"The Conners" Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

Oh and more on the man hating ... she turned her father into an abusive cheater. And just watching the funeral episode she talks about not trusting men and Dan for the first five years of their marriage. It just all reeked of "I hate men" ... blah. She completely transferred her distrust of men in real life (for good reason) onto the show and her character.

Edited May 21, 2017 by KMan101

[dragonflies]

I cheered Dan on when he cheated on her, even though it was so OOC

[Khan]

 

What appalled me most about S9 was not the OTT stuff -- although, of course, it was all so tone-deaf and tasteless -- but when it DID become more believable, which was right around the time David and Darlene's baby was born prematurely and the family worried over whether Harris would live.  There was a time when you could trust Roseanne and "Roseanne" to handle such matters sensitively, with the right balance of pathos and humor.  But those episodes, as well as everything else leading up to and including the finale, just felt SOOOOOOOO manipulated in order to yank tears out of the viewers who were still watching.

 

ETA: But, you know, the first time I watched those shows, I knew something was "off," and that part or all of the narrative would be dismissed as fantasy, because Harris' doctor was the very same doctor for Darlene's S1 appendectomy.

 

 

Allegedly, John Goodman and Roseanne had a falling-out (over what, IDK, and clearly, they've since patched up their differences) which led to Dan's affair as well as his retconned death in the final episode (which, according to TVLine, will be re-retconned to say, well, it never happened).

 

Yeah, that was during the time when Rosie was seeing a therapist IRL and discovered 1) she had been sexually molested as a child and 2) she had, like, 24 different personalities.  (That was also when she and her sister, Geraldine, had their big falling-out, because Geraldine thought Rosie was either nuts or lying.  This, of course, affected how Jackie was written from that point forward.)  Up to that point, we had no sense of Jackie and Roseanne's dad being abusive OR a philanderer (just like OLTL's Victor Lord).

Edited May 21, 2017 by Khan

[Khan]

 

Oh, she was DEFINITELY using drugs at some point.  I think several BTS people have attested to that much.

 

Roseanne was such a mess during the "Tom Arnold years," so I can't say I blame her for being such a man-hater afterward.  By all accounts, TA exploited her MANY psychological issues in order to advance his own career.  That's probably enough for ANY woman to develop a bad attitude toward the opposite sex.

 

IIRC, too, when Rosie DID kick Tom to the curb, a lot of people working on the show rejoiced; and from that point on, they say, she was relatively easier to work with.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Khan

[dragonflies]

You know what's weird, I used to hate TA, now I like him and hate her

[Soapsuds]

TA was scum and I don't know how Roseanne fell for him.

[All My Shadows]

Yes! No sitcom of the last 30 years will ever top those seasons of Roseanne. Nothing since as ever been so unashamedly real and honest, and if that's what they're going for with the new show, then I'm 100% in.

[BetterForgotten]

I never liked Crystal and thought Natalie West was a terrible actress. I can see why the show, in later years, just had a recurring troupe of supporting best friends for Roseanne.

 

Crystal's place on the show seemed a little forced to me - she was never really Roseanne's best friend, that was Jackie (along with being her sister obviously). I think Crystal herself pointed this out in an episode where Roseanne said she was her best friend. 

[KMan101]

 

Agreed. I hope that's what they go for with the new show but I'm a tad worried ... lol

 

Ah. I do remember some of that. I thought the Geraldine issue was when Crystal (who represented a sister to Roseanne) was more or less dumped, but to be fair, Crystal was played out. How many times could they make her pregnant and they stuck her with Dan's father. I thought Roseanne and Laurie wanted Jackie to be more like Barney Fife, which Laurie has mentioned before. She channeled him on purpose. I disliked how whacked out Jackie became even if Laurie was hilarious doing it.

 

I slightly remember John and Roseanne having a falling out but wasn't Dan's absence in Season 9 because John was filming a movie. He was becoming more of a movie star to a degree and he said recently on The Talk that he didn't appreciate how good he had it on Roseanne and wanted off by that point. Roseanne must have resented it or something.

 

And I do remember reading or hearing that she was on drugs. That was pretty obvious on-screen.  Agreed about the TA years and how it messed her up. TA has more or less turned himself around as well but I hated him during those years. He was awful. He was clearly on drugs too but that was never a secret. You could see how tweaked out they were on screen, the jittery behavior and wild eyes ... so so obvious.

Edited May 22, 2017 by KMan101

[Khan]

 

Yeah, I think he was busy filming "The Big Lebowski," which explains his absence, but probably not Dan's affair OR the decision to make his heart attack at the end of S8 fatal.

 

Not even "Frasier" or "Seinfeld"?

Edited May 22, 2017 by Khan

[All My Shadows]

In my eyes? Absolutely not. Those were never my style, as a kid or now.

[KMan101]

I've grown to really enjoy Frasier and Seinfeld (but I don't watch them over and over like I can shows like Roseanne, I Love Lucy, Golden Girls, Roseanne, Mama's Family, Three's Company ... I've seen all of them hundreds and hundreds of times ans they're all just as entertaining to me like they're brand new) but like MASH or Andy Griffith they were never my type of show either, as well written as they are.

 

Yeah, I hated how they had Dan have an affair, she definitely did that on purpose, after spending 8 seasons building him up as a great man and husband and father and they always had a good marriage. I guess I never put much stock in the finale where they said he died for real. I know most did but it's really never been in the back of my mind. I just assumed it was all in her head or something and who's to say what was "real" ... I just re-watched the finale today on LOGO and I wonder if they'll remember Becky and Mark were expecting a kid, but they hadn't told the family yet.

Edited May 22, 2017 by KMan101

[cassadine1991]

Just realized Harris would be in college now 

[DRW50]

 

The episode where she remembered his abuse I thought was very powerful (especially the scenes where she went back to their old house, I believe) but you could tell - even then - that it had nothing to do with Roseanne Connor. That Roseanne Connor didn't really exist anymore. Rosanne was never an actress, per se, but she had a naturalness about her that went away when she started using the show as a platform and as therapy. I remember episodes like the one where she became addicted to bingo and started dressing like all the other ladies at bingo until Dan and the kids kidnapped her at the end of the episode. It was ridiculous but also hilarious. In later years she probably would have punched someone out. 

[dragonflies]

Seinfeld sucks monkey butt and Frasier is okay lol