“The Conners” finished its second official season last night in 5th place for the evening.
The “Roseanne” spin off scored 6 million viewers, making it ABC’s biggest ratings hit for any comedy. But over on CBS, an “NCIS” rerun did better, so did an “FBI” rerun, a new “FBI Most Wanted,” and a new edition of “The Voice” on NBC.
But “The Conners” does better than all the other ABC shows, so it’s a hit.
What may be really daunting for Roseanne Barr, who was forced to leave her show two years ago, is the permanent elimination of her character, Roseanne Conner.
Dan, Roseanne’s husband, is now completely attached to a new character called Louise played by Katey Sagal. Louise debuted last fall, returned in the winter, left, but is now firmly in the Conners household. There’s no doubt that Dan and Louise will get hitched next season. Roseanne the character is now just a memory.
That’s gotta hurt for Barr. Sagal is well known for her role in “Sons of Anarchy.” But she was Barr’s competition for most white trash comedy heroine as Peg Bundy in “Married with Children.” Who could have imagined in the 90s that Dan Conner would hook up with Peg?
Of course, Louise is not half as flamboyant as Peg. She’s earnest and not looking to steal the spotlight. She’s also technically a guest star since “The Conners” is already loaded with Big Stars like John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sarah Gilbert and so on.