My favourite variation of the opening credits and theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj2-ctjIW18

I think Roseanne peaked in quality in the middle season, whereas many shows peak in the beginning years.

Seasons 4, 5, and 6 were the funniest and the best blend of the warmth of the earlier years and the sassy and sometimes outrageous humour of the latter years (without going too over the top).

Season 5 in particular was the best season, IMO, and one of the best seasons any sitcom has ever had. The episode where Roseanne's father died and she and Jackie had to face the terrible childhood he put them through is a textbook example of what this show did best - it managed to blend humor and serious issues intelligently without going over into "A Very Special Episode" territory, and never telling the audience this is how they should all feel.

When it was good, the characters all felt like people I knew.

Edited January 13, 201312 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Lecy's Becky reminded me of one of my sisters when she'd get mad. "MUH-THER!"

I agree that it was never the same after Tom Arnold left.

When Roseanne had surgery and her cheeks suddenly became sunken and covered in dark blush, she started looking really snotty and bitter, and the character somehow began to match the look.

The show's down-home, blue collar friendliness was replaced with outrageous pseudo-white trash antics. After a while it started to seem more like Married with Children than Roseanne. Every episode started to have screaming matches and too much sarcasm, which replaced the good-natured facetiousness it once had. Not only that, but they made Jackie into a bug-eyed freak, Darlene into a totally unlikeable person, Mark into a total dunce, David into a complete wuss... basically, every character was exaggerated to ill effect.

It had a pretty good run, really. Most shows start to exaggerate things and milk once non-existent formulas by the fourth or fifth season, and it was no different in that respect...

Boy. You summed it up so well for me. That's why the last couple of seasons are so hard for me to watch, even though I'm still such a fan of the show.

I never even thought of the show changing after Tom left and the divorce. I knew it was Roseanne's personal life that often affected the show towards the last few years, but yeah, that makes sense.

And I'm with Carl, I missed a lot of the supporting characters Roseanne had around her. It really did lose a lot of it's charm but was still a great show.

I guess Roseanne's acting was effective because I never felt that she was acting, it always seemed to come from her heart and I just absolutely love her sadistic/sarcastic/ no holds bar sense of humor but boy John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf and (I forgot the young actress who plays Darlene's name) were gems on that show, they really were great choices for their roles. Alll terrific actors

She was good until she basically started playing herself and Roseanne(the character) became utterly unlikeable

I think Roseanne peaked in quality in the middle season, whereas many shows peak in the beginning years.

Seasons 4, 5, and 6 were the funniest and the best blend of the warmth of the earlier years and the sassy and sometimes outrageous humour of the latter years (without going too over the top).

Season 5 in particular was the best season, IMO, and one of the best seasons any sitcom has ever had. The episode where Roseanne's father died and she and Jackie had to face the terrible childhood he put them through is a textbook example of what this show did best - it managed to blend humor and serious issues intelligently without going over into "A Very Special Episode" territory, and never telling the audience this is how they should all feel.

When it was good, the characters all felt like people I knew.

Yeah, I probably don't give 5 and 6 enough credit but I do really like them as well. Season 5 actually had a pretty great blend when I really think about it. I watch the reruns so much a lot of the seasons really do kind of blur together for me, lol.

I got Season 2 on DVD today! YAY!

I've already watched the first one, "Inherit the Wind."

"Becky. cut. the cheese."

DVDs are so much better but you can probably find torrents and burn them yourself. Just a thought. I just downloaded Season 2 and Season 3. Love Roseanne.

Oh yeah, I watch the show on YouTube all the time, I just collect a lot of shows on DVD. I already had Season 1 and had been wantingto get season 2, and I finally did.

Aren't the original DVD's the syndicated versions? I remember alot of outrage about that, then they re-released them recently as the full versions if I remember right

Only the 2005 edition of the first season. I have the new versions released again last year. Uncut and unedited .

Boy. You summed it up so well for me. That's why the last couple of seasons are so hard for me to watch, even though I'm still such a fan of the show.

I never even thought of the show changing after Tom left and the divorce. I knew it was Roseanne's personal life that often affected the show towards the last few years, but yeah, that makes sense.

And I'm with Carl, I missed a lot of the supporting characters Roseanne had around her. It really did lose a lot of it's charm but was still a great show.

So, so agree. And yes, that is so right... the mood and tone of the show changed in season 7 when Roseanne divorced Tom in real life. And like someone else said, the humor became bitter, sarcastic, put-downs from the likes of Roseanne, Darlene, etc. while Jackie became the female Don Knotts.

This show does hold up SO well though. There's so many sitcoms I grew up with and/or grew up watching reruns of, and now they're so dated, cheesy, and not funny at all when I watch them in present day. But Roseanne is STILL funny. Still makes me laugh out loud. I've seen all the episodes from seasons 1-6 dozens of times and I still watch them like they're brand new.

I've heard that the re-releases of the DVD's have additional footage that is cut in syndication, but I have 1-6 seasons from when they were originally released, and it seems every episode has additional footage that has otherwise been cut out ever since it when into syndication in the mid-90's.

(I'll never understand why syndicated reruns cut out the part from the Halloween episode where Roseanne, dressed as a man, goes into the mens bathroom and pretends to use the urinal... HILARIOUS! "Oh I get it, it's like being in an elevator.")

Edited January 17, 201312 yr by Gray Bunny

From what I understand, the original round of releases in 2005 had uncut episodes--all, that is, except season 1 (this also happened with The Cosby Show's first season--another Carsey-Werner show, oddly enough), which had the syndicated versions. When fans realized this, the original production company, Anchor Bay, was able to make sure that the rest of the series was released uncut, although they couldn't do it for season 1. And yet, apparently some scenes in later seasons (usually tag scenes--like the Nearly Identical Beckys parody in season 8) were cut anyway, for whatever reason. Eventually those DVDs went out of print, which led to the new round of DVDs released in 2011--and this time, season 1 is completely uncut and unedited (and these are the copies I have on DVD).

The special features on the new ones are the same as the ones from the original DVDs, however.

Edited January 18, 201312 yr by MissLlanviewPA

This show does hold up SO well though. There's so many sitcoms I grew up with and/or grew up watching reruns of, and now they're so dated, cheesy, and not funny at all when I watch them in present day. But Roseanne is STILL funny. Still makes me laugh out loud. I've seen all the episodes from seasons 1-6 dozens of times and I still watch them like they're brand new.

I've heard that the re-releases of the DVD's have additional footage that is cut in syndication, but I have 1-6 seasons from when they were originally released, and it seems every episode has additional footage that has otherwise been cut out ever since it when into syndication in the mid-90's.

(I'll never understand why syndicated reruns cut out the part from the Halloween episode where Roseanne, dressed as a man, goes into the mens bathroom and pretends to use the urinal... HILARIOUS! "Oh I get it, it's like being in an elevator.")

I agree, I'm always amazed by how well the show has aged overall. It doesn't feel like a relic of the late 80's/90's (and in the early 90's, it was the most popular and highest rated show on television), the show still has a very contemporary feel and the overall content and characters are probably more relevant than they've ever been. I too can re-watch the episodes from seasons 1 through 6 a million times and still laugh at the same jokes/scenes.

I don't think a sitcom like this, and especially one starring someone who looks like Roseanne, would make it on the air today.

I don't think a sitcom like this, and especially one starring someone who looks like Roseanne, would make it on the air today.

Agreed. And that's a shame. Family sitcoms --- good family sitcoms --- are a thing of the past.

For those looking to purchase Roseanne on DVD, I've seen Target package Seasons 1&2 and 3&4 together, for $14.99 for each double season pack!

TV Land is running a marathon this upcoming Super Bowl weekend: the Battle of the Beckys!

I hate Becky in general, but at least Lecy's interpretation was an actual character. I can't say the same thing about what Sarah played.

Anyway, we all know Darlene was the best/most interesting Conner kid anyway....