Why 'The Conners' Hasn't Added Katey Sagal to Opening Credits Just Yet
While Roseanne famously changed up its opening credits every season, The Conners hasn't done that just yet, even after Katey Sagal's Louise married into the family earlier this month. Executive producer Bruce Helford said there are no immediate plans to change things up, possibly because of Sagal's official status on the show still being in limbo. Sagal is still credited as a recurring guest star, even though the former Sons of Anarchy star will be seen very often in Season 4.
"We really haven't changed or altered those in any way [since Season 1]," Helford explained to TVLine recently. "Honestly, I imagine if we did alter them, we would be including [Katey Sagal]. But as far as her technically being a regular, and whatever that means contractually, we leave that open." Sagal joined the show as a guest star and ended up appearing in half of Season 3's 20 episodes, even while filming the short-lived Rebel. The Married... With Children star will appear "on a pretty regular basis" during Season 4, Helford said.
"It's always been the same. Even when she was doing Rebel, she put into her contract that she had to be free to do as many episodes of The Conners as she wants," Helford continued. "I don't know if there's an actual number, but I know that she's going to be in more than half the episodes."
The Conners has seen other cast changes since it premiered in October 2018, months after the Roseanne revival was canceled due to Roseanne Barr's racist comments on Twitter. Maya Lynne Robinson, who plays DJ's wife Geena, was promoted to series regular after the pilot, and Jay R. Ferguson, who stars as Darlene's ex-boyfriend Ben, was promoted before Season 3, but the title sequence stayed the same in both cases. Sagal has been appearing on the show since the Season 1 episode "O Sister, Where Art Thou?," playing the new love interest for John Goodman's Dan Conner.
During the Oct. 13 episode "The Wedding of Dan and Louise," Sagal's character Louise finally married Dan. The wedding ceremony was almost derailed when a tornado hit, but Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) made sure everything happened on time. "A traditional wedding episode wouldn't have felt like The Conners," executive producer Dave Caplan told TVLine. "A lot of things in the Conners' lives are tumultuous, so it only made sense to have a tumultuous wedding as well.... A lot of what the Conners are about is perseverance. Giving them a wedding that is challenging and seeing them persevere and find happiness amongst the literal rubble appealed to us." New episodes of The Conners air on ABC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET and are available to stream on Hulu.