Summary
- Jackie’s liberal mindset and stance on drag queens revives her conflict with Roseanne in the ABC revival of the show.
- The Connors season 6 episode 4 starts a conflict when some songs are banned by the music teacher because of their drag queen references.
Several years after the canceled revival, ‘The Conners’ finally resurrects Jackie and Roseanne’s original conflict.
Although the family comedy mainly featured Roseanne and the Dan Conners family, Jackie also got a lot of focus.
Jackie is a Harris sister who was brought up along with Roseanne by a highly abusive father and a shrewd mother. Naturally, sisterhood comes with its own conflicts, and the two have had varying opinions on almost everything since eternity.
It has been a long time since Roseanne’s unexpected death from an opioid overdose, but Jackie and the rest of the Connors seem to have moved on from the tragedy, although the matriarch is recalled from time to time.
The Connors season 6, episode 4, titled “Shrinks Don’t Talk and Kids Don’t Sing,” subtly references Roseanne instead of a direct name-drop and brings back her conflict with Jackie.
In the episode, the focus shifts to Beverly Rose’s school while Becky tries to launch a musical class despite the fund crunch.
She hires Dan’s wife, Lousie, for the job, and she does it quite well because of her experience as a touring musician.
However, the class teacher talks about some limitations to the students and mentions that they are prohibited from singing songs that mention ‘queens’ as that can be construed as drag queens by the parents. This discussion finally reached Jackie, who was not pleased at all.
Jackie is a proud liberal, and the abolishment of terms because of their preconceived LGBTQ+ connotations annoys her very much. She rants about how this shouldn’t be allowed to happen and even takes matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, while Dan’s oldest daughter fully supports her, Lousie disagrees, which frustrates both.
The entire fiasco reminds us of Jackie and Roseanne’s initial wave of conflicts in the initial days of the show. The sisters weren’t on talking terms when the show was revived because of their severely opposing political stances.
While Roseanne is a Republican, Jackie is a rigid Democrat. Thus, their political ideologies always conflict, leading to incessant friction between the two leads.
This is a great tool used by the makers to portray what was happening in the country during the 80s while marinating it in a generous helping of humor and lighthearted comedy. Even today, fans love this trope and consider it one of the best ones in the show.
About The Conners
The Conners is an American television comedy-drama sitcom created for ABC as a spin-off continuation of the long-running series Roseanne. Bruce Helford serves as showrunner for the show which stars John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey, and Maya Lynne Robinson, with all except Robinson reprising roles from Roseanne.
After an unexpected turn of events, the Conner family is forced to face the daily struggles of life in a way they never have before. This iconic family, Dan, Jackie, Darlene, Becky, and D.J., demonstrates that laughter, conversation, and love can overcome anything. The family grapples with issues, including parenting, dating, an unexpected pregnancy, financial pressures, aging, and in-laws. The family prevails through it all – the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns – with love, humor, and perseverance.
No Comments on ‘The Conners’ Revives Roseanne & Jackie’s Political Conflict