The Conners Plots Makeshift Series Finale in Case of Cancellation (Report)

Ryan Schwartz
·3 min read
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The Lanford Lunch Box may be going out of business soon — for good this time.

According to a new report by our sister site Deadline, The Conners Season 7 is in doubt. Production has already wrapped on Season 6’s strikes-shortened, 13-episode order, and cast negotiations — which are typically ironed out by this time each spring — have not yet begun.

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Born from the ashes of 2018’s Roseanne revival, each season of The Conners requires that new, one-year deals be reached with legacy cast members John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson. ABC and production company Tom Werner Entertainment are in talks to bring the sitcom back — likely for a seventh and final season — but there’s a very real chance that the spinoff will conclude with its upcoming Season 6 finale.

In the event that The Conners is cancelled, producers are prepared. A tag scene was reportedly filmed and will be added to the Season 6 finale if it turns out to be the series finale.

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It was last spring when the producers behind the Roseanne spinoff floated the idea that the series might end with Season 6. “We feel that [next season] is possibly going to be the last season of The Conners,” EP Bruce Helford told TVLine at the time. “I would not [say that] definitively because the numbers were so good this season, and we’ve all had a really great time… but it’s definitely a possibility.”

One month later, leading man John Goodman added fuel to the fire when he suggested that The Conners was rounding the corner. “I think we may be coming to an end on it,” he said in June, before adding, “It’s lasted longer than I thought we would.”

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But in a recent interview with TVLine, Helford and fellow EP Dave Caplan maintained that they had not been approached about bringing the veteran sitcom to a close.

“As far as going forward, it’s funny… When I made that comment [about the possibility of it being the final season], the response by ABC was, ‘We never agreed to that,'” Helford said in February.

Added Caplan: “When we feel like we’re not telling relatable, interesting, novel stories anymore, we’ll pull the plug.” For now, “the journeys that these characters are on are inspiring us to go places we haven’t. The show continues to feel fresh and interesting, so nobody is all that anxious for it to end.”

New episodes of The Conners Season 6 air Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC (and stream next day on Hulu). Beginning May 1, new episodes will air at 9:30 pm for the rest of the season, leading out of Jeopardy! Masters (at 8 pm) and Abbott Elementary (at 9 pm).

Are you ready to say goodbye to The Conners? Or are you hopeful that a deal can be reached to bring the show back for a seventh and final season? Sound off in Comments.

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