I agree, marshjes.

As one of the (apparently very few) people who thought Roseanne Barr should've been granted forgiveness and a second chance after she apologized for the very inappropriate joke that she made, I thought there was next to no chance that a reboot of the show without her could work. However, I have been very impressed with the trajectory "The Conners" has taken.

Is it funny? I'd say the show is more of a drama than a comedy, so I'd say, generally, the answer is "no". I can understand if people tune out for this reason. It does not have the same comedic elements that "Roseanne" did (the first five or six seasons, anyway), although "Roseanne" always had a strong dramatic streak, dealing as it did with the struggles of a working-class family living in America's (often-forgotten) "flyover country".

As it stands, I'm fine with this, since they are digging much deeper into the remaining characters-- especially Darlene and Becky --than they did even in the original series; and I think "The Conners" is meant just to be a "one-off" series anyway, to close out the story of the Conner family (I think the network is just planning on having this one season).

I didn't at all care for, or find myself even slightly impressed by, the first episode of this new series. However rapidly, since then, the show has found its groove and own voice, it no longer seems like the Roseanne-less Roseanne show, and I think things now are on good and healthy course.

From what I've heard and read, the ratings are good and the new show is considered a success. I suspect it'll probably be around for a long time. (A segment about the show was included on an episode of ABC's Nightline series a couple weeks ago, and it made very clear that The Conners is anticipated to have a long run.)

I should perhaps mention that I wasn't a fan of the original Roseanne series. I eventually got to watching it now and then, a number of seasons in, only when I realized how hilarious (as well as excellent of an actress) Laurie Metcalf is, therefore I started watching, during one of the final seasons, in order to enjoy seeing her. Wonderful Ms. Metcalf (as well as general curiosity) is also what brought me to this new series. I've been enjoying it.

Genplant29! I just wrote you on Goldbergs / Erica thread. Hi there. I would agree that The Connor's was something I didn't know about at first, but with each episode, I like it more and more. A long time ago, I heard a Weird Al song with lyrics about a gay Jewish black dude. I think of those lyrics while watching Murphy Brown and Roseanne/ The Connors.

It's good, too, with this new series, that the character development is intelligent and keeps on keeping on, rather than feeling like this is a rehash show (which it's not) that's attempting to keep everyone locked into their exact past or (where new characters are concerned) initial selves.

A fun thing I started noticing about this series during the final half of the season, particularly during the last couple or so episodes, is that now it's become readily noticeable, in a totally natural type way, how much of each of the Conner parents rubbed off onto Darlene (in particular) and now very much inform who she is and how she is. It's subtle, but you can really see and hear her parents in her now - which I don't recall ever thinking before.

Another good thing with this series is that there seemed to be little to no point to various secondary characters early in the season, though increasingly they're becoming more and more fleshed out, plus integrated into the stories in relevant ways.

With Season 1 now having concluded, I suspect that S2 will come in even stronger, since now the show's figuring out what its strengths and weaknesses are has been gotten out of the way.