Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Without Roseanne “The Conners” Ratings Fall in Premiere Beaten by “NCIS”– But It’s a Hit

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“The Conners” scored 10,458,000 viewers in its debut, considerably below the “Roseanne” premiere of 17 million last spring. It was beaten handily by “NCIS” with 11.6 million.

Realistically, “The Conners” was a hit, even with the loss to “NCIS.” There isn’t a comedy out there that wouldn’t covet the numbers they got. “The Conners” scored an 8 in the key demo of Men, ages 18-49, the highest of all shows last night. John Goodman’s fans found him, which is always great. Among women in the key demo, “The Conners” scored an 11 and tied with the NBC hit “This is Us.”

Remember, “The Conners” was never going to score the gargantuan ratings of the “Roseanne” reboot last spring. And I’ve got a feeling their numbers will be steady now, and not drop off as the “Roseanne” show did. Plus, Goodman and Metcalf are just sensational, and the whole show was excellent.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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