‘The Conners’ May End with Season 6!!!

ABC sitcom The Conners is likely to end with Season 6. In a recent interview with TVLine, executive producer Bruce Helford has confirmed the next season may be the last, with plans for a shorter final season.

Helford has confirmed it’s likely that The Conners will not move past a sixth season, which has already been picked up by the network. “Sara Gilbert [who plays Darlene Conner-Olinsky] 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,” Helford admitted. He went on to add that it is not definite that the show will not be moving past a sixth season, and has nothing to do with the comedy’s current ratings. “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.” ABC has not yet confirmed whether or not the show will conclude next season, with no conversations yet had between the producers, cast, and network about ending the Roseanne spin-off series.

Whilst Helford has guaranteed the series will have a definitive conclusion, he has also revealed it may be shorter. “The conversation right now is about how many episodes can we do [depending on] whatever happens with the writers’ strike,” Helford said, referring to the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike that began at midnight. If the sixth season was to be the final, it would also likely comprise fewer episodes. “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.” This is not unusual for a final series, with hit series like Stranger Things concluding with smaller seasons.

The Conners Has Been a Hit With Viewers

The Conners has largely been received positively by viewers over its five seasons so far. The comedy series is currently ranked number one out of the five sitcoms released by ABC this current season. On average, Season 5 is only one-tenth off its Season 4 averages, with a current 0.7 demo rating (with Live+7 playback) and an average of 5 million viewers.

Created by Matt Williams, The Conners is a spin-off series of cancelled series Roseanne and first premiered in 2018. Following on from the fictional death of the original series’ star Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr), the series continues following the working-class family as they struggle to deal with daily life. Among the cast are Gilbert, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey, Jay R. Ferguson, Katey Sagal, and Nat Faxon.