In their own way, the Conners women are always rooting for each other—even if they’re terrible in their approach.
Take the haplessness with which Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) and Louise (Katey Sagal) sweetly—and disastrously—attempt to help Becky (Lecy Goranson) meet a guy at a bar in this exclusive clip for The Daily Beast’s Obsessed from Wednesday’s new episode of The Conners.
Watch the clip below:
In the scene, Becky is frustrated at the pointlessness of trying to flirt with men at this point in her life: “We sat at the tables, we danced by the jukebox, and now we’re playing pool because you said guys would come over.”
Louise suggests that maybe the issue is that they’re too good at pool, and if they pretend to be bad at it, a guy will come over to teach them how to play. Cue another classic bout of physical comedy from Metcalf, whose performance as Jackie over the decades in The Conners and the original Roseanne series is a masterclass in that. She climbs onto the pool table and acts out being a clueless ditz who barely knows how to use a pool stick.
That’s when Dan (John Goodman) arrives and puts an end to all of the foolishness.
“Despite her busy life, Becky is ready to date again and turns to Jackie to help her find someone,” executive producer Dave Caplan tells Obsessed. “It only takes a moment of watching Jackie in action for Becky to realize she's made a huge mistake."
Becky’s life as a single mom and her sobriety journey has meant that finding a partner hasn’t been a priority, but her family wishes she would give it more of a shot.
“Becky is so busy working, going to school, and raising her daughter, that she hasn't really had time to date,” Caplan says. “Of course, just because she decides she decides it's time, it's always tricky meeting the right person. And it's always questionable whether Jackie's the one to turn to for advice.” As is often the case with the Conner family, sometimes it’s best not to get everyone involved: “Jackie wants to help Becky find someone to date. Her approach, sort of a damsel in distress disaster, is enough to convince Becky that she has to go it on her own."
The episode, “What’s So Funny About Peas, Love, and Understanding” airs Wednesday at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC, and is available the next day on demand and on Hulu.
