseanne tries to convince Darlene to go on birth control as a result. However, the teen tries to tell her parents that she’s different from her sister, Becky, who did have sex and later secretly eloped with her boyfriend. Needless to say, it marked a major moment in Darlene's characterization, and Gilbert played it perfectly.
At present, there's plenty to look forward to with the latest episodes of the spinoff. As revealed in the trailer for The Conners Season 6, Sean Astin returns as Becky’s boyfriend, which will please the fan base who’ve been loving this new healthy relationship for her. Some other Season 6 storylines to be excited for involve Dan’s new wife, Louise, coming up with a new venture after giving up touring as a musician and working at the Lanford Lunch Box. Jackie and Roseanne’s mom, Bev, is also back in the fold and will bring “a big surprise twist” in the next couple of episodes.
Sara Gilbert’s deep connection to the world of Roseanne seems to mean a lot to her, and I'm glad she still holds the show itself in high regard. Here's hoping that as she continues playing Darlene, she relishes the experience of creating comedy and drama alongside her longtime co-stars.
You can watch new episodes of The Connors on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC as part of the 2024 TV schedule and subsequently stream them with a Hulu subscription. If you’re in a nostalgic mood and want to go back to the series that started it all, Roseanne is available to stream using a Peacock subscription.
