Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

‘Roseanne’ Is Dead And Ratings Are On Life Support As ‘The Conners’ Premieres

Life goes on, and with life, for better or for worse, comes ABC. “The Conners,” the swiftly reshuffled “Roseanne” reboot, sans leading lady, aired its first episode on Tuesday night. It’s been five months since the network canceled what would have been its crown jewel after the notoriously controversial Roseanne Barr tweeted racist slurs about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.

The thirty minute premiere hit “dark” harder than “comedy,” beginning with the aftermath of Roseanne’s death from what the family believed to be a heart attack. But the Conners crew, headed up by Dan (John Goodman) and Jackie (Laurie Metcalf,) soon learns that Roseanne was the victim of an opioid addiction. It’s nothing if not topical — “The Conners” stays true to its reputation from the “Roseanne” days as having its finger on the pulse of American family life. And it is admirable for the show’s writers to not gloss over an epidemic that is killing 116 people every day.

But reviews from fans seem mixed. ABC was right not to keep Barr on board, but dropping her hasn’t scored any points with people who actually watch “Roseanne,” I mean — “The Connors.” In fact, it’s likely alienated them. Viewing numbers for the premiere episode were down 35% from the “Roseanne” reboot premiere, though the number is less drastic when you consider that viewers were awaiting that premiere for decades, rather than months.

The cast of “The Conners” has made the abundance of their love for the show clear, and Goodman and Metcalf are heavy hitters. But there may be no sustaining the loss of either “Roseanne” or Roseanne.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.