'The Conners' Season 6 Fate Revealed at ABC
The Conners Season 6 fate at ABC has been up in the air for some time, but now it's been revealed just what will happen with the series. According to Deadline, The Conners will be back for a 13-episode sixth season. The outlet also reports that there is an option for nine additional episodes, should the network want to add more.
Notably, as recently as early May, producers of The Conners were not even sure about the future of the show beyond Season 6. During a conversation with TV Line, executive producer Bruce Helford shared, "Sara Gilbert [The Conners co-creator, star] expressed to the network that we don't want to go out without knowing that we are going out with a series finale so we can build to the right ending – and at this point in time, we feel that [next season] is possibly going to be the last season of The Conners." He added, "I would not [say that] definitively because the numbers were so good this season, and we've all had a really great time... but it's definitely a possibility."
Helford later said, "The conversation right now is about how many episodes can we do [depending on] whatever happens with the writers' strike. There may only be 13 episodes. Obviously, we always want to do 20 or 22 [episodes], but at this point in time, we're talking about if we can do 13 – God willing – and if we can do more, we'll do more." TV Line noted that ABC declined to comment on the story, but stated that a source from the network advised that there had been "no conversations" about The Conners ending with Season 6.
The Conners debuted in 2018 as a spinoff of the Rosanne revival, which was canceled after series star Rosanne Barr was fired for making public racist remarks. In addition to Gilbert, the show also stars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey, and Jay R. Ferguson. Roseanne alum Michael Fishman starred on the show through Season 4.
In a 2022 interview, as shared by Mama's Geeky, Gilbert open up about working on The Conners and shared what she loved about working on the sitcom. "I think it's important to show because the only way we can change things is to first have some awareness around it and see the problem, be in touch with the problem, and then hopefully be able to take some action. It is really unfortunate," she said. "Something that I love about our show that we get to address the fact that this is obviously a fictional group that represents a lot of people who are very kind, smart, intelligent, funny, good people that cannot break the cycle of poverty, and cannot break through the levels of how unfair things can be in this country."