‘The Conners’ Fall Premiere Date Set at ABC

ABC has announced its fall premiere dates, including one for The Conners, the new spin-off of Roseanne.

The network has pushed The Conners for a premiere in October according to a report by The Wrap, presumably filling the time that had been reserved for Roseanne season 11. The show will have to hit the ground running to keep the momentum is has from last year’s smash hit spin-off, while weaving the minefield of its former star’s controversial statements.

The Conners will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 16. It will join the new police drama The Rookie, starring Nathan Fillion and The Kids Are Alright. The Conners was originally expected to go to Wednesday nights, though the schedule has clearly shifted since the initial announcements.

After the massive success of this spring’s Roseanne reboot, it is no surprise to see the Conner family coming back to TV, even after the eponymous star was fired for her racist tweets. A few nail-biting weeks after the cancellation, ABC announced that the spin-off was officially in the works, with all the major characters except for Roseanne herself on board.

The show may have benefited from Roseanne‘s success, as the cast and crew had already set the time aside to make new episodes. It is unclear how many of the same people are working behind the scenes, though producers and writers Bruce Rasmussen, Bruce Helford and Sara Gilbert herself have already been listed on IMDb.

Of course, Gilbert, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman are also returning. The network was contractually obligated to pay the main cast even after the cancellation, so creating a spin-off was much more mutually beneficial. Still, all five appear to be genuinely excited for the new project in a joint statement released back in June.

“We have received a tremendous amount of support from fans of our show, and it’s clear that these characters not only have a place in our hearts, but in the hearts and homes of our audience,” it read. “We all came back last season because we wanted to tell stories about the challenges facing a working-class family today. We are so happy to have the opportunity to return with the cast and crew to continue to share those stories through love and laughter.”

Very few details have been released as to how and why the Conner family matriarch will be written off, though a plot synopsis states that the family suffers “a sudden turn of events,” and “are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.”

The Conners premieres on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.