This is the thread where we talk about Roseanne.

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i always liked the bits during the closing credits.

and that darlene's boyfriend would wear Milk & Cheese and Sandman t-shirts.

kingfish 'doublescoop' moose tracks (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 26 August 2005 04:53 (eighteen years ago) link

I liked it a lot when it originally aired --- up to Becky getting married --- but always get bored with the reruns after a couple minutes. I don't know if it's a case of "it doesn't hold up" so much as I have different tastes now.

The whole point of David is that he was so punchable; perfect partner for Darlene to dominate.

oops (Oops), Friday, 26 August 2005 07:11 (eighteen years ago) link

dominate dump in favour of you.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 26 August 2005 08:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I still like the show, except when I turn on for reruns and it's in the last season, or two seasons if I'm not in the mood. I still adore Darlene totally - and I hear Sara Gilbert turned out to be a lesbian, which I'm sure came as an enormous shock to all of us. Jackie and Dan were great too.

A favourite moment: Dan in jail, and Darlene is the one who turns up to bail him out. "I think we both knew it would come to this one day - but who would have guessed it would be this way round?" Her pleasure in every second, Dan's weary "Just get me out of here." Perfect. Also when she got her first period, and Dan has no idea what to say or do, and ends up punching her in the shoulder and saying "Way to go!"

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 26 August 2005 11:24 (eighteen years ago) link

Also it seemed really brave at the time (and I think still does) that it wasn't really escapist entertainment - Dan lost his job in one episode, and it turned out that at the end of the episode... he'd still lost his job. He was unemployed for months, the family were poor, things were grim. That sort of thing is far more impressive to me that the constant reset button on EG Stepford and Son.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 26 August 2005 11:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I can't think of a stage set on television that looked any more authentic than the one used on "Roseanne".

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 26 August 2005 15:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Laurie Metcalf (Jackie) is one of the founding members of the Steppenwolf Theatre company in Chicago (along with John Mahoney, John Malkovich, and Gary Sinise).

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 August 2005 15:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Also it seemed really brave at the time (and I think still does) that it wasn't really escapist entertainment - Dan lost his job in one episode, and it turned out that at the end of the episode... he'd still lost his job. He was unemployed for months, the family were poor, things were grim. That sort of thing is far more impressive to me that the constant reset button on EG Stepford and Son.

Yes, I remember this was really significant at the time, as the show was debuting at a time when The Cosby Show was the most popular program in the U.S.

Also PP OTM about the set.

jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 August 2005 15:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm easily embarassed, and was much worse about this as a kid, so I could never watch Roseanne - PERIODS OMG WTF?!?!?
I admire it now though, the cast was really excellent.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:00 (eighteen years ago) link

did dan die?

Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link

boring fact everyone already knows: 2nd Becky aka Sarah Chalke now Dr Elliott Reed in Scrubs.

Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Darlene: Trust me, he goes in that room cause it's the only one with a lock on it, and he's in there for like an hour at a time. Which means he's either really, really good at it, or really, really bad at it

Roseanne: Well I don't want you to give him any grief about this, ya know, cause you could traumatize him and turn him into a serial killer!

Darlene: Well don't worry, how much damage could he do with only one free hand?

luna (luna.c), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link

I love that the show didn't shy away from showing teens at their worst. Becky was really really awful when she was 13 or 14. Not in that she did anything bad, but in that she was totally unpleasant. And then Darlene had her dark and angsty phase where she gave up sports and didn't move off the couch for weeks at a time. I also liked that the show really focused on the daughters, whereas most television up to that point seemed to really focus on sons. I almost forgot DJ was even on the show.

Also, in the one "morality" type episode they had, where Darlene is stuck with her slutty neighbor at a concert, and is offered pot by some guy in a leather jacket, I loved the self-awareness of her reply: "oh god, I feel like I'm in a really bad after school special".

The show got really horrible in the end, though. Too bad.

not sure about pickles (Jacqui Pickles), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:10 (eighteen years ago) link

There was some other great Darlene line about not smoking pot because it dulled her anger.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

Also when she got her first period, and Dan has no idea what to say or do, and ends up punching her in the shoulder and saying "Way to go!"

I remember this so clearly, it was one of absolutely one of my favorite moments of tv in my adolescence.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:21 (eighteen years ago) link

I love it when imdb contributors start facing off:

Trivia for "Roseanne"

# "Corn" (the vegetable) is shown or mentioned in every episode. (usually creamed corn)

# "Corn" (the vegetable) is shown or mentioned in every episode. (usually canned corn)

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 26 August 2005 17:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Also, I think they were the first tv show to regularly show people watching tv.

Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 26 August 2005 19:00 (eighteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
So anyone got the DVD set of the first season?

alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:09 (eighteen years ago) link

For me, the beginning of the end was really when Roseanne and Jackie's mother came into the show full time. And I know that she's supposed to be a really good actress and she was in Bonnie and Clyde and all that, but I can't stand her. Estelle... whatever it is, I can't remember.

accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:44 (eighteen years ago) link

I always marvelled at the fact that Darlene's baby was Shelly Winters's great-great-grandson.

jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:53 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...
Stand up special on HBO tonight, Roseanne fans.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Sunday, 5 November 2006 01:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Estelle... whatever it is, I can't remember.

parsons

he said shut up (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 November 2006 03:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Ehh...the Roseanne stand-up was kinda iffy! It's not that her material was bad, but the delivery was fucked, no real sense of comic timing, like:
"mumblemumbleYELLYELLYELLmumblemumble *awkward pause* mumblemumbleYELLYELLYELL *awkward pause* mumblemumble"

Marmot (marmotwolof), Sunday, 5 November 2006 05:55 (seventeen years ago) link

her material was oddly dated, and she felt really uncomfortable on the stage, not sure where to go with it, not sure what real meant.

a couple of years ago, there was an article about her struggle with (multiple personality/disscoative(sp)/something else) and i kept thinking that one of the more fascinating things about both the special, that article, and the last season of roseanne (and really the wasteland that was post roseanne) was that she was one of the last few who got very rich very quickly, and didnt know what to do about it.

she doesnt have that meta/postmodern sheen of artifice, that training of how to live and what to do with fame, and its really weird, to watch roseanne, and see it in a meta way, see how its in a coded way, about figuring out how to deal with issues of public/private

the scene at her father's funeral, or some of the interactions with jackie, or how much she hates arnie, in some of those episodes, or jackie going to therapy, and its not the working class versmillitude of the early episodes, but its this bizarre document on fame...

i also found it really interesting that, everyone eventually got paired off, and for the last (3?) seasons they had no idea how to handle, what to do with dj.

(you can see similar issues from the beginning, of grace under fire, with brett butler, and it disintergrates sooner, but there are episodes, maybe a dozen or so, that are the best, most real things ever on television, a hyper, broken remix of roseanne)

pinkmoose (jacklove), Sunday, 5 November 2006 08:13 (seventeen years ago) link

anthony, that's one of the best things i've ever seen you post.

the starbucks in the forbidden city (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 November 2006 08:44 (seventeen years ago) link

her material was oddly dated

Yeah! It was like she wrote most of it a couple of years ago and hadn't updated it yet.

Marmot (marmotwolof), Sunday, 5 November 2006 11:09 (seventeen years ago) link

thanks!

pinkmoose (jacklove), Sunday, 5 November 2006 19:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Ever notice that Darlene's boyfriend looks like Dave Eggers?

It sure did get bad at the end, when they won the lottery, like they were selling out the whole point of the show to begin with.

shookout (shookout), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:09 (seventeen years ago) link

the last season episodes with dj & heather matazarro are great

and what (ooo), Sunday, 5 November 2006 20:11 (seventeen years ago) link

two months pass...
The last episode almost salvaged the last season for me. Twas that good.

Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 14 January 2007 22:47 (seventeen years ago) link

THANK GOD THERE's a ROSEANNE THREAD!

i mean, i really can't get over the first and second seasons. just got the DVDs and i'm really, i've been transported to another place.

um...

one of the 1st comments on this thread was something about how roseanne isn't a good actress/comedian and how it's like dan's show. i couldn't disagree more! they're on equal ground. both so great. all of em. gushing, i know. the dvd menu screen is staring me in the face as i type! gg

Surmounter (rra123), Monday, 15 January 2007 03:11 (seventeen years ago) link

also i really don't know how bad it could be at the end of its run. i mean i'd have to watch some episodes but i remember seeing later ones on TV and i never felt like, oh this is so bad.


Surmounter (rra123), Monday, 15 January 2007 03:13 (seventeen years ago) link

I got season two for christmas. I might have to buy the rest! Until the new Becky shows up. I don't need to own those.

gunther heartymeal (keckles), Monday, 15 January 2007 04:39 (seventeen years ago) link

six months pass...

http://www.roseanneworld.com/blog/2007/08/my_sex_tape.php

StanM, Friday, 10 August 2007 08:03 (sixteen years ago) link

holy crap! (various posts)

http://perezhilton.com/?cat=316

StanM, Friday, 10 August 2007 08:05 (sixteen years ago) link

Date: Aug 9, 2007 5:35 PM
Subject: i wish that perez h.
Body: would sneak onto my land here, and then i could legally shoot him. I think i could lure him with promises of free lard cookies and chubby chasing gays who would actually want to let him gag on their knobs. He didnt get that my blogs were a joke, and then he didnt get that my intern thing was a joke either. How can you be gay and that dense? He may as well be an ignorant fat hillbilly…he has all the astute appreciation of irony and humor that they do. Gay guys should turn straight out of shame that he is one of their kind.

Date: Aug 9, 2007 5:48 PM
Subject: i am not rosie odonnell
Body: and tired of people thinking i am. One, I am cute, two, i like guns and I am crazy not depressed. I am glad that whoopi got the job on the view and not me after all. She is perfect for that show… and like rosie she will talk about things that have nothing to do with working people, public schools, or unions, or how both parties are irrelevant to this country’s constitution. Plus, I would not be able to stop staring at Barbara Walters’ head the whole time. It is huge. she looks like mr. burns.

Date: Aug 9, 2007 5:58 PM
Subject: posh spice looks
Body: like a ghoul dressed up like a drag queen.

Fuck yeah!

marmotwolof, Friday, 10 August 2007 08:27 (sixteen years ago) link

That Perez fellow seems quite irritating.

Ned Trifle II, Friday, 10 August 2007 09:00 (sixteen years ago) link

I just bought series 1 of Rosanne and it is definitely Classic.

Ned Trifle II, Friday, 10 August 2007 09:05 (sixteen years ago) link

There's a mid-point that I like the best, I couldn't say which season it is but it's when Darlene goes from sorta funny to completely awesome. Then Becky 2.0 shows up and it's kind of weird after that.

marmotwolof, Friday, 10 August 2007 09:12 (sixteen years ago) link

There are still many good bits from the Chalke era on, don't get me wrong, but Lecy Goranson was the truth.

marmotwolof, Friday, 10 August 2007 09:14 (sixteen years ago) link

why does it get weird with 2nd Becky? she was cute

darlene rocks

Surmounter, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:08 (sixteen years ago) link

I think every boyfriend I've ever had has had Darlene pretty high up their crush list. This is fine by me, because Darlene was totally ace.

ailsa, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link

rly? that's awesome i didn't know straight boys liked darlene

Surmounter, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:12 (sixteen years ago) link

Sarah Gilbert and her gf just had their second baby earlier this week!

ENBB, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:13 (sixteen years ago) link

that's awesome i didn't know straight boys liked darlene

cute, smart, and smart-assed? Oh, how little you understand straight boys. Of course we love Darlene.

kenan, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:32 (sixteen years ago) link

=P

Surmounter, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:34 (sixteen years ago) link

Wait - Darlene was cute? She was definitely smart and smart-assed but cute?

ENBB, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:37 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh, TOTALLY. Blew both Beckies out of the water. Personality goes a long way.

kenan, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:39 (sixteen years ago) link

SO CUTE. but Becky 2 was hot

Surmounter, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link

Whoa @ the GIS for Sarah Gilbert

kenan, Friday, 10 August 2007 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link

roseanne didn't create the show roseanne, she was cast in a sitcom developed by carsey-werner which was then written to conform with the comic persona she had created. she later became an executive producer on the show and had creative input, but was never the main creative driving force of the show

( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:04 (five years ago) link

* for the crime of having not been too lazy to write a series bible, write and produce a pilot script, and to learn writers' names, all of which she refused to do and was then surprised that someone else received a credit per WGA rules

My Gig: The Thin Beast (sic), Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:05 (five years ago) link

well yeah, but the show is also called "Roseanne". at least in 2 1/2 Men they replaced one of the men. "The Connors" feels like its only place in history is some "17 Quickly-Cancelled Sitcom Spinoffs You Probably Forgot About!" listicle on Buzzfeed

frogbs, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:06 (five years ago) link

should have just replaced roseanne with kirstie alley

mookieproof, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:14 (five years ago) link

interesting detail from a 1989 article on Matt Williams's ousting from the show

Looking back, one writer said that "the feeling among the writers and producers was that we (still) had a show with John Goodman (who plays Barr's husband). But ultimately ABC owned the show and had the final say. And to them it was keep the star at all costs."

Number None, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:16 (five years ago) link

Remember when they fired Valerie Harper from Valerie? That had me reeling at the time, but honestly I think it was a better show with Sandy Duncan.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0738973/?ref_=ttep_ep1

reggae mike love (polyphonic), Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:25 (five years ago) link

Is there an online resource anywhere with ownership stakes in tv shows detailed? I know sometimes a production company owns the show rather than the network, and it seems like I've heard of rare cases where the star owned their own show.

WmC, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:33 (five years ago) link

Desilu owned I Love Lucy while it was airing (sold everything to CBS in 1960 though)

Οὖτις, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:36 (five years ago) link

sandy duncan was so cute. I liked the show with valerie harper too. but I liked it with her.

akm, Thursday, 18 October 2018 21:48 (five years ago) link

"The Connors" feels like its only place in history is some "17 Quickly-Cancelled Sitcom Spinoffs You Probably Forgot About!" listicle on Buzzfeed

Sara Gilbert, the producer of last year's Roseanne revival, saved the (let's say generally) eight-month contract jobs of hundreds of people who would have otherwise been out of work for a year. Whether The Connors is good, sucks, is better than Roseanne or doesn't get another year, that's the very excellent reason that it exists.

My Gig: The Thin Beast (sic), Thursday, 18 October 2018 22:16 (five years ago) link

How sick would it be if like suddenly Margo Martindale was Roseanne and they barely mentioned it.

this is sublime

j., Friday, 19 October 2018 01:50 (five years ago) link

they should have said Roseanne was off "investigating pizzagate" and over the course of the season you come to realize it's a euphemism for "chocked to death on a piece of sausage"

President Keyes, Friday, 19 October 2018 14:16 (five years ago) link

Sara Gilbert, the producer of last year's Roseanne revival, saved the (let's say generally) eight-month contract jobs of hundreds of people who would have otherwise been out of work for a year. Whether The Connors is good, sucks, is better than Roseanne or doesn't get another year, that's the very excellent reason that it exists.

― My Gig: The Thin Beast (sic), Thursday, 18 October 2018 22:16 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

True, but they could have, instead, wrote a brand new sitcom with the same actors playing similar parts, but with all-new character names and a different location. Kinda like "Dusty's Trail" out of "Gilligan's Island"

Mark G, Friday, 19 October 2018 14:26 (five years ago) link

That is a much worse idea than the The Connors tbh.

circa1916, Friday, 19 October 2018 14:29 (five years ago) link

also, the "saving the jobs" part involves making a show that ABC are willing to pay for, not spending six months writing something on spec that they absolutely wouldn't get paid for at the end, while the hundreds of crew and production staff still remain out of work

My Gig: The Thin Beast (sic), Friday, 19 October 2018 15:08 (five years ago) link

I guess. There is that.

I never saw "Gilligans Island", don't know if we got it here, but I do remember "Dusty's Trail", could sing the theme if you like...

Mark G, Friday, 19 October 2018 15:09 (five years ago) link

yeah they don't have the time or inclination to start from scratch. there might not have been scripts written but they were probably close to pre-production & planning when Roseanne was fired.

flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 18:41 (five years ago) link

never ever heard of Dusty's Trail until now

akm, Monday, 22 October 2018 19:00 (five years ago) link

were there multiple Gilligan's Island spinoffs? I don't remember that title but I remember watching a spinoff (and enjoying it - Gilligan's Island rules)

flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 19:01 (five years ago) link

the gilligan's island episode of roseanne is really bad

( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Monday, 22 October 2018 19:04 (five years ago) link

dusty's train does not appear to be a spinoff btw. and doesn't have other actors outside of bob denver

The Connors is more like AfterMASH.

akm, Monday, 22 October 2018 19:08 (five years ago) link

Or Major Crimes

reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, 22 October 2018 19:09 (five years ago) link

AfterMAGA

President Keyes, Monday, 22 October 2018 19:09 (five years ago) link

four years pass...

You have no fucking idea what Roseanne is going to say at the end of this video. Not a clue. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s weirder than that.

pic.twitter.com/lfzXMnrj7s

— Nick Laparra (@NickLaparra) June 27, 2023

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:21 (ten months ago) link

sounds right

Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:24 (ten months ago) link

He has a lot of personality traits that are usually coded as feminine.

treeship., Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:25 (ten months ago) link

and tits

the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:32 (ten months ago) link

Probably just a joke. Big wind up, unexpected absurd payoff, no elaboration. Basically a clickhole template.

But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:32 (ten months ago) link

From 2016:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/trump-feminine-speaking-style-214391/

jaymc, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 16:35 (ten months ago) link

Thought this was going to be about her antisemitism.

peace, man, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:02 (ten months ago) link

Was tempting to post that clip, but I thought better.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:06 (ten months ago) link

If she hadn't been kicked off her namesake show, there would be so much potential for her screen character to become a Q wife and battle her TV family.

underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:08 (ten months ago) link

"Trust the plan, Dan."

Alito Bit of Soap (President Keyes), Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:11 (ten months ago) link


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