When The Conners spun off from the Roseanne reboot and killed off Roseanne Conner, that started an uphill battle for the show to find renewed success. The first episode debuted to over 10 million viewers -- a solid number for broadcast TV in the post-streaming world, but just over half of the audience that had tuned in to Roseanne. That debut episode is still The Conners' most watched, four seasons later.

The series was able to successfully write around Roseanne's absence, but ratings declined as the years went on, with an average loss of approximately two million viewers per season. The Season 4 finale was the lowest rated episode of the entire series. What has made the show come apart? Weak storylines and less actual comedy in Season 4 suggest that Season 5 should be the last for this ABC spinoff.

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The Conners premiere

The main issue for many viewers is that without the laugh track, they wouldn’t know they were watching a sitcom. Roseanne tackled many heavy issues and serious subjects, but just when it would get to the verge of devastating, Roseanne Conner would drop a gut-busting bon mot to break the tension and remind the viewer this was definitively a comedy show. The Conners has more and more entered the realm of the “Very Special Episode” that takes a week off from the jokes to tackle a serious subject, like Tom Hanks' Ned being a secret alcoholic on Family Ties.

The Roseanne reboot had alredy played fast and loose with the beloved original show -- giving no explanation for the absence of Jackie’s son Andy or Roseanne and Dan’s youngest child Jerry. The show also took away all the ambition and agency it gave Becky and Darlene, leaving them worse off than Eleven in Stranger Things just to keep them broke and in the house. In later seasons of Roseanne, DJ was given more to do and became a weird and interesting character. All of that was washed away in the reboot and a cipher was left in his place. The spinoff hasn't fixed those problems. With The Conners, people are tuning for a relatable multi-cam sitcom firing off jokes and bits but find themselves watching a melancholy melodrama. It’s become more like a drama with funny moments than a sitcom that tackles real issues.

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darlene and dan from the conners

The meandering storylines drawn out over multiple episodes are poison to multi-camera sitcoms. Those shows need to have primarily stand-alone episodes, because viewers don't watch every one. That should be something the creative team behind The Conners take to heart, because as the show becomes more histrionic, it continues to hemorrhage viewers. In Season 5, the show has the opportunity to right the ship, tighten up the storylines, better define the characters and bring back the big jokes.

The Conners now gets a chance to steer itself towards a satisfying finale -- and likely should, given that Season 4 was their least successful. There is a lot to love about the show and the writers have a lot to work with, especially given their access to heavyweight comedic talents like John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and the iconic Christopher Lloyd. The best thing the series can do is take itself a little less seriously and end on a high note. It’s always important to know when to leave the party.

The Conners Season 5 premieres Sept. 21 on ABC.