‘The Conners’ EPs See No End in Sight After 100 Episodes: ‘We Want to Keep Going’

“The Conners” just hit 100 episodes at ABC, a milestone even the show’s executive producers find surprising. But even as the beloved sitcom family reached the syndication threshold for the second time, the cast and crew are ready to keep the show going for years to come.

“At this point, the cast and everybody all want to continue. This was a wonderful season,” EP Bruce Helford told TheWrap in a recent interview.

“I think our antennae are up for if we start to duplicate stories, if the characters feel stagnant, but we haven’t felt any of that. It’s still vibrant, exciting and unpredictable,” EP Dave Caplan added. “As long as we feel that, we want to keep going.”

Born out of the disastrous cancellation of the network’s ratings juggernaut “Roseanne” reboot, the spin-off series came together after star Roseanne Barr was fired following racist comments she shared on social media about White House advisor Valerie Jarrett. With Barr out of the picture, the show’s remaining cast and EPs came together to create “The Conners” to keep people employed.

Since then, the cast and crew have negotiated each year to bring the show back — a ratings success for the network in its own right — adding up to the milestone 100th episode airing Wednesday on ABC.

Helford and Caplan told TheWrap that the reboot was originally meant to be a one-season event series that course-corrected the original sitcom’s legacy after a critically panned final season that aired in 1997 (The original “Roseanne” aired for 231 episodes from 1988-97 and in 2018).

“With other sitcoms, you go into them going, ‘Can I get 100 episodes out of this and get to syndication?’ This was the complete opposite: Getting to 100 episodes is just a complete surprise,” Caplan said.

Since the Barr debacle, “The Conners” has become a staple of ABC’s comedy lineup. Its Season 6 premiere garnered 4.94 million viewers in three-day multiplatform viewing. But as a long-running show, the show has said goodbye to some series regulars as things evolved through the years. Notably, original castmember Michael Fishman, who played D.J. Conner, exited the series after Season 4; while Jayden Rey, who played D.J.’s daughter Mary, exited at the end of Season 5.

Helford said that the cast exits were driven by the story, as the Conner family expanded with the addition of new kids and love interests that pushed some characters out of the frame.

“Michael had some great storylines and Jayden had some wonderful pieces to do as well. We’re very proud of their work on the show,” Helford noted.

Though the longevity of the beloved sitcom comes down to yearly negotiations, Helford said he hopes to give fans a proper sendoff when the time comes for “The Conners” to say goodbye once again.

“We always approach the end of the season to make the episode special in case it ends up being the end,” he said. “It would be nice to have a group of episodes to lead up to a very special ending for the show.”

Though the future remains open-ended, both Helford and Caplan agree that the sitcom already helped cement “Roseanne” as one of the best comedy franchises in TV history.

“We’re very proud about how we’ve been able to extend the legacy of the original show,” Caplan said. “We’ve been really true to the characters and have helped see them through their entire character arcs as they go on, while reflecting America as we know it.”

“The Conners” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. The series will air at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT starting May 1. Episodes are available to stream the day after premiere on Hulu.

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