History Series / TheConners

''The Conners'' is a 2018 DomCom on Creator/{{ABC}}, and an {{Aftershow}} spinoff of the long-running ''Series/{{Roseanne}}''. The series focuses on the Conner family's efforts to get by in the wake of their matriarch Roseanne's death. Most of the remaining cast of the previous series, including Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/LaurieMetcalf, and Creator/SaraGilbert, return for this continuation, with the notable absence of Creator/RoseanneBarr herself.

* AgeGapRomance: Jackie enters into one with the younger Neville in season 4.
* TheAlcoholic: Becky slowly realizes she's become one over the course of the first season, starting with when she begins working for Dan's construction company -- Dan chews her out for bringing vodka to their construction site, and she realizes she's gotten to a point where she can't go one day without drinking. Her father gives her six weeks to get over the habit, or she's fired ([[spoiler:he ends up firing her anyway due to her pregnancy]]). Then after she becomes pregnant, she catches herself [[OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby about to drink an alcoholic beverage]] and reacts in horror, tearfully confessing to Darlene later on that she's become a drunk.

The spinoff was [[https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/03/22/entertainment/conners-renewed-season-2/index.html renewed for a second season]] on March 22, 2019. The initial order was for 13 episodes, but all parties agreed to an extension to 19 episodes, nearly a full season's worth; ultimately, 20 episodes would air. (The original ''Roseanne'' averaged 25 episodes per season.) The show was renewed for a sixth season on May 16, 2023.

The spinoff was [[https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/03/22/entertainment/conners-renewed-season-2/index.html renewed for a second season]] on March 22, 2019. The initial order was for 13 episodes, but all parties agreed to an extension to 19 episodes, nearly a full season's worth; ultimately, 20 episodes would air. (The original ''Roseanne'' averaged 25 episodes per season.) The show was renewed for a fifth season on May 12, 2021.

* HeroicBSOD: Dan and Jackie have this reaction to Roseanne's death, even three weeks after her funeral. Dan initially can't bring himself to sleep in their bed ([[spoiler:he ends up doing so in the tag]]), while Jackie goes crazy rearranging the kitchen all day because she can't bear to leave the house, feeling that doing so would mean leaving her sister. Jackie would show no further signs of grief until the end of the season where she has a drunken nervous breakdown at a restaurant that used to be The Lanford Lunch Box. Becky, Darlene, and DJ are shown to have a much better grip on dealing with their mom’s demise. In season 4, however, Darlene has a mildly intense reaction to [[spoiler: finding a note that Roseanne had wrote in a bible begging God to heal the pain from her bad knees. The same pain that forced her to turn to opioids, causing her own demise]].

** Creator/NoelFisher was cast to play Dan's long-lost half-brother Ed Conner, Jr., and naturally (given the show's fondness for LampshadeHanging) gets to share a scene in his debut appearance with his ''Series/{{Shameless}}'' costar, Creator/EmmaKenney, who plays Harris. Harris flirts aggressively with him only to be shut down when Dan tells her they're family. (He's her half-great-uncle.)

** Lanford has now become an outer suburb of Chicago rather than a rural community in the middle of nowhere. Mind you, the Chicagoland metro area stretches out quite a ways and does get rural at its outer edges. This simply establishes that Chicago is nearby rather than 2-3 hours away.

** Lanford has now become an outer suburb of Chicago rather than a rural community in the middle of nowhere.

* ActorAllusion: In a season 3 episode, Becky asks Dan why isn't he somewhere scratching his back on a tree while singing "The Bare Necessities", from Creator/{{Disney}}'s classic ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}''. Creator/JohnGoodman (Dan) famously voiced Baloo in the 2003 sequel ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook2''.

* GlorifiedSpermDonor: Harris' ex-boyfriend Kai [[spoiler: who had gotten her pregnant and then disappeared after being chased out of the Conner house by her family]].

** A big discussion in the season 5 episode "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy" after [[spoiler: Harris'pregnancy is revealed and the family takes sides on whether or not she should have an abortion. Harris ultimately decides to keep the baby.]]
** Despite being supportive, Jackie is adamant that the way to move forward with it is through abortion. She revealed that she had one when she was Harris' age.

* WhamEpisode: In Season 5 episode 15 "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy", it's revealed [[spoiler: Harris is pregnant]].

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: A big discussion in the season 5 episode "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy" after [[spoiler: Harris'pregnancy is revealed and the family takes sides on whether or not she should have an abortion. Harris ultimately decides to keep the baby.]]

* WhamEpisode: In Season 5 episode 15, it's revealed [[spoiler: Harris is pregnant]].

** Lanford has now become part of greater Chicago rather than a more rural community.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Initially Lanford was implied to be in north central Illnois, it was late stated to be somewhere near Elgin or [=DeKalb=]. Lanford was finally given an approximate position in the fourth season episode "The Wedding of Dan and Louise", taking the place of the real life town of Berkeley - which is about 15 miles away from downtown Chicago.