How The Conners Is Preparing Itself For Possible Cancellation

All good things must come to an end, and it's possible "The Conners" may be leaving the airwaves after its abbreviated 6th season. Deadline reports the sitcom is on the bubble, and negotiations between the network and the show's actors have not started. That's a bad sign, as that process typically begins earlier in April. The outlet says the show's fate hinges on how many sitcom pilots ABC picks up. But viewers of the show shouldn't fret; should "The Conners" come to a sudden end with Season 6, the producers are prepared.

Showrunner Bruce Helford had hinted to Deadline ahead of the show's 100th episode that "The Conners" may end with Season 6, and they have planned the season accordingly. "We've got a final episode that may be one or the other. We love it," he said at the time.

Deadline additionally reports that a possible series finale tag scene was pretaped and will be attached to the 13th episode of Season 6 should "The Conners" fail to be renewed. The contents of this tag scene are unknown, and there's no word as to which actors appear in it. But at least viewers will have a chance to experience a potentially satisfying conclusion — and as fans of the franchise know, that's not always a guarantee.

As any sitcom fan worth their salt knows, one fact about "The Conners" is that it started life as "Rosanne" — which survived two different series finales before being reformed into its current state.

In a notoriously controversial series finale, the initial run of "Roseanne" ends with the titular character (Roseanne Barr) revealing that the events of the show's final season — and indeed, much of the back half of the series — have been reinvented as a writing exercise for her novel. Her son, Jerry, and Jackie Harris' (Laurie Metcalf) son, Andy, no longer exist — and Jackie is a lesbian. Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and Becky (Lecy Goranson) have married different husbands. Even more interesting, Dan (John Goodman) has passed away from the heart attack he suffered at Darlene's wedding instead of surviving it.

This ending is subverted when the series reopens in Season 10. It's revealed to be Roseanne Conner's dream. The series proceeds with a living Dan, Darlene and Becky having married David Healy (Johnny Galecki) and Mark Healy (Glenn Quinn), respectively, and Jerry Conner living on an oil derrick somewhere in Alaska. However, Roseanne Barr's controversial comments resulted in the series's sudden cancellation and her firing. In the opening episode of "The Conners," audiences learn that Roseanne Conner has died offscreen due to an opioid overdose. Hopefully, no further drastic changes will occur when "The Conners" takes its final bow sometime in the future.