The Conners season 2 renewal official at ABC

If it seems like there’s been a holding pattern on a season 2 renewal for The Conners, the simple answer is that there has been! It feels like we’ve been in the exact same place for months and you gotta wonder why — we’ve long felt like the show is coming back (it’s one of ABC’s biggest comedy hits), but we’ve been waiting in the lurch for the press release, the champagne, and the parade that comes with viewers getting more of the show and cast and crew members getting to keep their jobs.

For a few more thoughts about the state of The Conners renewal, we suggest that you just check out the video below! After you watch that, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube so you don’t miss any other scoop. We’ll have more soon enough.

Well, today we’re actually hearing news that is bringing the show towards a positive direction — or at least news that signals a deal is close to being done. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Sara Gilbert, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf are close to finishing up their deals to return and once those three are figured out, we’ll be getting closer to that green light. These three are the fundamental cast members to the this continuation of the show — Gilbert’s an executive producer, so the interest in it returning on her part has always been clear. Heck, everyone’s said that they are interested in doing the show a while longer so we attribute the delay mostly to two separate things.

1. External negotiations – While The Conners is airing on ABC, Werner Entertainment (who produces the series) are handling some of the talks. Anytime you have an extra studio involved and it’s not a pure in-house production, you get a little more of that walking-through-molasses feeling where everything seems to take so much longer than it really should.

2. No real urgency – Nothing has to be signed on the dotted line until May, so we don’t have this picture in our head of Werner Entertainment executives running around, screaming in panic that nothing is done yet. There is time for careful consideration, because there is time; if no deal is done within a month and a half, then it’s time to be shaking in your boots a little bit more. The impression is that ABC would like to up the order for The Conners season 2 to 13 episodes — that gives them more real estate for the show while also giving the cast a chance to have a life and do other stuff. Goodman has another show in The Righteous Gemstones; meanwhile, Gilbert’s on The Talk, Metcalf does movies, and Emma Kenney’s a major part of Shameless in addition to doing this show. Everyone has some other stuff going on in their lives.

The most important thing that we can do as viewers, boring as it sounds, is absolutely nothing. This isn’t a case where petitions or fan campaigns are really needed — The Conners is almost assured to be coming back. It doesn’t matter if it’s divisive or if there’s no press for it at all between now and May. The ratings are too good, and it helps to keep ABC swimming in cash at a time when a lot of their other comedies like Modern Family are close to the end.

Update: It’s now official — The Conners will be coming back!

What do you want to see for The Conners season 2? Be sure to sound off now in the comments. (Photo: ABC.)