A new deal has been made between Werner Entertainment, Debmar-Mercury and Lionsgate over the hit comedy series, “The Conners”, to make past seasons of the sitcom available globally on streaming and in syndication.

“The Connors” is a spin-off of the hit comedy series, “Roseanne”, and sees the family continue to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford. This iconic family — Dan, Jackie, Darlene and Becky — grapples with parenthood, dating, financial pressures and ageing in working-class America. Through it all — the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns — with love, humour and perseverance, the family prevails.

The series stars John Goodman as Dan Conner, Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris, Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner, Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner-Healy and Ames McNamara as Mark Conner-Healy.

“The Conners” is created by Werner Entertainment and executive produced by Tom Werner, with Sara Gilbert, Bruce Helford, Dave Caplan, Bruce Rasmussen and Tony Hernandez, all serving as executive producers.

This new deal covers all five previous seasons of “The Connors”, plus rights to future seasons, following ABC’s first window rights.  Lionsgate’s Worldwide Television Distribution Group will be handling the global distribution, including SVOD, AVOD, basic cable and FAST rights for the show, while Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury will handle the domestic syndication.

Carsey Werner said in a statement:

“Lionsgate’s global reach and success across all platforms makes us extremely confident they will successfully bring The Conners to audiences worldwide”

Lionsgate President of Worldwide Television Distribution Jim Packer added:

“We’re proud to be selected by a great force in television like Tom Werner and Werner Entertainment to bring this incredible property to buyers around the world.  This agreement shows Lionsgate’s ability to marshal all of its resources, combining the strength and prowess of our global distribution with Debmar-Mercury’s unparalleled syndication expertise in support of a remarkable brand and series.”

Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus also added:

“In the tradition of some of the most successful, longest-running multi-cam sitcoms, The Conners promises to be a great addition to TV stations lineups, and will offer a proven competitive advantage to broadcasters for years to come.  Tom Werner, together with Marcy Carsey and their creative team, have been responsible for many of the mega-comedies that helped build the broadcast business in the U.S. We are excited to be able to team with Tom and with Jim Packer’s global distribution team on The Conners.”

The show premieres on Disney’s ABC channel in the United States, with new episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu. However, previous seasons haven’t been available to stream on the platform.  Also, recently, the show was renewed for a sixth season.   It’s unknown if Disney is trying to secure the global rights to previous seasons for its streaming services, since they’ve had success with “The Conners” on ABC and Hulu already, though with Disney looking to cut costs, it’s possible this is why Lionsgate has been brought in as a partner to sell the show to any platform willing to pay.  It’s also unclear if Lionsgate will try to acquire the rights for the show for its own streaming service, Starz/Lionsgate+.

Would you like to see “The Connors” on Disney+?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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