Showcasing life’s best and worst moments, ABC’s The Conners has been entertaining audiences for nearly four full seasons. The show touches on real world problems such as sobriety, religion, marriage and everything in between.
The Conners does an incredible job of tackling life’s foes in an ultra-entertaining manner. Fans know that the secret sauce to a show like this can be chalked up to many ingredients. One of those ingredients is the cast that makes up this beloved American sitcom.
But what is this cast like once the camera’s stop rolling? Well, as Ames McNamara shares in an exclusive interview with Celeb Secrets, the Conner family doesn’t stop being a family behind the scenes.
“You know, we always have so much fun on set and that’s one of my favorite parts about being on the show in general is the family,” McNamara said. “That’s a great word, a family atmosphere on set and it’s not just the cast, you know, I love everyone, everyone on the crew as well, and just joking in between takes and it just makes it so nice to be there because I get to work with people that I really love.”
Being a part of a project as great as this one, it’s no surprise McNamara has such a love for this show.
The Conners even extended the “family atmosphere on set” to their viewers. Season four kicked off with a live episode, inviting a studio audience to watch all the fun unfold in real time.
McNamara dished that while a live episode was new territory, it was an experience he cherishes.
“It was so fun and, you know, I’ve gotten the chance to be able to do two live episodes now and it’s just both times, it’s just been such an amazing experience,” McNamara said. “It’s like it’s completely different than doing a normal show because, you know, you only have one shot at it and whatever happens happens. And particularly this live show with the live callers was really fun.”
Taking the “relatable” notch up that much more, The Conners gave those who often times can “see themselves” in this show a chance to literally see themselves in the show. The live episode featured real Facetime calls to fans during the episode as part of the plotline.
“So, you know, there was the ‘Be a Conner’ competition, where people could enter and they would get randomly selected and they were told, you know, they might have a chance, but they did not know that they were going to be on the show until I said, ‘Hi, this is Mark Conner,'” Ames said. “So it was, it was super fun for them. I’m sure. And it was super fun for me too, because I got to interact with these people in real time and ask them some questions and it was really cool.”
This interactive element may have just made it our favorite episode of all time and for McNamara, he shared that this episode is his favorite as well.
“I mean, I think it has to be because just also the amount of preparation that went into it beforehand,” McNamara said. “But on the entire crew’s part and all the cast too, you know, and to see it pay off like that and both shows went great. Yeah, I think, I think that has to my favorite episode.”
This can’t-miss season kick off was hardly the last episode to come, as the season has continued to roll out binge-worthy moments.
McNamara explained that while this season may seem like the end of Darlene and Ben’s relationship as we know it, it is far from the end of entertainment.
“I’ll tell you something that people can look forward to for Mark,” McNamara explains. “You know, with Darlene and Ben’s breakup and I think Mark navigating that as well…we saw him get close to Ben in past seasons and I feel like Mark kind of views him as a father figure in a way and now that relationship has fallen apart. We saw some of that in the wedding episode, but sort of him navigating [it]. Like he still was really close with Ben, but Ben is sort of… out of the family in a way now. I think that’s something that I’ll look forward to and just getting to explore mark growing up and dealing with the problems of a normal teenager that he’ll face.”
Celeb Secrets sat down virtually with Ames to learn more about his character Mark, what’s next for the Conner family and what happens behind-the-scenes that viewers normally don’t get to see. Check out the full interview below!
You can catch new episodes of The Conners every Wednesday at 9PM ET/PT on ABC, on demand, and the next day on Hulu.
On tomorrow’s episode titled “Let’s All Push Our Hands Together For The Stew Train and The Conners Furniture,” the Lunch Box is busier than ever, and when Jackie (played by Laurie Metcalf) devises an offbeat plan of how to serve the customers, it’s anything but smooth service. Meanwhile, Dan (played by John Goodman) begins to sell some furniture to make room for his new bride and her things but finds it a bit harder to let go than he thought.
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