Why Did The Conners End? Inside the Decision to Conclude the Sitcom After 7 Seasons

So long, Lanford.

After nearly 40 years, it was finally time to bid adieu to Delaware Street when The Conners came to a close with an emotional series finale.

The Conners first premiered in 2018, after the cancellation of the Roseanne revival. The sitcom spinoff focused on the continuing adventures of the Conner clan after the death of the family’s matriarch, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr).

Seven seasons later, the beloved TV family said goodbye with a six-episode farewell event, which gave a proper sendoff to the blue-collar characters who have become as iconic as the Conners’ couch and afghan blanket.

“I think we just have such a good time and we laugh a lot,” Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene, told PEOPLE in April 2025, when asked about the ending of the show.

“It feels like family, and because we did it for so many years, it’s sort of deep in our soul. And so that is hard to imagine being without,” she continued. “I think people feel like they get to laugh and they also get to feel at home with these characters, hopefully.”

So why did The Conners end? Here’s everything we know about the decision to sunset the series, and what the cast had to say about the finale.

Why did The Conners end?

After seven seasons and more than 100 episodes, the emotional two-part series finale of The Conners aired on April 23 on ABC.

In May 2024, the series was renewed for a seventh season, consisting of six episodes, to give a fitting conclusion to The Conners.

“This to everybody feels like the appropriate time. We’re going out on top,” executive producer Bruce Helford told Deadline after the renewal news. “We’re the most watched comedy on ABC, we had a great season, and this just feels like the right time to do this.”

Executive producer Dave Caplan added, “We didn’t want to try to squeeze blood from the stone until it was over. We just wanted to go out strong on top when we were on top of our game. And that’s how we feel like we’re doing it on our terms.”

What has the cast said about The Conners finale?

The core Conners cast played their characters on and off since Roseanne premiered in 1988, and it was an emotional farewell for the TV family, who had to say goodbye after 37 years.

“I’m happy with what we have. We could have taken a full season to do it but, that said, there was something nice about working in this smaller framework, almost like a limited series,” Gilbert told the Los Angeles Times.

“I’m not sure these last six episodes [of Season 7] were as much about discovery as they were about wrapping things up and enjoying being these characters for the last moments,” she explained.

In a March 2025 interview with PEOPLE, Laurie Metcalf (who played Jackie) said “there’s a lot to wrap up” in the final episodes.

“It’s not going to have a big bow tied up with the Conners and it will remain true to their storyline,” she shared. “But, it’s a very short amount of time to wrap up this many seasons of a family that’s covered decades.”

Emma Kenney (who portrayed Harris) teased the final episode was “probably going to hit home for a lot of people,” after a final season she described as “definitely bittersweet.”

Meanwhile, in a retrospective behind-the-scenes video leading up to the finale, Gilbert said, “We always knew this would come to an end. Somehow it felt like it would be forever.”

John Goodman (who played patriarch Dan) added, “I’m going to miss it very, very much. Above all, we had fun.”

Where can I watch The Conners?

All seven seasons of The Conners are streaming on Hulu.