‘The Conners’ Stars on How They Landed Candice Bergen for Their Show (VIDEO)

Back in the fall of 1988, both ABC’s Roseanne and CBS’s Murphy Brown premiered and, in the course of their long runs, often were neck and neck for the top spot in the Nielsen ratings. Now, jump ahead 33 years and Candice Bergen, who won five Emmys for playing Murphy Brown, is guesting on Wednesday’s episode of Roseanne spin-off, The Conners.

Bergen plays Barb, the mother to Ben (Jay R. Ferguson), Darlene Conner’s (Sara Gilbert) live-in boyfriend, who comes to visit with some not-so-great family news. In the course of Barb’s visit, we’ll see that she and Ben don’t have the closest of relationships and she also has some strong opinions about the Conners’ household.

Also in the episode, Darlene’s sister Becky (Lecy Goranson) is spending more time with her baby’s father, Emilio (Rene Rosado), and while he very much would like to see their platonic relationship get more romantic, is it finally time for Becky to feel the same way?

Check out the interview above with Gilbert and Ferguson where they discuss how Bergen came to the show and also what’s to come for Ben and Darlene’s relationship later this season.

The Conners, Wednesdays, 9/8c, ABC.