‘The Conners’ To Talk About The Oscars As They Watch Live Along With America
The Conners will be watching the Oscars on Sunday night. The cast members of the ABC sitcom will be in character to offer commentary in a live spot during the 2020 awards ceremony.
During the third commercial break of the 92nd Academy Awards broadcast, the Conner clan will pop in for a live segment to comment on the winners, losers, or other newsworthy moments, Variety reports.
The Conners showrunner Bruce Helford told Variety that the show’s writers will be ready to whip out some quick lines based on how the Oscars telecast is going, but he noted that the cast will also be able to offer on-the-fly commentary during the live spot.
“We’ll know within a minute or so of the live promo happening what the last award or few awards were and if anything was interesting about them,” The Conners showrunner said. “We’ll write something or the cast will chime in and say, ‘Oh I want to say this…'”
Helford explained that there will be a camera watching The Conners cast from behind as they’re watching the Oscars. He stressed that the actors will be in character as their Conner alter egos for the unusual spot. There will also be precautions put in place should any technical difficulties arise.
It has not been announced which characters will do the talking during the Oscars segment. The Conners stars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, and Jayden Rey.
The unique Oscars crossover comes just two days before The Conners goes live for an entire episode. On Tuesday, February 11, the hit sitcom will deliver “Live From Lanford,” a first-ever live episode to coincide with the New Hampshire primary. Real-time results from ABC News will be incorporated into the episode in separate broadcasts on both the East and West coasts.
Metcalf previously told Fox News she’s nervous about the live political episode despite her years of theater experience. The actress explained that even though a stage performance is live, she has rehearsed the hell out of it and knows what she’s doing.
“In a live show, it’s going to have some wiggle room either the improv or, you know, something’s going to not stick to the script. That scares the sh*t out of me,” The Conners star admitted.
The Oscar-night Conners segment, which will also serve as a promo for Tuesday night’s live political episode, will obviously be short since it’s just taking place during a commercial break. During the segment, the cast members will probably only get to say a few words each about how the broadcast is going. Like last year’s ceremony, the 92nd Academy Awards will not have a host, so Dan Conner and his clan won’t have an opening monologue to draw from.
