Sara Gilbert: ‘The Conners’ works because it’s relatable

NEW YORK >> TV revivals are usually met with fanfare, but some like “Murphy Brown” failed to click with the audience. An exception is the sitcom “The Conners,” a spinoff of “Roseanne.”

Ratings for its first season exceeded ABC’s expectations.

Sara Gilbert plays sarcastic single mom Darlene Conner. She thinks “The Conners” works because it’s relatable.

The Conner family struggles to make ends meet, squabbles, and grieves the loss of its matriarch who died from an opioid overdose.

ABC canceled “Roseanne” in 2018 because of Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. The network dismissed Barr.

Season two of “The Conners” premieres Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT.

A previously unreleased track from Franklin is coming out

NEW YORK >> Christmas is bringing the gift of a previously unreleased Aretha Franklin recording.

“Big Band Holidays II” from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis has a holiday album that will feature the late icon singing “O Tannebaum.” Franklin performed the song as she played the piano at a 2015 holiday concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center; her performance of the classic, in both English and German, was a surprise.

It will be featured on the album, which is being digitally released on Oct. 25 and will be in stores on Nov. 8. Few songs have been released from Franklin since her death in August 2018.

Aurora survivors urge ‘Joker’ studio to support gun control

DENVER >> Alarmed by violence depicted in trailers for the upcoming movie “Joker,” some survivors of the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting are asking distributor Warner Bros. to commit to gun control causes.

Sandy Phillips’ daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was one of 12 people killed during a midnight showing of the Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” also distributed by Warner Bros.

Phillips and four other Aurora survivors sent a letter to Warner on Tuesday asking the studio to lobby for gun control.

Phillips says she was compelled to act after seeing a trailer for “Joker,” the Batman villain portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the film being released Oct. 4.

A Warner Bros. representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gilbert