WhenThe Connersseason 5’s Christmas episode was banned, this accidentally made theRoseannespinoff’s continuity way more confusing due to a knock-on effect.The Connersseason 7will bring the sitcom franchise to a close in March 2025, but its release date means that the show is unlikely to air another Christmas special. This means that season 5, episode 10, “The Dog Days of Christmas,” is now the final Christmas episode of bothRoseanneandThe Conners. Unfortunately, the outing is not available for viewing anywhere online as “The Dog Days of Christmas” was banned shortly after its broadcast.
Why The Conners’ Thanksgiving Reunion Is The Roseanne Spinoff’s Highest-Rated Episode
The Conners Thanksgiving special is the show’s highest rated episode, and there’s a reason viewers singled out this Roseanne spinoff outing.
While it may not be thebest episode ofThe Conners, “The Dog Days of Christmas” is a solid festive outing. Not allThe Conners’ cast of charactersget a subplot, but Dan and Louise do get more to do than usual andSaturday Night Live’s Jane Curtin shines in her guest role as Louise’s mother. It is hard to deny that the 7-year age gap between Curtin and Louise’s actor Katey Sagal is pretty noticeable, but this egregious casting wasn’t what led to the episode being banned. Instead, it was a throwaway joke that could have been offensive.
Why The Conners Season 5, Episode 10 Was Banned
An Unfortunately-Timed Joke About Christmas Parades Led To The Ban
Early on in the Christmas special, John Goodman’s laconic Dan asked his quirky mother-in-law whether she hit anyone on her way to their home. He is mocking her poor night vision, but Curtin’s character replies by saying that she could run over a marching band without noticing in her RV. Understandably, some viewers thought that this line referenced the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade attack, in which a driver killed six people and injured many more. Among the injured were members of a high school marching band, according to theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel. This made the poorly-timed gag all the more unfortunate.
Another scene in “The Dog Days of Christmas” provided vital information about Dan’s family that hasn’t been addressed in the series before or since
Frustratingly for longtime viewers,“The Dog Days of Christmas” blithely revealed some vital information before the episode was banned. The rest of the episode featured little that was likely to offend viewers, but ABC nonetheless pulled the outing from streaming in the days following the outcry from Waukesha residents. WhileThe Connersendingmay never mention Dan’s family again, another scene in “The Dog Days of Christmas” provided vital information about them that hasn’t been addressed in the series before or since. Now, this information is lost to viewers re-watching earlier seasons ofRoseanneandThe Conners.
The Conners Season 5 Episode, 10 Revealed Dan’s Mother Died Off-Screen
Dan’s Mother Audrey Last Appeared In Roseanne Season 9
In “The Dog Days of Christmas,”Dan reveals that his mother Audrey died off-screen at some point.but doesn’t elaborate on this revelation. Since Louise’s mother is visiting in the same episode and Roseanne and Jackie’s elderly mother, Bev, remains a central figure in the show’s recurring cast, this comes as something of a surprise. Dan’s mother, Audrey, was elderly by the time “The Dog Days of Christmas” took place. However, Bev’s actor, Estelle Parsons, is 97 years old as of 2024, andThe Connersseason 7 still needs to bring her backfor the show’s final outing in 2025.
Audrey was an inconsistent presence throughoutRoseanne’s original run, due largely to her relationship with Dan’s father, Ed. Ed and Audrey broke up beforeRoseannebegan and Audrey first appeared inRoseanneseason 2, episode 9, “We Gather Together.” This Thanksgiving special revealed that she was a travel agent, but the show changed her character details off-screen after this appearance. In season 6, Roseanne informed Dan that his mother was mentally unwell while, byRoseanneseason 9, Dan had sent Audrey to live in California so she could receive therapy. Dan then began an affair with his mother’s therapist.
The Conners Season 6 Made Audrey’s Roseanne Disappearance Weirder
The Conners’ Missing Christmas Episode Provided Vital Context
SinceRoseanne’s hated season 9was largely retconned in its own messy finale,it is hard to work out the truth about Dan’s mother inThe Connerscanon. Audrey’s actor changed in her finalRoseanne’s appearance when she showed up in season 9, episode 22, “Arsenic and Old Mom.” Here, Audrey was now played by Debbie Reynolds rather than her original actor, Ann Wedgeworth. This, combined withRoseanneseason 9 being revealed to be Roseanne’s bizarre novel-within-a-show in the finale, means it is now hard to tell when Audrey last actually appeared. “The Dog Days of Christmas” complicated proceedings even further.
For viewers watching via reruns, it is strange to see Dan paying for his mother-in-law’s medical care and letting her stay with him when he hasn’t mentioned his birth mother in years.
ThroughoutThe Conners, it is clear that many elements ofRoseanne’s canon remain in place. Dan didn’t die of a heart attack, but his father, Ed, did marry Roseanne’s much younger friend, Crystal. This is reaffirmed inThe Connersseason 6, episode 5, “When Sisters Collide and the Return of the Grifters,” when Dan uses the money that Neville repaid him to pay for Crystal’s heart medication. For viewers watching via reruns, it is strange to see Dan paying for his mother-in-law’s medical care and letting her stay with him when he hasn’t mentioned his birth mother in years.
Can The Conners Season 7 Still Retroactively Fix Audrey’s Confusing Fate?
The Conners Season 7 Can Still Clarify Audrey’s Retconned Fate
Luckily,The Connersseason 7’s “Six episode farewell event”can clarify the fate of Dan’s mother.Dan can mention that his mother passed away at some point inThe Connersseason 7, reinstating this fact as part of the show’s canon now that “The Dog Days of Christmas” is no longer available to view. Since Audrey seemingly died sometime afterRoseanne’s original run ended, there is no reason to believe that this event will have a major formative impact on season 7 of the spinoff. However, not mentioning the event could complicate Crystal’s role in the show’s concluding chapter.
Ames McNamara
Mark Conner-Healy
While season 7 isn’t likely to featureexperimentalThe Connersepisodeslike the show’s two live outings, the “Farewell event” will most likely try to tie together its many lingering plot strands. This means explaining how Dan plans to keep supporting Crystal, or the spinoff potentially killing her off. Either of these plots would make more sense if the show first clarified that Dan’s own mother was long dead, something “The Dog Days of Christmas” confirmed before it was pulled from reruns. Thus,The Connersseason 7 must bring back theRoseannespinoff’s lore from this lost episode.
