Roseanne

Roseanne reminds me of simpler times. I miss her. I'm sorry things didn't work out with her and the reboot. I didn't approve of the Tweet (and I do believe her remorse was sincere), but I also stopped watching the show when they kicked her off.

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.

When this show first debuted in 1988, I thought it was one of the worst shows to debut on TV back then. The kids were bratty, Roseanne's voice was aggravating-the list seemed to go on. A few years later, when the reruns started airing in the late afternoon, I really started appreciating the show for what it was: A family just trying to get by, and solve the problems that come up in everyday life. Along with this, Roseanne's witty "one-liners", and "off-the-cuff" humour, really made this show special. This show dissappeared for a couple of years here in Toronto, but it has been picked up again and is still as funny as it was when it first aired.

A terrifically intense dramedy which features possibly the most realistic familial unit in TV sitcoms, not to mention a marriage between Roseanne and Dan Connor (Roseanne Barr and John Goodman) which is pin-point exact, warm and right--and feels lived in. All non-believers have to do is watch a few episodes: the timing is deceptively shaggy yet perfect, the characters believable, their predicaments immediate. Fully realized by Roseanne herself, who never let her real-life chronicles get in the way of the show. The writing is continually sharp, with dialogue that frequently evokes whole lives, such as in the episode where Roseanne sits in a coffee house after hours talking to a tired waitress who confides about her late husband, "I miss him. It's so quiet. Sometimes I'll turn a football game on, turn it up real loud...and I hate sports. But what'ya gonna do?" Tender moments like this, seemingly throwaway bits, elude some viewers looking for a fast laughter fix; "Roseanne" was always something more, and it aches in laughter and in life's woes.

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.