Roseanne

I realized why this show was such a success. Roseanne was so darn cute, and John was a great portrayal of a good husband and father. It's a realistic portrayal of the lower middle class, I knew a few families like this growing up, but the Connors were the Cleavers compared to most of the others I knew.

Seasons 1 - 7: 9/10

Seasons 8 - 9: 4/10

The attempted reboot: 1/10

The first handful of seasons of this show are truly classic television. This was probably the first show I ever watched that could be construed as a "Dramedy" show. Sure, there are laughs around every corner, but the Conner family is very obviously lower-class and we get a lot of realistic insight into their struggles. People who've been poor will relate to some of the storylines in this show A LOT.

John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf are the true stars here, as is the case with a lot of sitcoms. Roseanne is the main character, yes; she's the rock, the glue, but she isn't the funniest or most interesting of the bunch. Without her, though, it wouldn't be the same (the reboot makes this painfully obvious, but any seasoned viewer of television can tell you with from the start).

I wish there were shows like this around today. There are still a lot of poor folks out there struggling to get by, and today's television shows aren't providing the same kind of relatable escapism that Roseanne did.

A highly original take on the tired genre of the American family sitcom. At the time, the gold standard was "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties", both upper-middle class and completely unrealistic. "Roseanne" was the first high-quality sitcom since the Honeymooners to focus on working-class families. This show took the idea of the 80s family show and stood it on its ear.

It took risks and chances that other shows were afraid to take, discussing subjects like homosexuality, child abuse, alcoholism, and teenage sexuality not just as one-show ideas, but as recurring themes. And though it wasn't successful all of the time, most of the time it was hilarious. I'd rather see a show take tremendous risks and fail than take the safe course and receive middling success.

The last couple of seasons were less than stellar, and the very last season was terrible and marked the first time that Roseanne hadn't been in the top 10 (or top 20) in the ratings consistently since it started. But overall, it had the guts to change its situation every once in a while (Roseanne had, I think, ten separate jobs in nine years) to shake things up and add new elements.

Having watched all seasons aired in the UK the first time round, this show became like having a surrogate family on tv. The characters are well rounded, some relatable, all entertaining. Like many sitcoms, it got a bit weird towards the end, as all shows are victim to the 'we're losing ratings so let's shake things up to get 'em back' ethos of panicking writers which eventually killed it. The first 8 seasons are well worth revisiting if you're able. I hope this gets picked up by a streaming service so it can be enjoyed fully once more.

Roseanne was one of the funniest, most original programs on television for a long time. I recommend avoiding the last few years of the show; they're so maudlin and idiotic that they seem more like a (boring/stupid/insulting--take your pick!)parody of themselves than anything else. The actors sleepwalk through their lines as if they're fully aware of how stupid and poorly-written they are, and the last episode is ironically one of the WORST half-hours on TV! (Sort of mirrors the downfall of the Simpsons, really--why can't these wonderful shows just quit while they're ahead?) For a long time, Roseanne was a sweet and realistic portrayal of many American families--fraught with strife and struggle but loving all the same.