Fall TV Preview: Will ABC’s The Conners actually be a long-term success?
While it does seem in some ways rather pedestrian to think about this show in such basic terms, it feels almost like there’s so much focus being put on other things that everyone is overlooking some of the basic nuts-and-bolts when it comes to the series. It’s still hard to figure out whether or not conceptually the family will work without Roseanne, let alone if anyone will watch.
The good news for the show is this: They still have Dan. John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, and Laurie Metcalf are the anchors for the series now and they have to find a way to balance out the family conflict, and be in a good place. They also have a large supporting cast who all seem super-eager and excited to be sticking around.
We do think that ABC is going to do a tremendous job promoting the premiere on October 16: They know that there are going to be a lot of people curious to watch and we do think that the first episode will be one of the most-watched telecasts of the fall. What they have to do, and this is no easy task, is come up with a story that is so well-done that they can recruit some of the people who are on the fence while watching. The Roseanne Barr fans probably won’t watch, but there may be a lot of curiosity that comes from elsewhere.
The difficult challenge that ABC faces here is probably just this: A lot of the viewers who were happy to see Roseanne Barr go probably weren’t actually watching Roseanne in the first place.It’s going to be hard to recruit a lot of them to The Conners, and this is why when it comes to ratings, this show remains one of the biggest enigmas of the fall TV season. It may start off with headlines, but it’s all going to come down to the show’s quality.
Related – Check out some other editions in our Fall TV Preview series!
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