Roseanne was a wild, and often times trend setting television comedy that hit us at the end of the Golden Age of Comedy, and stayed unto it's untimely demise.
9.0
Bring it back, well, I don't mean that, what I mean is bring back the good old days of comedy, the Cosby's, Roseanne, even the cute and cuddly Full House and the slew of much older shows that served as the foundation of prime time back when my parents were kids and teenagers.
Roseanne is quite literally the most realistic view of family life yet conceived, there are no cute blonde football playing sons, no perfect boy-worried daughters, no gorgeous, properly dressed wives, and certainly not a sturdy, infallible husband.
The main character, played by real life actress Roseanne, the shows namesake, is an overweight, bitingly sarcastic, sometimes selfish and then highly selfless, controlling, loud mouthed and at times belligerent but always loving, mother and wife. She is a wonderfully flawed character, just like the viewers at home, she never tries to be perfect, she has insecurities, and hopes, and dreams, she is not a mold of society.
The husband, a hopeless, Average Joe with a love of sports, beer, and poker. He's a football player who had to give it up, he, despite his height and impressive girth, is deeply insecure about providing for his family, and making them happy. Dan is somewhat tragic in that he had many hopes that never came to be, which is often reflected wordlessly in many scenes, such as his songwriting, poetry, his boat, and his football career.
The children, Becky, the primpy, snotty popular girl, Darlene, the once-Tom Boy turned gothic expressionist artist and then vegetarian, and finally DJ, once an average kid, then turned into an awkward, dopey young man with a hope for a future in film. They all have good and bad, and none of them are average kids, they all screw up and make mistakes, and do things some might consider deviant, but that's what makes them authentic.
The sister, Jackie, Roseanne's neurotic, warmly insecure, and even demanding sister is one of the greatest characters in all of television. Impressive is her outbursts of joy, anger, frustration, and even sadness, as well as her need for approval from her domineering and undeniably protective sister in Roseanne. She has many relationships, and many flings, most notably with series Love-To-Hate character Arny, and eventually settles, after much uncomfortable shifting, with the father of her child out of wedlock, though this too did not last, and they parted after a crushing emotional realization.
The series progresses through the lives of these characters, many side characters make appearances, and have interwoven, real life crisis that our main characters often help resolve, but the main story is always on the above characters. More main characters are added, both Becky and Darlene go through a few boyfriends, Becky finally settles on the much-loathed Mark who she slowly turns into a respectable young man. Darlene, fascinatingly, goes for a weak-willed but highly intelligent, empathetic, and someone effeminate young man in David, both marry their respective partners, but not until after a series of trademark, authentic trials that often challenge the notion of them uniting in holy matrimony.
Roseanne changes quite a lot through the series, her hair, her face, her weight, but gradually she settles on an image and holds it through the rest of the series. Dan too changes, his hair, facial hair included, his weight fluctuates from portly, to stocky, and into overweight, which leads to his character's unfortunate end.
Many side characters prove endlessly entertaining and realistic, Roseanne and Jackie's mother, Beverly, is shown to be a secretly-drunk, highly insecure, and socially inept elderly woman. She secretly delights in torturing her daughters with precariously-perched comments alluding to their various failings, often in home life, but also, as with Jackie, in their relationships.
I won't go on about all of the characters, but needless to say they all add value to the show, there isn't a character that at some point doesn't give something back for their brief appearances throughout a season.
Though the last season of Roseanne is oft-maligned, I can live with that, the finale, however, shows us how the reality of things are, and tears down all of what we thought happened, including the last season. This is viewed by some as an easy way to push away the somewhat iffy last season, I view it as poetry, knowing the truth about the characters, the differences between their fictitious selves and their real selves, is an eye-opener. There are many, and though I won't spoil them, one happens to be quite tragic, and proves to be a binding point for the strange happenings of the final season not being true. Ending on a note of hope, that for Roseanne's dream of writing, is in my mind, a great way to relay that life goes on.
