The Conners

[Luscious]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 1:54am

Happy to report that The Conners are back and, amazingly, better than ever! Yes, the ghost of Roseanne lingers and the character is missed (at least by me), but the first-rate ensemble are in fine form, and this latest iteration of the show - at least the first episode - is sharply written, expertly performed, poignant (without being cloying), and, most importantly, pretty damn funny! Becky's line about the only thing she wanted from her mother's closet made me laugh out loud! A few minutes later, I was in tears watching a kitchen scene between Gilbert's Darlene and Metcalf's Jackie... and then I was laughing again! Kudos to all involved for striking just the right balance in tone and delivering an even better show than last year's reboot. I, for one, am very much looking forward to future episodes and escapades in the life of the Conners!

The following review pretty much sums up my feelings about the new show in comparison to last year's reboot.

The Conners Is What the Roseanne Reboot Should Have Been All Along

The Conners Review Roundup...

The Conners Doesn’t Need Roseanne

The Conners mourns Roseanne, but viewers will hardly miss her

A Roseanne Barr-less 'The Conners' is a triumph

'Roseanne' Spinoff 'The Conners' Is Brilliantly Acted, Smartly Written

'The Conners' is even better without Roseanne; heartbreaking - but also hilarious

The character of Roseanne is dead, but based on this premiere, The Conners feels very much alive.

The Conners Is the Roseanne Revival We Should Have Had

Roseanne’s character overdosed on opioids and left The Conners’ behind. It’s better this way.

The Conners Misses Roseanne. But It Doesn’t Need Her

How the Roseanne revival evolved into The Conners — and became a better show in the process

Against All Odds, The Conners Justifies Its Existence

Updated On: 10/17/18 at 01:54 AM

[carnzee]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 9:52am

It's amazing that the writers could pull off this reboot so well. I watched a couple of the new Roseanne in the spring, and didn't care for it. Sara Gilbert was playing herself, not Darlene.
I feel like Darlene is finally back! With her lower voice and sarcasm. I didn't miss Roseanne at all, which is surprising.

[Miramar3]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 10:11am

John Goodman has been on a weight loss journey for quite some time.  It appears to me that he has lost even more since Season 1 a few months back.  He looks wonderful.  Good for him!

Updated On: 10/17/18 at 10:11 AM

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 2:04pm

Miramar3 said: "John Goodman has been on a weight loss journey for quite some time. It appears to me that he has lost even more since Season1 a few months back. He looks wonderful. Good for him!"

I thought the opposite.  He has lost too much weight.  His face shows it the most.  I thought the writers did a great job dealing with Roseanne's death. They could have given Estelle a few more lines, though.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  Was this the first time they actually stated that grandson Mark was gay?  I know he experimented with his clothing, etc., but I don't remember in the first season the character stating he liked boys.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 4:19pm

I'm not sure if he's lost too much weight, but he looks haggard, I thought.   When you are older losing weight, the skin just doesn't bounce back like it can when you are younger.

 

I have to admit, I fell asleep - but I'm not blaming the show - I was pooped.   I caught about 15 minutes in the middle.   

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 6:45pm

I was pleasantly surprised and happy for the cast that they seem to have pulled together to make it work.  I will miss the exchanges between Roseann and Dan/Jackie but that absense will allow the other characters to shine through.  You can’t ever go wrong with Laurie metcalf and Goodman and it looks like Sara Gilbert will step into snarky Darlene again.  I can’t say that DJ and his family work for me, they still treat him as a one or two liner character like when he was a kid.  Hopefully they will develop and integrate those characters as well.  The writing was top notch and the opioid OD was an interesting and topical way for the demise of Roseann.  They could have played it safe but they didn’t.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/18/18 at 8:17am

Well, DJ can't act.  Never could, so I think they can't really give him much to do.

 

I was sad to hear the ratings were not good for their first episode.   Baseball related?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 10/18/18 at 9:45am

Some of it could be baseball, but I'm sure a lot of it was people not wanting to watch Roseanne without the title character even if the show is actually good. Some of those people may have actively protested against the show because they felt Roseanne was treated unfairly. I don't agree with that last statement, but there are people out there who watched it last year because they supported her politics or at least they think they do.

ETA: I just read a ratings report, it was pretty on par with what the show averaged last year and with the ratings the reboot had in the season finale. So it seems nothing was really affected. It's just the premiere of the reboot garnered crazy ratings then it had a big drop. It was still the no. 1 scripted comedy (or show) on network television I believe. I believe this season's opener still premiered as no. 1.

Updated On: 10/18/18 at 09:45 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/18/18 at 11:55am

The show was still so much about Roseanne, that it is hard to tell yet whether it will be worth watching when it is about anything else. But if the ghost of Roseanne is in every episode it will get old fast.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/18/18 at 12:16pm

As to the ratings...I believe what I saw compared it to the first episode only.  

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/20/18 at 5:39pm

As I posted before, I did like the first episode of this show very much.  With the recent news on Matthew Broderick being added as Jackie’s boyfriend, I think it will be even better.  Very much looking forward to see him and Metcalf interact as 2 oddballs.  I also think Justin Long and Juliette Lewis are great choices as well.  Should be fun!!

[Tag]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 12:56am

I'm looking forward to the reboot of this reboot, where Roseanne is back and THIS was the season that's actually a dream.

[John Adams]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 1:56am

Tag said: "I'm looking forward to the reboot of this reboot, where Roseanne is back and THIS was the season that's actually a dream."

When all the brouhaha eventually dies down (as it surely must), I can't imagine that Roseanne won't be invited back for at least a cameo. I'm guessing the last episode of whenever the last season might be. Dan has come back from the dead - so will she. I think the hype of a return will be far too tempting to pass up when the time is ripe.

I think the show is much better without her (so far). I'm so glad the politics were replaced with dark humor in the first episode of the reboot of the reboot. I actually laughed like I used to in "the old days" of the show.

I liked Mary Steenburgen's cameo a lot, too.

The only thing I didn't care for was how the character of Dan has been written. Too harsh and seemed out of character with how "old" (more affable Dan) Dan  would behave. Also, John Goodman looks ill. The combination of Goodman's personal weight loss with Dan's more hot-headed, less reasonable actions make the character of Dan seem like a character that has something medically wrong with him.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 5:12am

mc1227 said: "As I posted before, I did like the first episode of this show very much. With the recent news on Matthew Broderick being added as Jackie’s boyfriend, I think it will be even better. Very much looking forward to see him and Metcalf interact as 2 oddballs. I also think Justin Long and Juliette Lewis are great choices as well. Should be fun!!"

Is that a recurring role? It may be just one episode as the article about his new Netflix series just broke and mentioned it as his first ever series.

Updated On: 10/22/18 at 05:12 AM

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 6:49am

I would imagine that it could be reoccurring depending upon scheduling and how much air time is involved.  With the Connors, there’s a pretty big cast already and they are adding a few more, so it could be like Estelle where she comes and goes.  The Netflix series doesn’t start til next year, so I suppose he could do both for now.  

I agree that Dan is edgier but it could be written that way as mourning or they are trying to bring some of Roseanne’s edginess in through him.  Time will tell I guess but for now, I’m finding it interesting and will continue to watch.  

[Armie3]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 7:40am

Dan does have something medically wrong with him. If he comes off that way, so what? We saw him taking all those pills with Roseanne last season. He's a grumpy old widower now, not the cuddly thirtysomething we used to know.

[Armie3]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 10:32am

I can't help but feel at least some compassion for Roseanne (Barr).

This video is so sad...it's a shame that she refuses any contact with the remaining members of the cast. Doesn't ABC have some duty of care to her too? I mean, the world and his wife knew she was off her rocker before they even signed her up for this reboot.

"Everybody knows that I have struggled with mental health issues and I was struggling at that time as well...I was impaired and stupid and mistaken and wrong and for that I apologized..."

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 10:49am

I know this is petty but it's hard for me to garner any sympathy for her considering all the people suffering in this country right now. I know that's illogical and it's possible to feel sorry for many people no matter what degrees of hardship they are facing AND it's not a competition. However, considering the opportunity she had and what she lost, I can't help but shrug. She's still a millionaire who is safe from a lot of things and has a big fan base who think she was wronged and will support her if she decides to make a "comeback". I also agree with you that it was clear she is suffering from mental illness and ABC decided to play with fire by doing this reboot because they saw dollar signs. She had hateful rhetoric before and ABC did not care. It was only after she did something that gave them such bad press that they had to do something. Also, Wanda Sykes quitting because of it made ABC know just how bad it was. I knew something was up before that though when Whitney Cummings left the show prior.

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 9:32pm

While I don’t feel sorry for her per se, but there’s part of me that feels she is somewhat a victim of being vilified primarily because she’s a Trump supporter.  Her actions were 1000% wrong but I see this frenzy in Trump supporters (several friends of mine are) where they resort to name calling and finger pointing in order to defend him, almost to try and justify why they voted for him.  So I feel a sincere apology would have been an acceptable compromise but I think ABC did not want to deal with the BS.  Roseanne had given them major headaches over the years and they probably had enough of it.  She seems genuinely remorseful but like her fearless leader, she is just one more stupid tweet away from another controversy, so ABC probably did the right thing.  

 

I can't help but feel at least some compassion for Roseanne (Barr).

This video is so sad...it's a shame that she refuses any contact with the remaining members of the cast. Doesn't ABC have some duty of care to her too? I mean, the world and his wife knew she was off her rocker before they even signed her up for this reboot.

"Everybody knows that I have struggled with mental health issues and I was struggling at that time as well...I was impaired and stupid and mistaken and wrong and for that I apologized...""

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 10:46pm

I feel bad for her because I know that she’s not now, nor has she ever been, a mentally well woman. If you know about her past and her childhood and her history of mental illness, it’s hard to not feel some compassion or at the very least some understanding. I don’t know if she’s a racist or not. Given her history, I’m led to believe that she is not. But in the current political climate we’re in, there’s no room for stepping back to examine the how’s or why’s of something like this. Immediate action is required and nobody has the patience or willingness to try to maybe understand the circumstances around why she did what she did.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/23/18 at 8:26am

[What I wrote was too mean-spirited and I had second thoughts.]

Updated On: 10/23/18 at 08:26 AM

[carnzee]

Posted: 10/23/18 at 9:47am

John Adams, if ABC brings back Roseanne, I will eat my tri-cornered hat. The backlash would be explosive.

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/23/18 at 3:06pm

Just another example of stupid tweets:

Boring Connors TV show is very bad without Roseanne! Desperate producers are bringing in Matthew Broderick in order to help with ratings. Won’t work! I’ll watch next week to continue making sure show is boring!

This one written by the President of the United States. ????. He’s not really helping his friend Roseanne out much.

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 10/23/18 at 9:28pm

Now that Roseanne’s death is out of the way, I found episode two to be smart and very funny. I won’t miss their mom. 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/24/18 at 9:27am

I must have watched a different episode.  I didn't laugh once.