'Roseanne' Fans Vow to Ignore 'The Conners' Ahead of Tuesday Night Premiere

The Conners premieres in just two days, but some Roseanne fans are reminding producers that they [...]

By Michael Hein

The Conners premieres in just two days, but some Roseanne fans are reminding producers that they will not watch the show without Roseanne Barr.

The Conners is more or less doomed to exist under a shroud of controversy for its entire run — however long that may be. For some fans, it cannot end soon enough, as they have continually let the show's producers know on social media.

The latest tweet from The Conners' official account shows a clapboard for the series, bearing the name od director Andy Ackerman and camerman Donald A. Morgan. As the premiere of the show approaches, that simple post became the eye in a storm of angry replies.

"Big things are happening, the tweet read.

"There is no show without @therealroseanne," wrote right-wing pundit Scott Presler.

"Over/Under before the show gets the boot: 5 Episodes," wagered another user.

"It will be lowest rated show in TV history," predicted a third person, "and the ABC liberal big shots won't be getting their Christmas bonuses."

The Conners will carry on the story of the Conner family without the family matriarch. Roseanne was canceled back in the spring after Roseanne Barr tweeted a racial slur and a conspiracy theory about a former Obama administration adviser. After outcry over the decision, ABC agreed to bring the rest of the characters back in a spin-off, and Barr agreed. Many of the writers and producers from Roseanne, including showrunner Bruce Helford, are returning for the series, making Barr one of the only personnel changes.

Still, the show has become politicized in a way, with many fans feeling that the whole ordeal is a political stunt. Barr had a history of posting conspiratorial and offensive tweets long before she was fired, making it strange that the reboot season happened in the first place, and then all the stranger when it was canceled over one of her posts. This makes the future for The Conners somewhat uncertain, as Roseanne alienated much of the hyper-liberal audience, and The Conners has now alienated this vocal segment of the far-right audience.

Thankfully, there are a good portion of fans somewhere in the middle, who do not ascribe too much political significance to their sitcoms. If the new show can hold the attention of half the audience that tuned in for Roseanne season 10, it will still be more successful than most of the other shows on TV today.

The Conners premieres Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: ABC

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