Scripted TV shows aren’t always the best at telling extremely timely stories, since episodes are often written weeks, if not months, ahead of their eventual airdates. But as The Conners proved with its Season 5 finale, it’s easier to achieve currency relevance when angling to the future, leading to not just one, but two scenes referencing Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And one of them involving Mark ripping on his mom, which doesn’t seem like it would be approved by Star-Lord.
In The Conners’ latest season capper, an early scene showed Jay R. Ferguson’s Ben rocking a sweet T-shirt featuring Chris Pratt’s Walkman-adoring hero, while a later scene specifically namechecked the second and third Guardians of the Galaxy films. When I talked to showrunner Bruce Helford and executive producer Dave Caplan about crossing paths with space-faring superheroes, at least in reference form, the latter confirmed that was indeed a request made by ABC and Disney, saying:
Yeah, you know, obviously there's a little bit of synergy there with Disney and ABC, and then the release of their movie. So they asked us if if we would mention it.
Bruce Helford chimed in, stressing that it was more of a friendly ask and not a corporate demand, while also explaining why he was perfectly happy with giving it a thumbs up.
They asked if we were cool with mentioning it. And I personally am a huge comic book geek. I mean, big time, big time. And I was really happy that we got a chance to bring it up. So it was cool. But they're always very respectful in asking, 'Would you guys, and is it cool, and would it fit?' They always say, 'If it doesn't fit in the show, we don't want to force anything. Just, you know, this film is coming up.' And it does feel like our characters would [be fans]. I can easily see Mark and Ben being into that stuff, so it felt natural.
In the scheme of things, it now seems weird that Ben doesn't wear way more T-shirts that display all of his pop culture loves. And without even bringing the Disney/Marvel-ness into it, none of the characters central to The Conners would stand out if they'd be seen in a movie theater chowing down on popcorn while watching Quantumania, The Marvels, or the slew of upcoming Marvel movies down the line.
On the flip side, it was slightly more bizarre to see Nathan Fillion’s John Nolan wearing a Guardians of the Galaxy T-shirt in The Rookie’s cliffhanger finale, even though Fillion is actually IN GOTG Vol. 3. Which isn’t to say Nolan looks like he abhors superheroes, but it still felt like more of a shoehorned-in approach.
The Conners circled back to the super-squad later, when Ben was attempting to bond more with Mark in light of all things David-related coming back into play temporarily. They had the following exchange:
- Ben: Come on, we can watch Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Get ready for Guardians 3. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm gonna say that they'll be guarding the galaxy.
- Mark: Do you think they'll be battling intergalactic monsters like Mother?
How sweet would it be if the real villain for the franchise was actually Sara Gilbert's Darlene? I mean, it wouldn't be sweet for the universe.
Can we expect any other upcoming Disney movies to show up on The Conners in the future? Dave Caplan joked about another highly anticipated blockbuster, but don’t actually expect it to happen. (Especially if the WGA writers strike continues.)
We've got a whole Little Mermaid episode coming. No, we don't, actually.
The Conners recently enjoyed some synergy-driven fun by bringing in Whoopi Goldberg as a guest star, with Lecy Goranson saying it was “such a delight” to have the View moderator on the set. And to a similar, I asked her, Helford and Caplan about their thoughts on what a Conners Disney theme park ride would be like if it happened, and they offered up some A+ ideas.
For now, it’s unknown if and when The Conners will be back on ABC, with Season 6 news still unconfirmed. But it seems likely, even with the strike, so keep those fingers crossed, whether they’re human, raccoon, tree, or otherwise.
