Roseanne: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"I am so amazing. If I ever get off this couch, I'll be unstoppable."''|'''Roseanne'''}}

 

 

Probably the [[Trope Codifier]] for the [[Dysfunctional Family]] on American TV. The Conners were generally stable but were still prone to dealing with domestic arguments, problematic neighbors, daughters who seemed to [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|like bad boys]] and taking in a kid whose home life was far worse than theirs. The Healey brothers, Mark (Glenn Quinn) and David (Johnny Galecki) were added to the show as long time boyfriends to Becky and Darlene, eventually marrying them. The show was also noted for a welcome subversion to the [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]] rule.

 

 

 

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* [[Abusive Parents]]: Mark and David's mother, especially to poor David. Roseanne's father was physically abusive to his daughters. Dan's mother was also (literally) insane, and his father was a traveling salesman who was rarely home. You'd have an easier time finding parents who ''aren't'' abusive on this show; even Roseanne herself has an episode where, in a fit of anger, she strikes DJ, and then panics over it because she very badly doesn't want to be the kind of parent her father was.

* [[Actor Allusion]]: When Michael O'Keefe (Fred) left the show, he went to another show on ABC called ''Life's Work,'' where he was the husband of an assistant district attorney with two children. In one episode of ''Roseanne,'' while complaining about Fred's Christmas present to Jackie, Roseanne says that they never see him "since he moved in with that D.A. chick with them two kids."

* [[Actually Pretty Funny]]: “Crime and Punishment”… Roseanne thought the comics Darlene created was funny, in her words.

{{Quote| '''Roseanne''': Finally Darlene’s personality pays off.}}

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Becky. Not just marrying Mark, but in the first season she cheated on her boyfriend with a leather-clad stud. Roseanne and Dan's early relationship was apparently built on this as well.

* [[Anything That Moves]]: Nancy. After coming out as a lesbian, she would occasionally casually say, "Ugh, I'm so fed up with women. I'm gonna go back to men this week."

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: An inversion in the context of the episode. In one, Jackie is upset that she's done something she regrets. To try to get her to open up and tell them, everybody else starts talking about bad things they've done. They're all very forgiving when Roseanne mentions pledging (but never donating) a huge amount of money to a telethon just to hear Jerry Lewis say her name on TV and when Bonnie reveals she and her husband once robbed a liquor store. However, when Jackie announces that she slept with Arnie, everybody else is disgusted and outraged (apparently in high school, they all took a blood oath and promised he would never be allowed to breed.) In fact, when Roseanne realizes, "She will forever be known as the woman whose sister slept with Arnie," everybody ignored Jackie and starts to comfort ''Roseanne.'' Sleeping with Arnie was just that unforgivable.

** The list of complaints lobbied against her former husband by Bev goes from jaywalking back to arson: "He was rude to my children, cheated on me, had horrible table manners and made me drive an old car with bald tires!"

** [[Law and Order|Arthur Branch]] plays Dale Faber, the man who replaces Booker as factory manager.

** [[Spider-Man|Tobey Maguire]] is one of the friends of a guy Darlene is interested in dating in season 3 for one episode.

** Stephen Dorff plays Jimmy Meltrigger, Becky's boyfriend in the second season.

** [[Welcome to The Dollhouse|Dawn Weiner]] plays DJ's girlfriend in the final season.

** [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show|Dr. Frank-N-Furter]] shows up as a swindler posing as a realtor who briefly dates Sandra Berhardt's character Nancy.

** Morgan Fairchild is Nancy's lover after she comes out of the closet.

** Traci Lords works at Roseanne's diner for a few episodes.

** [[Desperate Housewives|Karen McLuskey]] makes an appearance in a couple of episodes-one as a shopper and one as a dancer in Bev's ballroom class.

* [[Hide Your Pregnancy]]: They tried to do this with Laurie Metcalf's pregnancy. They started with loose clothing that got larger and larger and then resorted to putting things in front of her(the most memorable moment being when Jackie sits in the bathtub with a heavy quilt over her when she, Dan and Roseanne get high on twenty year old pot). However, Metcalf ended up with one of the biggest baby bumps ever, forcing them to write in a one night stand conception so they didn't have to remove her from the rest of the season.

* [[Hormone-Addled Teenager]]: Played dead straight with Becky, largely averted with Darlene.

* [[Jail Bake]]: The morning after Dan beats up Fisher and spends the night in jail, Crystal comes over and gives him a cupcake with a nail file baked inside it.

* [[Jerkass]]: Roseanne; Darlene and Becky (to a less extent when compared to their mother)

* [[Killed Off for Real]] {{spoiler|Dan, revealed in the final episode he really did die from his heart attack. All episodes from that point onward were just fantasies dream up by Roseanne for her book.}}

** {{spoiler|Technically every episode was a fantasy, as the whole series was written by Roseanne in the downstairs office.}}

* [[Monochrome Casting]]: Especially blatant in a series that supposedly focused on the working-class income bracket.

* [[Nested Story Reveal]]: {{spoiler|In the season 2 finale, Dan builds Roseanne an office in which she can realize her dream of becoming a writer. In the final episode, it's revealed that the entire series has been based on a semi-autobiographical story she's been writing in the office. In the story, [[Fix Fic|she's changed a number of details about her life that she didn't like]], while in reality, Dan actually died from his heart attack during Darlene's wedding; Darlene actually married Mark, while Becky married David; her sister, rather than her mother, was a lesbian; and Roseanne didn't win the lottery.}} This is seen by some fans as brilliant, but by others as a desperate attempt at a [[Retcon]] to justify some of the series' poorly-received plot lines (particularly in latter seasons). So it's not entirely played straight, but [[Not a Subversion]] either.

** In fact, the show had '''three''' bathrooms. Becky and Darlene's bathroom upstairs, where Darlene dyed her hair and Becky had her first hangover, D.J.'s bathroom, where Darlene saw Jackie with her bruises after Fisher beat her, and the downstairs bathroom, where most of the show's insanity occured (it was used frequently as a safe haven to gossip and hide from everyone else, such as when Roseanne and Jackie were gossiping about their parents.) [[Fridge Logic|These people were supposed to be poor, right?]]

* [[No Periods, Period]]: Averted. Aside from episodes centered on Roseanne's comically insane mood-swings, Darlene's first period, and a pregnancy scare, periods are pretty much the domain of cheap jokes.

** In the series finale, Glenn Quinn's normal Irish accent slips out slightly.

* [[The Other Darrin]]: One of the most egregious and ridiculous examples of all time, with plenty of unabashed [[Lampshade Hanging]]. When Lecy Goranson left the show for school, Becky was written out as having moved to Minnesota, but eventually returned, now played by Sarah Chalke. At the beginning of the 8th season, Goranson returned and played Becky steadily for a run of episodes, with Chalke actually ''cameoing as a different character'' in the Halloween episode. After this, Chalke was brought in again as Becky on-and-off over the course of that season for any episodes Goranson was unavailable for, including the Disneyworld two-parter and Darlene's wedding. Finally, at the beginning of the 9th and final season, Chalke took over again all the way until the finale.

Roseanne (to Goranson): Where the hell have you been? It feels like you've been gone for three years! }}

** "Ladies and gentlemen, the role of Becky Conner, formerly played by Lecy Goranson, then by Sarah Chalke, and then Lecy Goranson again, will be played tonight by Sarah Chalke."

* [[Out of Focus]]: An in-universe example. While not an Unfavorite, DJ was often forgotten about by both his parents and the writers because he kept to himself while his sisters caused endless grief and drama. One episode had him totally silent for almost the entire thing, but then ended with him telling his horrified parents he'd gone three days without speaking and they hadn't even noticed.

* [[Playing Gertrude]]: The math on Bev and Nana Mary's ages is a little hazy, but Shelly Winters is only seven years older than Estelle Parsons.

* [[Progressively Prettier]]: Roseanne was never straight-up ugly, but she was very overweight as a hard-working blue collar Midwestern woman, personal appearance was fairly low on her list of priorities. However, as the seasons wore on, Roseanne the actress began to wear much more flattering hair and makeup, lost a bunch of weight, and combined with her real life surgeries, her looks definitely improved.

** This was also due to Arnold getting his own short-lived series.

** [[The Bus Came Back]]: Arnold's character returned in one episode to try to patch things up with Nancy, claiming his alien story was him panicking at being married. The end, however, reveals he was abducted by aliens and was trying to get Nancy to go back with him.

'''Jackie:''' Well, Fred, don't worry... it's not that many. I'd - I'd saaay - three a year.<br />

'''Fred:''' Since you were, what, eighteen?<br />

'''Fred:''' Oh, oh wow.<br />

'''Jackie:''' Well, Fred! It's not *that* many! Three a year for 20 years is, [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap|60 - wow]].<br />

'''Fred:''' I don't even *know* 60 people.<br />

'''Jackie:''' [[Digging Yourself Deeper|Well, I didn't *know* all of them!]] }}

* [[Runaway Train]]: Played straight in the infamous episode "Roseambo," but is a deliberate runaway set up by women-hating terrorists.

* [[Service Sector Stereotypes]]: When working with the public, Roseanne is every bit as surly as with her own family.

** In-universe, one episode had Roseanne's father getting injured, and Roseanne going on a trip to see him, and Jackie babysitting for about a week while she was gone. This turned into an interesting version of What Could Have Been had Dan married Jackie instead of Roseanne. While Roseanne's gone, Becky is polite, Darlene is ''nice,'' and there was even one scene where Jackie is sending them off to ''Leave it to Beaver''-style music.

* [[When You Coming Home, Dad?]]: Dan had this relationship with his dad, who was a traveling salesman who rarely ever saw his family. As an adult, they're still tense with each other at best.

** And a [[Yet Another Christmas Carol|Halloween Carol]], warning against apathy and grumpiness rather than greed.