The Conners showrunner on plans to keep post-Roseanne show the same
Speaking in a new interview with Deadline, show executive producer Bruce Helford made it clear that there was no intention to change either the tone or the style of the series after Barr’s dismissal; basically, they want to try to still appeal to a similar demographic that they’ve spoken to for so many years with the original show. In the end, they don’t want this to be a series that ends up dividing its audience:
We avoided the divisiveness by just making sure the fans of the show would find all the elements of the show they love intact: the struggle of a working class family, the honesty of the emotions a situation like this would evoke, and the humor that has carried the Conners through all their trials and tribulations.
Now that we have stated all of this, it does still feel hard to gauge how many diehard fans of Roseanne are going to check out the series in its original form. It’s not going to get back a number of Roseanne fans who are angry about her exit; yet, there may be many others that watch out of curiosity. It’s not often that a successful series kills off its title character (if that is really what is going to happen) and there could be a good bit of viewer interest that comes in seeing how the team handles that. It’s not an easy challenge, but one of the things that may help a show like The Conners is that they have such an experienced roster of people who’ve been through their own highs and lows. Every single person on this series is incredibly skilled, after all, at what they do. John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Sara Gilbert are the perfect anchors to try to bring the series forward now.
The reviews for The Conners to date have been mixed, but the same could be said for Roseanne. The only real gauge we’re going to have with this series is what happens after viewers check it out and some of the ratings come in.
What do you want to see when it comes to The Conners? Be sure to share right now in the comments! (Photo: ABC.)