ABC's The Conners is renewed for season 2 by the network. The Conners was a bit of an experiment for the network. That's not just because it's a tradition multi-cam sitcom, something that's rarely found on TV anymore. The series is a spinoff of the Roseanne revival, which first premiered in 2018. After being off the air for more than a decade, Roseanne proved to be a huge success for ABC and was almost immediately renewed for season 2.
However the return of Roseanne meant a new spotlight shining on its controversial leading lady, Roseanne Barr. After the season 1 finale of the Roseanne, revival Barr sent out a racist tweet. The controversy this tweet caused resulted in ABC reversing its decision to renew the series. ABC cancelled Roseanne and replaced it with The Conners, which kept the cast and storylines from Roseanne but without Barr herself. Now The Conners is building its own legacy outside the shadow of Barr.
Related: Unlike Roseanne, The Conners Is Not A True Family Sitcom
TV Line reports that not only is The Conners getting a season 2, it will be an expanded season. The Conners season 1 only had 11 episodes in total. The Conners season 2 will bump the number of episodes up to 13. This is obviously not only longer than season 1, but the Roseanne revival, which only ran for nine episodes. In an even bigger show of faith for the series, the primary cast members of John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson are all getting salary bumps for each episode.
The quartet's characters of Dan, Jackie, Darlene and Becky, respectively, will remain front and center of the spinoff. However, they might be the only Conner family members to be given such a platform. Currently the only actor to remain a series regular on The Conners season 2 (outside the principal four actors) is Ames McNamara. McNamara plays Mark, the son of Gilbert's Darlene and Johnny Galecki's David.
Interestingly Emma Kenney who plays Darlene and David's daughter Harris is unconfirmed for series regular status. It is expected, though, that Kenney, along with the rest of Conner family, will appear in season 2 in some capacity, they just might not be regulars. This includes Michael Fishman (D.J.), Maya Lynne Robinson (D.J.’s wife Geena) and Jayden Rey (D.J. and Geena’s daughter Mary). Galecki also hopes to return and likely will have more opportunity to do so with his current series The Big Bang Theory ending. The uncertainty of the rest of the cast's returns might sound alarming, but there's little room for serious concern. As The Conners has a smaller episode count than most sitcoms, even if the rest of the cast becomes guest stars, they'll appear more frequently than a guest on a regular sitcom.
While The Conners has only been renewed for season 2, fans can probably expect it to be the first of many renewals if the cast remains interested. Averaging about 7.5 million viewers an episode, The Conners is ABC's most popular comedy and their third most popular show overall. It falls behind only The Bachelor and Grey's Anatomy in terms of ratings. This is an incredible achievement for a spinoff to a series that originally ended in 1997. If The Conners maintains these numbers, it could easily outgrow Roseanne's own impressive longevity.
More: What To Expect From The Conners Season 2
Source: TV Line