‘The Conners’ Fans Left Confused By Live Promo During The Oscars
The Conners went live during the Oscars, but not everyone got the joke. The stars of the ABC sitcom delivered live commentary during a commercial break on the Academy Awards broadcast, leaving some fans confused and others still missing late matriarch Roseanne.
Last week, Variety reported that the cast of The Conners would offer on-the-fly, in-character Oscars commentary during a live spot on the 92nd Annual Academy Awards broadcast as a leadup to the show’s all-live episode that will coincide with the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night.
But while a real-time result was dropped during the bit – Sara Gilbert’s Darlene Conner named the film Parasite as an Oscar winner – the spot was simply a promo for the upcoming episode of The Conners.
The live commercial began with a camera showing the sitcom family from behind. In addition to Gilbert, John Goodman, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, and Jayden Rey participated in the promo. Veteran Conners star Laurie Metcalf was inexplicably missing from the ad.
As the Conners unknowingly watched themselves on TV, Kenney’s Harris Conner-Healy quipped, They must have invited some broke-a** people to the Oscars this year.”
Once the Conners realized it was them on the screen – that patchwork knit afghan and this bad haircuts were dead giveaways – the family went into panic mode.
“We are the last family that should be on live TV,” Goranson’s Becky said.
On YouTube, commenters gave mixed reviews to the live promo.
“Becky’s response is the best!!” one commenter wrote.
“Brink back Roseanne and fire Darlene,” another added.
In the comments to an Instagram post that showed fans this “first taste” of The Conners live, not everyone was impressed.
“If it’s as funny as this ‘live’ sketch was, then we’re in trouble,” one commenter wrote.
On Twitter, others were confused by the live aspect of the promo.
“Wait, is this a live ad for The Conners? Because they just referenced Parasite winning,” one viewer tweeted. “Also, did they have jokes prepared for every nominee?”
Other Twitter users slammed the idea of a live Conners episode, as can be seen by some of the reactions below.
I can’t think of anything worse than The Conners Live… and I watched Peter Pan Live
— ???? (@garegibb) February 10, 2020
They are really trying, but I seriously couldn't care less about the Conners Live. #Oscars2020
— Matt Nightingale (@mattnightingale) February 10, 2020
I wouldn’t watch the Conners if it was filmed live in my house
— Ray ? (@brewyeti) February 10, 2020
The February 11 live episode of The Conners, titled “Live From Lanford,” will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on both coasts and will include real-time election results from ABC News. Due to the three-hour time gap, the East and West coast broadcasts will feature different election coverage, and presumably, different ad-libbing from the cast.
