‘The Conners’ Poised For Renewal; Will End Run With Abbreviated 7th Season

EXCLUSIVE: Good news for The Conners fans. The Roseanne follow-up, which just marked its 100th episode, will be getting a seventh season. The renewal is being finalized, with a short order to wrap the story expected, sources said. I hear it will be around six episodes, and the main cast, including John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson, is expected to return.

Six seasons in, The Conners, from Tom Werner’s Werner Entertainment, remains a sturdy ratings performer. It will now join Abbott Elementary as the second ABC comedy series renewed for next season; Not Dead Yet remains in limbo, its renewal odds are pretty low.

Both executive producer/showrunner Bruce Helford and star Goodman indicated last spring that Season 6 could be The Conners‘ last, with Helford stressing that star/executive producer Gilbert — who was instrumental in getting The Conners off the ground following the shock cancellation of Roseanne — had requested enough lead time so the series can build to a proper ending.

“We’ve got a final episode that may be one or the other. We love it,” Helford recently told Deadline when asked whether they had approached the Season 6 closer as a season or series finale amid uncertainty over The Conners‘ future. He called the episode “unexpected” and “emotional.”

For the first time in its run, The Conners found itself heavily on the bubble this year. As Deadline reported last month, a tag scene was shot to be added to the Season 6 finale should it become a series finale. That will no longer be necessary.