WhileThe Connersseason 7 has the opportunity to end theRoseannefranchise perfectly, this would mean avoiding an issue that hurt countless earlier sitcoms and the show’s own predecessor.The Connersseason 7will arrive in March 2025 according to ABC (viaTVLine), and the final season ofRoseanne’s spinoff will consist of only six episodes. SinceThe Connershas a large cast of characters, it is tricky to imagine how the show will do all of them justice in this brief window. This could tempt the show’s creators to try something new and experimental with the shorter final season.
The Conners' Highest-Rated Episode Is A Harsh Reality Check For Something Season 7 Probably Won’t Do
While The Conners' highest rated episode might be a classic, this outing underlines an unfortunate reality about the Roseanne spinoff’s final season.
However, earlier sitcom endings prove that this impulse should be avoided. Numerous sitcoms, fromBrooklyn 99toHow I Met Your MothertoNew Girl, tried to do something new in their final outing only for this attempt to fall flat. What makes this issue more interesting is the unique position thatThe Connersseason 7’s finaleoccupies in the annals of TV history. Long before any of the overly ambitious examples listed above,The Conners’ predecessor,Roseanne, was one of the first sitcoms to attempt something daring, different, and entirely new with its final season. It was a disaster.
The Conners Season 7 Shouldn’t Change The Show’s Storytelling Style
How I Met Your Mother’s Final Season Told The Same 3 Days From Numerous Perspectives
How I Met Your Mother’s final season centered each episode of the final season mostly on an individual character, with its 24 episodes covering the same three-day period from different perspectives.New Girl’s final season opened with a massive time jump, whileBrooklyn 99’s last outing began with Rosa leaving the police force and its remaining episodes attempted to awkwardly balance critiques of the police with standard cop show antics. However, before any of these famous failures,Roseanneseason 9 ruined the preceding eight seasons with an absurd twist that fundamentally changed the nature of the series itselffor the worse.
Roseanneseason 9 began by revealing that the Conner family has won over $100 million in the lottery.
WhileRoseanneseason 9’s ending was infamous on its own merits, the preceding season was equally disastrous.Roseanneseason 9 began by revealing that the Conner family has won over $100 million in the lottery, making them exorbitantly rich overnight. The relatable working-class issues faced by the family for years, and the show’s subsequent grounded tone, were thrown out the window in favor of broad, cartoony absurdity. WhileThe Connersseason 7 ending the seriesmight be sad, it is almost impossible to imagine a reality where the spinoff drops the ball as badly asRoseanneseason 9 did.
The Conners Season 7 Doesn’t Need Structural Gimmicks
Roseanne’s Spinoff Has Never Excelled At Experimental Episodes
It would be unfair to callRoseanneoverly experimental, although the show did feature occasional outings that included lengthy fantasy sequences, like season 2, episode 8, “Sweet Dreams." In contrast with more offbeat later sitcoms likeScrubs,Arrested Development,30 Rock, orCommunity,Roseannewas known more for the show’s comparatively realistic world than its self-aware humor. The show’s revival took this approach even further, dropping the show’s rare forays into fantasy and planting itself firmly in reality. After Roseanne was killed off-screen and the revival’s second season was renamedThe Conners,the show became an entirely straightforward traditional family sitcom.
AlthoughThe Conners’ two live episodeswere arguably somewhat experimental and season 4, episode 14, “Triggered,” was told partially in real-time, neither of these efforts did much to alter the show’s tone as a whole. The live episodes were gimmicky, while “Triggered” offered little viewers hadn’t seen before and dropped its real-time approach midway through the outing. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, sinceThe Connersdidn’t need gimmicky storytelling strategies or playful self-aware humor to work. The show’s strength comes from its depiction of realistic, relatable blue-collar struggles, andRoseanneseason 9’s experimentation proved this didn’t need an overhaul.
The Conners Season 7 Doesn’t Have Enough Screen Time For Individual Episodes
Roseanne’s Spinoff Has Too Many Main Characters
The most straightforward way forThe Connersseason 7 to change the show’s usual approach would be for the six-episode farewell event to feature individual outings centered on specific characters. This would give each main character a moment in the spotlight but would risk missing out on the chemistry shared between the cast members. On occasion, sitcom episodes that give underrated supporting stars a moment in the spotlight can work. However,The Connersseason 7 ending the seriesfor good means thatRoseanne’s spinoff shouldn’t center its last six episodes on the main characters. The series has too many stars already.
Ames McNamara
Mark Conner-Healy
Since the creators have only six episodes to work with,The Connersseason 7 wouldn’t have enough screen time to do justice to Mark, Harris, Darlene and Ben, Jackie and Neville, Louise and Dan, and Becky and Tyler, let alone a returning DJ, if every character got an episode of their own.The Connersseason 6 finale might have left Jackie and Neville in a good place, but Ben and Darlene’s situation is tenuous after Ben boughtHardwaremagazine and Darlene remained underemployed in a cafeteria job that barely covered their bills. Similarly, Harris’s plot and Becky and Tyler’s story both need substantial screen time.
The Conners Season 7 Should Remain The Same
Roseanne’s Follow-Up Must Avoid Its Predecessor’s Problems
Harris only learned about her ADHD diagnosis in season 6, and she now has to run The Lunchbox on her own since Jackie retired. Becky and Tyler’s relationship went through tremendous strain after she had a breakdown while counseling patients in season 6, and their reconciliation barely received any screen time in the outing’s finale.The infamously badRoseanneseason 9 was full of experimentation, none of which was good, soThe Connersseason 7 should stickto the show’s usual style in its final outing. Even within its traditonal wheelhouse,The Connerswill have a hard time wrapping things up.
The Connersseason 7’s six episodes will begin airing in March 2025.
If Ben’s magazine becomes a success, Darlene could quit working at the cafeteria and come work with him. Similarly, Harris’s ADHD diagnosis could help her pursue treatment plans that allow her to relaunch The Lunchbox and make the place a success in a way Jackie could never quite manage. However, even this happy finale would leave the stories of Mark, Becky, and Tyler, and Dan and Louise feeling unfinished. As such, the last thing that theRoseannespinoff needs is a strange new approach toThe Connersseason 7’s story, when even a straightforward ending will be a challenge.
