While Roseanne’s spinoff The Conners is not the most-watched sitcom on television, the show’s ratings performance over the years tells viewers a lot about the sitcom’s strengths and weaknesses. Television ratings aren’t always indicative of a show’s popularity and, on occasion, a random episode of television can prove far more popular with viewers than even the die-hard fans of a series might anticipate. However, looking back on a show’s ratings after a few years on the air can sometimes give a rough indication of what works and what falls flat with any given show’s regular audience.
As viewers wait forThe Conners season 6 to answer the questions left open by the show’s season 5 finale, a look back on the most watched episodes of the Roseanne spinoff uncovers a few surprising revelations about the series. For one thing, as much as Roseanne’s spinoff tried to shake the show’s association with its former title character, the most watched episode of The Conners was its pilot. Not coincidentally, this was the outing that revealed Roseanne’s fate. Since then, the stories that kept viewers coming back in droves have been less predictable and more varied.
5 Season 1, Episode 1, “Keep On Truckin”
It should come as no surprise that the most watched episode of the spinoff’s debut season was its premiere, The Conners season 1, episode 1, “Keep On Truckin.” Much like The Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon’s most-watched episode was the show’s first outing, the episode of The Conners that revealed Roseanne’s fate was its most popular outing with a massive audience share of 10.56 million viewers. In “Keep On Truckin,” the Conners were devastated to discover Roseanne died of an opioid overdose. Although Roseanne’s season 10 revival did set up this twist with a subplot that subtly alluded to Roseanne’s reliance on prescription painkillers, the news still came as a shock.
The real reason that The Conners killed off Roseanne was former series star Roseanne Barr’s series of racist tweets aimed at former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. While the revival was a ratings hit, Barr’s comments were offensive enough for the network to immediately sever ties with the controversial comedian. Since then,The Conners brought back Roseanne characters from time to time and, since the Conner clan are still the show’s heroes, the series never made a secret of its connection to Roseanne. However, Roseanne herself was rarely mentioned in the first few seasons of the series as the spinoff developed an identity of its own.
4 Season 2, Episode 15, “Beards, Thrupples and Robots”
In The Conners season 2, episode 15, “Beards, Thrupples and Robots,” Darlene took a demeaning job at Price Warehouse as the family was financially hard up. It is no surprise that this successful episode of The Conners managed to wrangle an impressive 6.49 million viewers since the series had mined comedy out of the tricky subject of unemployment and poverty since Roseanne originally began. The sitcom never sugar-coated the harsh realities of working-class life in its original run aside from the critically hated Roseanne season 9 which turned the family into unlikely millionaires. However, Darlene’s plot wasn’t all that made this episode work.
Jackie attempts to make her love life succeed by taking part in a “Throuple” provided “Beards, Thrupples and Robots” with both its title and its B-story. This hilarious plot had its poignant moments, but it was mostly a tour de force from veteran sitcom performer Laurie Metcalf that proved Aunt Jackie was still the show’s most inspired character. Thus, with the ratings success of “Beards, Thrupples and Robots,” Jackie and Darlene proved that they had effectively replaced Roseanne as the show’s main character(s) in The Conners season 2. Since then, they have stayed the show’s main focus alongside Roseanne’s widower Dan.
3 Season 3, Episode 1, “Keep On Truckin’ Six Feet Apart”
The Conners season 3 premiere was the most watched episode of the show’s third outing with an audience of 4.9 million viewers. On the face of it, this isn’t all that notable since shows are most heavily promoted when they return from their summer hiatus. However, it was The Conners answering the question of how Roseanne‘s spinoff would address the COVID-19 pandemic that made “Keep On Truckin’ Six Feet Apart” so successful with audiences upon release. Rather than ignoring the pandemic, The Conners integrated the event and its social, cultural, and political impact into season 3’s story. Thus, addressing the pandemic allowed The Conners to win back an uncertain audience.
2 Season 4, Episode 4, “The Wedding of Dan and Louise”
While The Conners bringing back Roseanne’s glory days isn’t always a surefire recipe for critical and creative success, it has been a reliable way to ensure a ratings boost. For example, the wedding of Dan and his new beau Louise managed to net a cool 3.59 million viewers. While this was as high as season 4’s viewership ever got, longtime fans shouldn’t have gotten their reunion hopes too high. In the end, “The Wedding of Dan and Louise” controversially ignored most of Roseanne’s supporting characters and only brought back a few old faces from the earlier series.
Ironically, “The Wedding of Dan and Louise” was as notable for the characters that the episode ignored as it was for the figures the outing brought back. Chuck Mitchell, Geena, and Bev were all absent from the episode despite their status as Dan’s best friend, DJ’s wife, and Roseanne’s mother respectively. This meant that “The Wedding of Dan and Louise” was a disappointment for anyone who hoped the outing would be an excuse to reintegrate Roseanne‘s supporting stars.
1 Season 5, Episode 13, “New Pipes and Old Secrets”
While “New Pipes and Old Secrets” wasn’t a standout episode of The Conners season 5, this might have been the secret to its ratings success. The episode earned an audience of 4.21 million viewers precisely because the outing focused on a simple story of the titular family coming to terms with stories that were funny and poignant in equal measure. The subplot about Dan sleeping over at Darlene’s house and never getting around to that bit of forgotten DIY was surprisingly moving under its gags. However, it was Bev’s plot that stole the show here.
In The Conners season 5, episode 8, “Of Missing Minds and Missing Fries,” the series revealed that Bev was suffering from dementia. This prompted the primary plot line of “New Pipes and Old Secrets,” wherein Jackie learned that her mother had sent her and Roseanne away to protect them from her father’s psychically abusive rage when they were children. This twist proved moving but didn’t derail the outing’s comedic elements, allowing this episode of The Conners to show that Roseanne’s spinoff has more to offer than just jokes.
