Oscars 2020: ‘The Conners’ to Offer Live Commentary During Academy Awards

The Conners will reportedly provide live commentary on the Oscars 2020 on Sunday night, bringing a family feel back to the award show. The classic sitcom clan will be waiting to weigh in during the third commercial break, according to a report by Variety. Even they will not know the results ahead of time, so they will rely on improvisation to land their jokes.

The cast of The Conners will be watching closely when the 92nd Academy Awards begin at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. When the third commercial break of the night hits, they will offer their own commentary on the show so far in character. Showrunner Bruce Helford told Variety that it is a nerve-wracking new undertaking for the show.

“We’ll know within a minute or so of the live promo happening what the last award or few awards were and if anything was interesting about them,” Helford said. “We’ll write something or the cast will chime in and say, ‘Oh I want to say this…’”

In addition to the writing of the jokes themselves, Helford has to worry about the staging for this live promo. He explained how it will be made to look natural, as if the audience is really just peeking in on the Conner family‘s usual Oscar night ritual.

“We’re doing a camera watching the actors from behind while they’re watching the live Oscars telecast,” he said. “So they find themselves live on the Oscars, but they’re not being themselves as the actors — they’re in character as the Conners. So it’s an odd and very absurd process, but it should be fun.”

The unique promo serves the dual purpose of promoting The Conners to the Oscars audience, while also grounding the lofty award show with one of the most recognizable working-class families on TV. ABC Entertainment’s president of marketing, Shannon Ryan, told reporters that the synergy was just too good to pass up.

“There’s no better platform to promote a big, live episode than a big, live event like the Oscars,” Ryan said. “The timing is perfect and we’re so lucky to be able to take advantage of this great opportunity. The producers and writers have been working closely with our marketing team on this live spot, and we think it will be fun for viewers to experience the Conners reacting to the Oscars LIVE from their living room in real time just like the rest of America.”

Just a few days after The Oscars, The Conners has its own live episode airing on ABC. The sitcom will broadcast in real time on Tuesday, Feb. 11, incorporating real-time information from the New Hampshire primary results into the episode.

The Conners airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The Oscars are live on Sunday night starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.