The Conners' Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, & Emma Kenney Reveal How Season 6 Still 'Walks A Fine Line' - Exclusive Interview
For many TV viewers, there's something comforting about seeing an average family depicted on screen. This is certainly true of ABC's "The Conners," which effortlessly blends humor with real-world hardships such as financial insecurity, job hunting, failed marriages, death, addiction, and more.
On February 7, this relatability continues when "The Conners" Season 6 premieres on ABC, picking up right where the previous season left off: Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf) isn't having the easiest time running The Lunchbox, Becky Conner (Lecy Goranson) is living with Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert) and Ben Olinsky (Jay R. Ferguson) as she pursues a new chapter in life, and Harris Conner (Emma Kenney) is trying to figure out her next endeavor.
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Metcalf, Goranson, and Kenney share details about "The Conners" Season 6. This includes the impact of the strike on production, how show writers "walk a very fine line" of tackling serious issues while incorporating humor, and what it's like to have the glamorous presence of Estelle Parsons, who is returning as Jackie's mother Beverly Harris, on set.
Excited to be back
How does it feel to be entering the sixth season?
Laurie Metcalf: Feels fantastic. Especially coming off the strike, and we were all chomping at the bit to get back. And here we are and we're working on Episode 4 this week.
Lecy Goranson: We did two episodes and then we were off for Christmas break for two weeks, and I thought, "Why are we ..." We're off for break normally during the season when we hit that time ... We've been working for, what, three months? And so this time we had just started, so I'm like, "Break already? I want to keep going." So I'm cooking Christmas dinner with my dad and he's like, "Why are you distracted?" I'm like, "Because I want to be back at work." We just got back, feels great.
How soon after the strike ended did you start?
Emma Kenney: I think we were the second show back to production. I want to say the first one was also at the studio, but we were I think a day after them. So we were very blessed to be able to go back to work so soon.
Goranson: It was a couple weeks. I think ABC wanted to give the writers some more time, which makes sense.
What can audiences expect?
When we enter the new season, where are all of your characters at in life?
Metcalf: Well, Jackie is still managing The Lunchbox, which she owns, and it is coming into some problems. It's always a struggle to make that place work, and so she's having to deal with that. And she's also sort of rethinking if that's where she wants to put all of her energies. So I don't know where it's headed, but she's having second thoughts about working there.
Goranson: Becky's still working at The Lunchbox. She's still in school getting her social worker degree, and she still has, obviously, her daughter, Beverly Rose, and she has a new man in her life, Tyler, played by Sean Astin. And I think that this season, she's ready to introduce him to the family, which I think she has some anxiety about, for obvious reasons, because the family is a lot.
Kenney: This season, Harris is figuring out her next moves into adulthood and which paths she wants to take. And I think she's having some second thoughts on her previous decision on being a tattoo artist and that career move.
Tackling the serious issues
I love that this show, it's obviously a comedy, but it covers some really serious topics, like death, addiction, and alcoholism. Lecy, what has it been like portraying Becky's journey to sobriety? Have you gotten any feedback from fans who maybe can relate?
Goranson: Yeah, it's so powerful. It's so funny because I feel such joy at work every day. It's funny and the lines are funny and we have a good time. But sometimes when people approach me about the show, they are so emotionally connected. It's not just "ha ha ha." And people have talked to me ... A lot of people say to me that they hope that Becky gets a break. I think they can feel her efforts. They can feel her pain. It's so interesting to think about how those moments ... because sometimes we shoot out of order and whether there's a pandemic or there's whatever has been happening all these years that we've been on the show, but that those moments really resonate with people in a really profound way. And I just think it's so cool that a comedy like ours can also do that. I feel like that's our legacy and I feel like we're still doing it and I feel like it doesn't take away the joy and the laughter. It just adds to it. It just adds more depth and dimension. But yeah, I always wonder if the writers are going to have her in a position where she is up against something. But it seems like she is in a pretty healthy way right now. So it seems like she's finding a lot of balance in her life.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Fans can relate to The Conners' struggles
And another big piece, it depicts the working middle class population so well, especially today. Groceries are so expensive, people have to find a million different jobs to make ends meet. Can you speak to that end of the show, how it's relatable?
Kenney: Yeah, I think "The Conners" is really broadcasting a group of people that possibly have been overlooked on mainstream media before. I know I have spoken to so many people that watch the show and are fans and relate, and maybe their families have gone through similar situations, and they say that the show helps them. It helps make them laugh at the end of the day and they feel more seen and heard. And I think that's so special while doing a show, to be able to connect to people.
Metcalf: The writers managed to walk a very fine line of tackling issues or just even day-to-day situations. The family talks about money quite a bit. It's always an issue. It's never gone away all these decades that the show has been on, it's still relevant. And yet they can take those situations and find some humor in them. And I think that can be comforting to watch from your home.
Beverly's return
Fans also enjoy how, over the years, there have been some famous faces that pop in, like Matthew Broderick and Ozzy Osbourne. With the new season, can we expect any more?
Metcalf: I think we can, but we just don't know who they are until we get on the set ourselves sometimes or look at the cast list. All that's done somewhere else far, far away until we ...
Kenney: Neverland.
Metcalf: Neverland. Then we walk on the set and say, "Oh, my God, look who's here."
Kenney: We see a cool name on the call sheet.
Metcalf: Yeah, yeah.
Kenney: It's a fun feeling.
Goranson: But we have had Estelle Parsons back already, which is incredible. She's like our collective hero. She-ro. And she just blows in from New York and from whatever she's doing, directing or whatever. She's always doing something and then she just shows up and just blows all our minds.
Kenney: She's so glamorous too, the way she walks onto set. And she always is off-book and she's so smart and together. It's really impressive [and] cool to see at her age.
Goranson: And it's great fun to watch her with Laurie because they're both such theater pros and they have just such depth to their relationship. That mother-daughter situation is so, so powerful. Maybe too powerful.
"The Conners" Season 6 premieres on February 7 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.