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29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roseanne and her series - two parallel universes, October 11, 2007
The following is a summary of each of the nine seasons. I offer details of plot developments so be advised there are SPOILERS AHEAD.
Season 1 (5 stars) - If nothing has happened since this season was first released, then this set consists of the cut syndicated versions that are missing the closing minutes of the show. My rating is for the original content, not the cut versions. You can see Roseanne and the cast struggle in the first few episodes trying to get accustomed to ensemble comedy versus her stand-up routine, however the show improves very rapidly and has some great individual episodes. This is the only season where Roseanne and all of her friends work at Wellman's factory - they all walk off the job during the last episode in response to the tyranny of a new factory manager played by Fred Thompson of all people.
Season 2 (5 stars) - This marks the first of the very best seasons of the series, which includes seasons two through four, ending with Becky's marriage to Mark at the beginning of season five and the exit of her character from the show. None of the episodes in this season are klunkers, and the acting and writing are top-notch. A big theme in this year's show is Roseanne trying to find stable employment after she walked off of her factory job at the conclusion of the first season. I especially like how this season handled the real-life issue of what happens to a person like Roseanne who has only a high school education when she loses a factory job that, although adequately-paying, does not provide any experience in doing anything that another employer would find valuable. "Boo!" is the first of what became a tradition on Roseanne, which was the Halloween special that occurred every year from this point through the duration of the show.
Season 3 (5 stars) - Season three of Roseanne doesn't revolve around any particular overriding story arc, but the kids are definitely beginning to grow up. The late Glenn Quinn first appears as rebel and smart-mouth Mark Healey in "Becky, Beds, and Boys" .Becky's concerned parents forbid her to see Mark anymore, but she keeps coming up with ways to see him anyway. I liked how Mark was portrayed in these early seasons when he was "Rebel Without a Cause" as opposed to the last three seasons when he was transformed into "Rebel Without a Clue". The other plot developments include Jackie being injured and leaving the police force, Roseanne getting a job at Rodbell's, a diner in the mall, and Dan opening a motorcycle shop of his own.
Season 4 (5 stars) - Season Four of Roseanne has some of the best individual episodes as well as the best overall storyline of any of the show's nine seasons. The season opens with the Conners having opened their motorcycle shop on their own after irresponsible friend Ziggy ran out on them at the last minute last season, Roseanne and Dan have finally accepted Becky and Mark as a couple, Darlene is starting high school, and Jackie has been drifting ever since she left the police force rather than accept a desk job due to her back injury. This season probably does the best job of combining great comedy, hard-hitting drama, and highlighting situations that should look familiar to any member of the middle class. Although this is not the last of the good seasons of Roseanne, I would say season four is the last of the golden years of that series, and definitely worth viewing.
Season 5 (5 stars) - The season starts out on a very morose note that corresponds to the deep recession the country was suffering when these shows aired in 1992. Dan's motorcycle shop is failing and will have to be closed in order for him to salvage the mortgage on the Conner home. Rodbell's, the diner in the mall where Roseanne has worked for two years, is closing too, due to business in the mall being so bad. In order to make ends meet, the kids' college fund has been depleted so that Becky, while filling out college applications, throws a fit when she asks her parents about this fund and finds it no longer exists. She elopes with boyfriend Mark and moves to Minnesota, since with the closing of Dan's shop, Mark is unemployed too. This opens up a crevice in Becky and Dan's relationship that takes months to heal. I compliment the show for incorporating the very bad recession going on in 1992 into the storyline. However, the Conners' troubles came on very suddenly and were resolved with a very pat answer. In retrospect, it all seemed like a somewhat contrived attempt to help Bill Clinton get elected. Just as homeless people didn't seem to exist on TV until Ronald Reagan was elected president, it seemed like everyone in Lanford was on the road to starvation until the outcome of the 1992 election seemed inevitable, and then economic conditions suddenly normalized.
Season 6 (5 stars) - Although this season has some excellent episodes, and overall is a five star season, we begin to see the start of some of the trends that eventually becomes the downfall of the series. "A Stash From the Past", "The Driver's Seat", and "Lies My Father Told Me" are three of the better individual episodes. One of the better long arcs of the season involves Darlene hiding the fact that David is with her in Chicago, rather than in Michigan with his mother. For the bad part of the season, it seems that this is the beginning of a trend in "Roseanne" where men tend to be disposable. Jackie becomes pregnant by one of Dan's coworkers - "Fred" - who is never even given the courtesy of a last name, and Mark, previously depicted as an independent-minded and able mechanic is now portrayed as someone who can't even make passing grades in trade school.
Season 7 (4 stars) - Season 7 still has enough good episodes and even some great ones for it to be worthwhile viewing, but it is definitely the beginning of the end. Roseanne begins one of the longest pregnancies in the history of television this season - thirteen months plus the time Roseanne has been pregnant before she announces the news. Next, Jackie discovers Darlene at a motel in the middle of the day, and it turns out that the boy with Darlene is not David, it's a new boyfriend - Jimmy. David says he is OK with it, but Roseanne is not and tells Darlene to make a choice. She does - and dumps a heartbroken David. The whole issue of the broken romance between David and Darlene and its resolution is one of the best parts of the season. One of the worst parts of the season is the Thanksgiving episode when Roseanne's pregnancy looks like it might be in trouble. She screeches at both DJ and Dan every time they offer an opinion as if they are trying to tell her what to do instead of the possiblility that they just want to comfort her and lighten the load. Jackie tires of Fred, whom she married less than a year before, and promptly disposes of him. After a few obligatory appearances in Season 8 he disappears entirely as though he had never existed in the first place.
Season 8 (3 stars) - This season you have to really pick through episodes full of fantasy, inane slapstick, and politically correct undertones to get to the truly good blue collar slice-of-life episodes that made up the majority of episodes in prior years. The season opener, "Shower the People You Love with Stuff", very unceremoniously returns Lecy Gorenson as Becky Conner Healy, with Roseanne taking advantage of the sudden replacement with an inside joke by remarking that it seems like Becky's been gone for four years - exactly how long Lecy Gorenson has been gone from the show. The biggest problem with season eight is that Roseanne NEVER did fantasy episodes well during any season, and this season is full of them. It was particularly sad to see what became of the Halloween episode this year, always a Roseanne staple. Gone are the outrageous costumes and the clever pranks of previous years. They have now been replaced by a circus of the absurd and the bizarre.
Season 9 (3 stars) - Many people did not like the ninth season of Roseanne, but in its totality, I found it fascinating. The main problem was that it was clumsily written and directed, and that is mainly why I am giving it three stars. You have to look at this season in the context of Roseanne's actual life. By the ninth season, the show had gradually been losing that genuine quality of a real working-class family for a couple of seasons at least in part because, by 1996, Roseanne herself had not been living a blue-collar lifestyle for over a decade. It was probably much easier for Roseanne to do something she knew - play a woman with a blue-collar background who comes into sudden wealth. Just prepare yourself for more than a few cringe-worthy moments of TV viewing.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Show, Great Deal, June 16, 2008
We took advantage of the Roseanne "Deal of the Day" where we paid $99 for all 9 seasons. And it was WELL worth it! This is a great show, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Why buy the seasons one at a time for $30 each?
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roseanne stands the test of time., May 17, 2008
Roseanne was a popular sitcom from the late eighties and its cast has been given numerous awards for their performances. The series is about a lower class family, living in Lanford, Illinois, struggling through that odd thing we call life. The show has an intrinsic cast and they are a hard bunch not to like. Roseanne looks at some of the most common daily situations from the home and the work place. In most cases these situations turn out to be funny. However unlike some sitcoms that rely on slapstick comedy to make ordinary situations a riot, Roseanne uses witty dialogue to get laughs.
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