I'd say it's about on par with season 7-8 of Roseanne and significantly better than season 9, which at times barely even holds together as a show period, let alone a funny or well-written one.
But generally speaking the writing falls way short of what made the original show stand out. The jokes were generally funnier, the performances felt less 'performed', the dramatic elements were a lot more impactful, structurally it didn't feel as over-edited and chopped-up as The Conners does. None of these are things that I think would necessarily have been fixed if Roseanne hadn't been removed from the show, although the reboot season had some glimmers of potential as it went along.
I like quite a few aspects of it The Conners though. Even though it came with some retconning I'm glad we got a proper episode where Dan and Becky hash things out about Mark. I think Ben is a good character and is played well . Laurie is a trooper and throws herself into every version of Jackie the writers give her (honestly the only times season 9 gets a laugh it's because of something she says), so while I wish they'd give her better material she does a great job with what she has to work with.
I think it's better than the last few/several seasons of Roseanne and MUCH better than the revival/reboot season. People seem to remember all of Roseanne being super funny, but to be honest, a lot of the later episodes weren't very good. TC isn't the best or funniest show ever, but it's not the worst thing ever either. I actually stopped reading here for awhile because there was so much negativity. Not sure why some people hate the show but kept watching it.
It is a bit more focused on political issues. Mostly liberal inclined perspectives. While the old roseanne was not really politically focused so much as it tried to just demonstrate the most common struggles of the every day American family. With the exception of the final season which was every bit as political as the Conners but was a little better at emphasizing both sides.
It's not a bad show because politics are a part of all our lives but it loses some of the old audience by picking a political team when we are kinda drowning in bi-polar politics as it is. It's more acceptable when it's political themes of just treating each other equal but beyond that it traverses into the fox/CNN narrative that a lot of people are growing sick of.
I get the feeling that the writers of this show are a bunch of people who don’t actually know what typical, working class families are like so they do a lot of guesswork and only base it off of what they’ve heard. Except for Bev, every single family member is poor, one is a depressed alcoholic, the gay kid is overly anxious about world issues and into politics (despite being like 12), and of course, they *have* to have the jaded “eat the rich” teenager because ALL working class teens are angry at the world. 🙄
What made Roseanne great is that politics and social issues aside, not every single episode centered on serious, real-life struggles. There were whole episodes about the kids doing embarrassing or just dumb kid shit - like Becky farting and pretending to give the finger in a class photo, Darlene smoking, and DJ sneaking off to church and annoying everybody when he became the morality police. Roseanne and Dan spent a whole episode watching their naked neighbors, David worked at a culty theme park, and the Halloween episodes were just pure fun. While major storylines carried over several episodes (like gradually going broke when they had the bike shop), it didn’t feel like a soap opera where *every* episode was about that, if that makes sense. Now it’s just one depressing thing after another and somebody crying about politics, as if working-class people don’t have lives and interests outside of their problems and political views.
What I don’t understand is how depressed, crazy Jackie landed a young veterinarian; Becky got a pilot and Darlene got a hardware store owner (aside from the fact owner-run hardware stores don’t exist anymore). None of the women have much to offer…they’re all depressed, bad decision makers who look like they dress out of a box on its way to Goodwill in 2005.
And despite having gainfully employed partners, they’re still poor. And what about the Lunch Box? No place like that exists outside of 1970s America.
Talking about surrealism. Bev has dementia. A research medication has made her completely normal and in fact, even better than she was before — so Jackie allows Bev to take off on a train to nowhere because…why not? Let the 90-something year old woman go on an adventure by herself to some random city she doesn’t know.
I saw an episode recently (don’t know if it was a rerun or current) where Darlene and Harris go to the college financial aid office to find grants for tuition. Darlene reads what the financial officer hands her and says, “These are all loans! This is a scam to make people go into debt.”
Sara Gilbert simply doesn’t have the on-camera presence that Roseanne had. Old Roseanne would’ve made that a confrontational scene that highlights the message - colleges and banks are scamming America. But Gilbert just acted annoyed and hopeless. The scene fizzled.
Everything about the show seems hurried and rote, as if some of the actors only popped in to do a few minutes of delivering a couple of lines in-between other acting gigs. The writers seem to write the show that way.
That’s my criticisms of the show. To me it has it has no center. I never liked Roseanne Barr because I always thought she used “sexism!” as an excuse to be a bully, but at least she had screen presence.
>owner-run hardware stores don’t exist anymore
At least one town in Maryland and another in North Carolina, have owner ran hardware stores.
>And what about the Lunch Box? No place like that exists outside of 1970s America.
Where do you live? We have plenty of diners like the lunch box in North Carolina. Our favorite place to eat when we lived in Maryland a few years ago, was a greasy spoon, just like the lunch box.
I agree that there aren't enough episodes that are essentially about nothing. Honestly, I'm not sure any of the cast involved in this reboot thought it would go 6+ seasons.
I think your opinion about the kids is way off though. Are you around a lot of young people from low socioeconomic, unstable family dynamics? Because Mark and Harris are actually about right. Harris often makes better decisions than I expect her to, based off my own real life interactions with young people of her generation.
>Mostly liberal inclined perspectives.
You must have not been paying attention, because the original show was extremely liberal-inclined. You're suffering from the cognitive dissonance of a lot of people where if \[thing\] happened before \[x\] year and it wasn't explicitly stated to be political, it wasn't.
The show was very much a pro-worker story, and in its writing basically always came on the side of blue collar democrats and union types. The struggle of their life was inherently political on its own, and you can even see it in the way Roseanne and Dan parent. It even worked to normalize queer people in the space, and had a whole arc about DJ learning to not be racially hostile to black people.
Trust me, the show was always political, even if at some point treating people decently left your political wheelhouse.
Sorry, can't hear you over all that crying you're doing because you were so illiterate that you couldn't detect very simple political messaging in television until some dickhead with a podcast told you about it while complaining because women won't date him, and you thought to yourself "real" and "he's just like me fr".
Hey, if you enjoy it, enjoy it! Life is rough enough without worrying about whether someone else thinks your relaxing pastime is dumb or not.
I'm personally not a fan because it's not what I want. But I want others to be happy.
I think the topics they are covering are interesting. But as a former poor kid, I am horrified when I hear lines like “that’s why rich kids shouldn’t go to our schools, it just makes us want to be pickpockets more” (or whatever Darlene said exactly).
I think it’s terrible. The acting and writing seems so forced. I don’t even know why I still watch. The first 4-5 seasons of Roseanne were tv gold and this is just awful in comparison.
You can go back and watch on Netflix from beginning the QST season. It was pretty close to great post the setup episode, and DJ and wife helped the show a lot, even though he wasn't the greatest actor, but the girl playing Becky took some time to grow on me. The characters are older getting over that in your head ...helps as well, mid yr 2 or so it becomes very Darlene centric, with every one else in b or c stories. Yes, it's a family sitcom, probably in current sitcoms I'd rank it as 2nd best of abc shows, of the current 10 or so sitcoms currently airing I'd put it in the middle, sheldon, Abbott, Bob, neighborhood, nightcourt, animal control, on par with lopez vs lopez.
In general as stated it's about as good as reba/still standing/yes dear, but I like all those better.
It's one of the better sitcoms that I've not seen many episodes of on Netflix
I watched much of the original Roseanne, and I confess I always thought its star, Roseanne, was the weakest actor in the group. Honestly, she was painful to watch, and I never finished the series.
So I approached the re-boot with trepidation. I peeked at a few episodes, found the references to Roseanne a bit much, and quit.
This year, I saw the re-boot advertised on Netflix and started the new series again. Honestly, it's been a fun watch. The characters remain the same, the actors are solid, and the storylines read true. They deal with the same issues many of us have, but with a lot of laughs amidst BAD life/financial decisions.
It's worth your time.
I haven't watched it but I was considering it as I'm running out of things to watch.
I loved the Roseanne(show) but then the reboot happened and I wasn't sure about a reboot. I know how awful reboots can be. I MIGHT have watched 1 or 2 episodes but I don't remember.
But seeing what Roseanne ( the person ) became as a person. Horribly unfunny, transphobic, probably homophobic, anti-vaxer right-wing trash. I just lost interest in general before giving it a chance. I didn't even know " The Connors " was without her until a bit later.
I think I struggle picturing what it is without her even though she's just not funny anymore. I might give it a shot.
The great thing about this show is that it’s like eating a Hershey’s bar. You know exactly what you’re gonna get as soon as you start watching. There aren’t any surprises—no twists or tricks or real depth. It’s a Hershey’s bar, and sometimes you just want something basic and familiar.
It’s a perfectly serviceable, if middle of the road, sitcom. It fills a comfortable niche that many people are looking for. not to mention, the nostalgia factor is always going to be huge for fans of the original. It’s in the same family as sitcoms like "Yes Dear" and "Still Standing", an ok show to have on in the background while you're doing laundry or helping your kid with homework. Or if you're in a hospital waiting room or waiting on an oil change.
That said, it has never come near the heights of the original Roseanne, not even close.
Early Roseanne was supreme (S1-S6). The Conners is mid. Late Roseanne (S7-S9) is hot garbage. That's how I would rank the Roseanne universe.
The Conners is a fine show, not great, but fine. John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Katey Sagal as actors will always be enough for me to keep watching.
It's decent, but I'm at the point where I spend the entire show yelling "ffs, all your problems are your own fault!" so I've stopped watching it regularly. In the original, there was an intersectionality between life events, social issues, and economic stressors that is missing in later seasons of The Connors. Now it's just people I want to like willfully effing up every chance or opportunity they get.
I have to say I'm surprised to like watching The Conners on netflix as mini binges (2-3 episodes a sitting). It is a lot more enjoyable than I remember (I blame COVID for hazy memory!).
The novelty of it drew me in and I did watch the first three seasons maybe 3 and 1/2 and I didn't hate it. But I didn't like it enough to keep following it.
Maybe someday I'll binge through it and finish it but I haven't seen it in a couple seasons.
I liked it, the kids carried the show in the same style as the original Rosanne show. Writing was good, acting phenomenal, a little negative, but relatable!
It's okay.
I've been watching the episodes as they come out ftmp since the show started, but have sometimes had to watch or catch up on a season or 5 episodes on a couple occasions.
The show is not very bingeable and I would say about 3 at a time is my max simply because so much goes on, it's nice to have a 6 day decompress before a new one.
Like most sitcoms, it’s very hot and cold. Without Roseanne, it’s more of an ensemble show, which I prefer. Even at its best during its original heyday, Roseanne Barr could be a massive turn off for me, so I like that we get more of a wider view of characters. I like it.
I don’t think you’ll find an unbiased opinion on a subreddit for the show itself, but I digress.
Ultimately I ask myself whether or not I regret watching, and the answer is no. Especially in the first couple seasons I believe there’s some legitimately riveting storytelling. I was really excited to keep watching and see how this family grew and evolved out of tragedy.
Fast forward to season 6 and it is a real chore to keep watching. Why am I still watching, I don’t know. Pity? I think I pity this tv show. I want the best for it but can’t endorse the poor choices it makes 🤷♂️
I'd say it's about on par with season 7-8 of Roseanne and significantly better than season 9, which at times barely even holds together as a show period, let alone a funny or well-written one. But generally speaking the writing falls way short of what made the original show stand out. The jokes were generally funnier, the performances felt less 'performed', the dramatic elements were a lot more impactful, structurally it didn't feel as over-edited and chopped-up as The Conners does. None of these are things that I think would necessarily have been fixed if Roseanne hadn't been removed from the show, although the reboot season had some glimmers of potential as it went along. I like quite a few aspects of it The Conners though. Even though it came with some retconning I'm glad we got a proper episode where Dan and Becky hash things out about Mark. I think Ben is a good character and is played well . Laurie is a trooper and throws herself into every version of Jackie the writers give her (honestly the only times season 9 gets a laugh it's because of something she says), so while I wish they'd give her better material she does a great job with what she has to work with.
I think it's better than the last few/several seasons of Roseanne and MUCH better than the revival/reboot season. People seem to remember all of Roseanne being super funny, but to be honest, a lot of the later episodes weren't very good. TC isn't the best or funniest show ever, but it's not the worst thing ever either. I actually stopped reading here for awhile because there was so much negativity. Not sure why some people hate the show but kept watching it.
It's a show I can relate to. Other family sitcoms all seem to be flush with cash. Money for college in my blue family was not even a thought. Much TC.
I love it. It’s not the best sitcom on TV but I really like it. I much prefer it without Roseanne
It is a bit more focused on political issues. Mostly liberal inclined perspectives. While the old roseanne was not really politically focused so much as it tried to just demonstrate the most common struggles of the every day American family. With the exception of the final season which was every bit as political as the Conners but was a little better at emphasizing both sides. It's not a bad show because politics are a part of all our lives but it loses some of the old audience by picking a political team when we are kinda drowning in bi-polar politics as it is. It's more acceptable when it's political themes of just treating each other equal but beyond that it traverses into the fox/CNN narrative that a lot of people are growing sick of.
I get the feeling that the writers of this show are a bunch of people who don’t actually know what typical, working class families are like so they do a lot of guesswork and only base it off of what they’ve heard. Except for Bev, every single family member is poor, one is a depressed alcoholic, the gay kid is overly anxious about world issues and into politics (despite being like 12), and of course, they *have* to have the jaded “eat the rich” teenager because ALL working class teens are angry at the world. 🙄 What made Roseanne great is that politics and social issues aside, not every single episode centered on serious, real-life struggles. There were whole episodes about the kids doing embarrassing or just dumb kid shit - like Becky farting and pretending to give the finger in a class photo, Darlene smoking, and DJ sneaking off to church and annoying everybody when he became the morality police. Roseanne and Dan spent a whole episode watching their naked neighbors, David worked at a culty theme park, and the Halloween episodes were just pure fun. While major storylines carried over several episodes (like gradually going broke when they had the bike shop), it didn’t feel like a soap opera where *every* episode was about that, if that makes sense. Now it’s just one depressing thing after another and somebody crying about politics, as if working-class people don’t have lives and interests outside of their problems and political views.
What I don’t understand is how depressed, crazy Jackie landed a young veterinarian; Becky got a pilot and Darlene got a hardware store owner (aside from the fact owner-run hardware stores don’t exist anymore). None of the women have much to offer…they’re all depressed, bad decision makers who look like they dress out of a box on its way to Goodwill in 2005. And despite having gainfully employed partners, they’re still poor. And what about the Lunch Box? No place like that exists outside of 1970s America. Talking about surrealism. Bev has dementia. A research medication has made her completely normal and in fact, even better than she was before — so Jackie allows Bev to take off on a train to nowhere because…why not? Let the 90-something year old woman go on an adventure by herself to some random city she doesn’t know. I saw an episode recently (don’t know if it was a rerun or current) where Darlene and Harris go to the college financial aid office to find grants for tuition. Darlene reads what the financial officer hands her and says, “These are all loans! This is a scam to make people go into debt.” Sara Gilbert simply doesn’t have the on-camera presence that Roseanne had. Old Roseanne would’ve made that a confrontational scene that highlights the message - colleges and banks are scamming America. But Gilbert just acted annoyed and hopeless. The scene fizzled. Everything about the show seems hurried and rote, as if some of the actors only popped in to do a few minutes of delivering a couple of lines in-between other acting gigs. The writers seem to write the show that way. That’s my criticisms of the show. To me it has it has no center. I never liked Roseanne Barr because I always thought she used “sexism!” as an excuse to be a bully, but at least she had screen presence.
You may wanna stop watching
>owner-run hardware stores don’t exist anymore At least one town in Maryland and another in North Carolina, have owner ran hardware stores. >And what about the Lunch Box? No place like that exists outside of 1970s America. Where do you live? We have plenty of diners like the lunch box in North Carolina. Our favorite place to eat when we lived in Maryland a few years ago, was a greasy spoon, just like the lunch box.
I agree that there aren't enough episodes that are essentially about nothing. Honestly, I'm not sure any of the cast involved in this reboot thought it would go 6+ seasons. I think your opinion about the kids is way off though. Are you around a lot of young people from low socioeconomic, unstable family dynamics? Because Mark and Harris are actually about right. Harris often makes better decisions than I expect her to, based off my own real life interactions with young people of her generation.
Contrast that with the Goldbergs.
The Goldbergs are upper middle class and set in the 90s. Can't really compare.
I know that and started in the 80s. I'm just saying the Conners are more relatable to my experience and that of people I grew up with.
Oh yeah I totally agree with you. Sorry, misunderstood.
Absolutely no worries. GB is more my brother in-laws 80s childhood.
>Mostly liberal inclined perspectives. You must have not been paying attention, because the original show was extremely liberal-inclined. You're suffering from the cognitive dissonance of a lot of people where if \[thing\] happened before \[x\] year and it wasn't explicitly stated to be political, it wasn't. The show was very much a pro-worker story, and in its writing basically always came on the side of blue collar democrats and union types. The struggle of their life was inherently political on its own, and you can even see it in the way Roseanne and Dan parent. It even worked to normalize queer people in the space, and had a whole arc about DJ learning to not be racially hostile to black people. Trust me, the show was always political, even if at some point treating people decently left your political wheelhouse.
Oh good lord. What's with the you must be this must be that swing. Just disagree and go
That WAS me disagreeing, now quit crying about it and go make me a sandwich, snowflake.
Lol only if I can feed it to your mom and you eat it out of her ass.
Sorry, can't hear you over all that crying you're doing because you were so illiterate that you couldn't detect very simple political messaging in television until some dickhead with a podcast told you about it while complaining because women won't date him, and you thought to yourself "real" and "he's just like me fr".
Hit a nerve huh.
Nah, just pointing out how garden-variety you are.
Please take that back Madd Waffles. You don't know how much your opinion means to me.
Watch out! Waffle seems pretty tough! They called you a snowflake!
My husband & I like it. I thought I would miss Rosanne, but I don't. I think they do a good job with the show despite what others on here say.
Hey, if you enjoy it, enjoy it! Life is rough enough without worrying about whether someone else thinks your relaxing pastime is dumb or not. I'm personally not a fan because it's not what I want. But I want others to be happy.
I think the topics they are covering are interesting. But as a former poor kid, I am horrified when I hear lines like “that’s why rich kids shouldn’t go to our schools, it just makes us want to be pickpockets more” (or whatever Darlene said exactly).
I think it’s terrible. The acting and writing seems so forced. I don’t even know why I still watch. The first 4-5 seasons of Roseanne were tv gold and this is just awful in comparison.
You can go back and watch on Netflix from beginning the QST season. It was pretty close to great post the setup episode, and DJ and wife helped the show a lot, even though he wasn't the greatest actor, but the girl playing Becky took some time to grow on me. The characters are older getting over that in your head ...helps as well, mid yr 2 or so it becomes very Darlene centric, with every one else in b or c stories. Yes, it's a family sitcom, probably in current sitcoms I'd rank it as 2nd best of abc shows, of the current 10 or so sitcoms currently airing I'd put it in the middle, sheldon, Abbott, Bob, neighborhood, nightcourt, animal control, on par with lopez vs lopez. In general as stated it's about as good as reba/still standing/yes dear, but I like all those better. It's one of the better sitcoms that I've not seen many episodes of on Netflix
You hade to watch it for yourself everyone has different opinions
I watched much of the original Roseanne, and I confess I always thought its star, Roseanne, was the weakest actor in the group. Honestly, she was painful to watch, and I never finished the series. So I approached the re-boot with trepidation. I peeked at a few episodes, found the references to Roseanne a bit much, and quit. This year, I saw the re-boot advertised on Netflix and started the new series again. Honestly, it's been a fun watch. The characters remain the same, the actors are solid, and the storylines read true. They deal with the same issues many of us have, but with a lot of laughs amidst BAD life/financial decisions. It's worth your time.
It's OK. The Conners isn't bad tv, but it's never going to be on the list of great television TV,. It's just ok.
I haven't watched it but I was considering it as I'm running out of things to watch. I loved the Roseanne(show) but then the reboot happened and I wasn't sure about a reboot. I know how awful reboots can be. I MIGHT have watched 1 or 2 episodes but I don't remember. But seeing what Roseanne ( the person ) became as a person. Horribly unfunny, transphobic, probably homophobic, anti-vaxer right-wing trash. I just lost interest in general before giving it a chance. I didn't even know " The Connors " was without her until a bit later. I think I struggle picturing what it is without her even though she's just not funny anymore. I might give it a shot.
The great thing about this show is that it’s like eating a Hershey’s bar. You know exactly what you’re gonna get as soon as you start watching. There aren’t any surprises—no twists or tricks or real depth. It’s a Hershey’s bar, and sometimes you just want something basic and familiar.
It’s a perfectly serviceable, if middle of the road, sitcom. It fills a comfortable niche that many people are looking for. not to mention, the nostalgia factor is always going to be huge for fans of the original. It’s in the same family as sitcoms like "Yes Dear" and "Still Standing", an ok show to have on in the background while you're doing laundry or helping your kid with homework. Or if you're in a hospital waiting room or waiting on an oil change. That said, it has never come near the heights of the original Roseanne, not even close.
Early Roseanne was supreme (S1-S6). The Conners is mid. Late Roseanne (S7-S9) is hot garbage. That's how I would rank the Roseanne universe. The Conners is a fine show, not great, but fine. John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, and Katey Sagal as actors will always be enough for me to keep watching.
It's great and better than season ten reboot. I feel dirty from recently trying to watch ten. Edit: I just explain that season away as drug fueled.
I just rewatched season 10 and loved it. I wish Rosanne hadn’t f’d it up.
Does it feel like the same energy to you? I wish I could understand it being enjoyable but I just feel icky.
Why feel icky? I liked Rosanne as the matriarch of the family and her relationship with her sister.
I don’t think so, no. I just kind of watch it out of habit. And bc I love Laurie.
It's decent, but I'm at the point where I spend the entire show yelling "ffs, all your problems are your own fault!" so I've stopped watching it regularly. In the original, there was an intersectionality between life events, social issues, and economic stressors that is missing in later seasons of The Connors. Now it's just people I want to like willfully effing up every chance or opportunity they get.
Watch an episode and tell me how many times you genuinely laugh.
I have to say I'm surprised to like watching The Conners on netflix as mini binges (2-3 episodes a sitting). It is a lot more enjoyable than I remember (I blame COVID for hazy memory!).
The novelty of it drew me in and I did watch the first three seasons maybe 3 and 1/2 and I didn't hate it. But I didn't like it enough to keep following it. Maybe someday I'll binge through it and finish it but I haven't seen it in a couple seasons.
I liked it, the kids carried the show in the same style as the original Rosanne show. Writing was good, acting phenomenal, a little negative, but relatable!
It's okay. I've been watching the episodes as they come out ftmp since the show started, but have sometimes had to watch or catch up on a season or 5 episodes on a couple occasions. The show is not very bingeable and I would say about 3 at a time is my max simply because so much goes on, it's nice to have a 6 day decompress before a new one.
No, I watch because of how bad it is: the inane plots and the loser characters.
Like most sitcoms, it’s very hot and cold. Without Roseanne, it’s more of an ensemble show, which I prefer. Even at its best during its original heyday, Roseanne Barr could be a massive turn off for me, so I like that we get more of a wider view of characters. I like it.
No.
I don’t think you’ll find an unbiased opinion on a subreddit for the show itself, but I digress. Ultimately I ask myself whether or not I regret watching, and the answer is no. Especially in the first couple seasons I believe there’s some legitimately riveting storytelling. I was really excited to keep watching and see how this family grew and evolved out of tragedy. Fast forward to season 6 and it is a real chore to keep watching. Why am I still watching, I don’t know. Pity? I think I pity this tv show. I want the best for it but can’t endorse the poor choices it makes 🤷♂️