ABC Not Airing ‘The Conners’ Tuesday Night Due to Election Coverage

ABC will not be airing The Conners this Tuesday night, due to broadcasting coverage of the midterm elections instead.

The show would normally air during the network’s evening prime time schedule, leading its two-hour block of comedy, with The Kids Are Alright, black-ish and Splitting Up Together following it.

Those sitcoms, as well as the hour-long dramedy The Rookie, will all be postponed until next week. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is still scheduled to air in its 10:35 p.m. ET timeslot as usual, however, Nightline — which normally follows Kimmel — will also not be airing in lieu of election night coverage.

The Conners has had a bit of a roller coaster ride in the TV ratings since it debuted a few weeks ago. The series premiere of the Roseanne spin-off did very well, earning 10.5 million live viewers.

Episode two did not quite have as impressive numbers, only grabbing 7.2 million watchers due to having to air against the World Series. Last week’s third episode of The Conners saw a rise in the ratings, with 7.7 million people tuning in to watch the hilariously dysfunctional family’s hijinks.

The Conners has received mixed opinions from audiences, with many thoroughly enjoying the series, but others feeling like it just isn’t the same without Roseanne Barr.

Barr was responsible for getting the revival of her iconic ’90s sitcom canceled after she made racist comments on Twitter that she later attributed to her use of Ambien.

While some of Barr’s more die-hard fans have been less-than-kind about The Conners, TV critics have overwhelmingly heaped praise on the show. It currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 96 percent fresh.

“The Conners offers the comforts of its source show, but more focus on the family’s ever-evolving dynamics adds a welcome layer of working-class empathy without losing any of the laughs,” reads the Critics Consensus on the review-aggregation site.

“While it’s specious to frame The Conners as the show most representative of working class America, it’s certainly a show about working-class America, and a well-made one,” wrote GQ‘s Joshua Rivera of the series.

“It’s a sad irony that by stocking the show with great performers like Gilbert and Goodman, Roseanne Barr built a sitcom machine that could survive her departure. Goodman in particular gets a little more room to shine as Dan Conner,” added NPR’s Eric Deggans.

The Conners will air again next Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.