Roseanne: Workin' Overtime

Juanita on the far right

Roseanne: Workin' Overtime
ABC
March 14, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Roseanne's first husband, Bill Pentland, who had done a guest shot earlier in the season, wrote this story where Roseanne gets stressed out about working overtime, with the kids not pulling their weight at home.  Luckily, she's got Dan and a sympathetic waitress diner.  I like this episode but it does feel a little forced and obvious at some points.

Juanita (Evelina Fernández) and Sylvia (Anne Faulkner) return and, although the latter has little to do, we find out that Juanita is attracted to Booker.  (Jackie reacts as if she's not involved with Booker, so maybe it's still a secret at work.)

Roseanne: Father's Day

Roseanne: Father's Day
ABC
February 7, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B

Lauren Eve Anderson wrote this episode where we meet Dan's father Ed (Ned Beatty, perfectly cast).  Ed is a likable guy but a bit of a know-it-all, and he grates on Dan, partly because Dan can see Ed in himself.  (And later we'd learn a darker background to Dan's parents.)  Roseanne has some laugh-out-loud lines, but it's Goodman who steals the tag scene, by deliberately rambling like his father.  Note that Dan's age is shifted here, to 1953, with his mother pregnant again in '56.  (Did the baby die?  Dan doesn't seem to have any living siblings.)

Jackie is absent for the first time, but we do see Crystal and get a sense of her chemistry with Ed.

Roseanne: Bridge Over Troubled Sonny

Roseanne: Bridge Over Troubled Sonny
ABC
January 31, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Laurie Gelman story has Crystal still not over the death of her first husband, Sonny, who's been encased in a bridge pylon for twelve years.  (Lonnie, still for the moment played by Josh Williams, is eleven, but maybe Crystal was pregnant at the time.)  There are some twists on this plot that surprised me rewatching it now.  Meanwhile Darlene takes up smoking, and the Conners do not react the way the Bradys did with Greg.

Booker, Juanita (Evelina Fernández), and Sylvia (Anne Faulkner) appear in the first scene at Wellman.

Roseanne: The Monday Through Friday Show

Roseanne: The Monday Through Friday Show
ABC
January 24, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Danny Jacobson wrote this episode where the threads don't all come together but there are some nice moments.  Both Becky and Darlene have crises (apparently DJ is too little to have real problems yet), Becky having to dissect a frog or ruin her perfect A average, and Darlene failing at her job as papergirl.  Meanwhile, Dan and Roseanne decide to finally go on a real honeymoon but can't agree where, till Jackie saves the day by paying for the kids to leave so Roseanne and Dan can have a staycation weekend.  I'm assuming the title of this episode is due to there recently being an episode called "Saturday," and no, I don't know if they did one called "Sunday."  Note that this is the first time I noticed any of the kids' ages being referred to, with Darlene saying she's 11.

This is the 1900th show I've reviewed, and yes, I expect to catch up with the year sometime during the 1990s.

Roseanne: Canoga Time

Roseanne: Canoga Time
ABC
January 17, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B-

David McFadzean wrote this story about a rummage sale, Darlene's report card, and Jackie & Booker's date which he's very late for.  I still don't get where they're going with Jackie/Booker and I don't think the writers knew either.  Note that we see the girls' bedroom for the first time.  And thus ends the Reagan era of my TV shows, unless something turns up later on VHS.

Roseanne: Saturday

Roseanne: Saturday
ABC
January 10, 1989
Sitcom
DVD
B

David McFadzean wrote this episode where Dan tries to fix his truck with the dubious help of his friend Dwight (William Sadler in his second and last appearance on the show).  Dwight is interested in Jackie, but the audience and Roseanne can see what a sexist pig he is.  Jackie tries to give him a chance but gives up when he gets crude with her.  Dan thinks Dwight is heartbroken, but Dwight soon sets his sights on Crystal.  The tag scene with Dan and Roseanne sitting in the front seat of the truck is sweet and funny.  Barr's real-life first husband, Bill Pentland, plays Dan's other friend Freddy Meeker and would later write a couple episodes.

Roseanne: Here's to Good Friends

Roseanne: Here's to Good Friends
ABC
December 20, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Danny Jacobson wrote this episode where Roseanne and Jackie take Crystal to the Lobo Lounge to cheer her up after a recent dumping.  We find out that she's been married thrice, I think the first a widowing and the second two divorces.  She mentions having to get a sitter for Lonnie, although I don't know why she doesn't drop him off and have Dan look after him along with the Conner kids.  It's another episode where things don't quite jell.  For instance, in the continuing Jackie & Booker thread, he lies and goes out with another woman, so she gets revenge, but it's still unclear to them and us how J & B feel about each other.  Note that Darlene is again procrastinating with her homework.

At Wellman's, Juanita (Evelina Fernández), Pete (Ron Perkins), and Sylvia (Anne Faulkner) return.  John "Juke" Logan, the Man Who Takes Chair, would later play Prisoner with Harmonica.  And Nancy Fish makes her first of four appearances as Claire the bartender.

Roseanne: The Memory Game

Roseanne: The Memory Game
ABC
December 13, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B

Grace McKeaney's first of four Roseanne stories takes awhile to get going-- and again the Wellman's Plastics scene is the weakest of the lot-- but it works its way to a gut-punching moment and then resolution and comfort.  We learn in this episode that Dan and Roseanne married fifteen years ago, right after high school.  (I'd remembered Dan as a year or two older, but either I'm wrong or this was retconned.)  Their reunion is coming up so Dan hires a professional photographer for their family portrait.  Unfortunately, Jackie (who is starting to seem passive-aggressive, or maybe just really clueless) chooses this time to tell Roseanne that Dan dated Roseanne's nemesis Phyllis in high school.  When Roseanne confronts Dan, it turns out that he had drunken sex with Phyllis!  Roseanne (and the audience) end up forgiving Dan but it has changed things.  And, yes, this must've been an interesting pairing with the Who's the Boss? flashback show.

Steve Vinovich, who plays Bob the photographer, was Ben Baxter, the guy who switches food with Jack on Three's Company during their finals.  Juanita (Evelina Fernández), Pete (Ron Perkins), and Sylvia (Anne Faulkner) all return for the Wellman scene.

Roseanne: Lovers' Lane

Roseanne: Lovers' Lane
ABC
December 6, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Another uneven episode, this time with a pointless rape joke.  (I don't mean gratuitous, I mean pointless, but I'll get to that.)  The title is a pun, since the Conners and friends go bowling, and Becky's "new boyfriend" Chip Lang (Jared Rushton, who would return twice in the role) works at the alley.  It turns out that they're not actually dating yet, and she's shy about speaking to him.

The other "lovers" are Jackie and Booker, who make a "friendly bet," where if he beats her at bowling, she'll spend the night at his place, while if she wins he'll have to clean her bathroom.  It's unclear what Jackie's feelings about Booker actually are.  She seems attracted to him (and, yeah, it is a twentysomething George Clooney), but she hesitates.  Because he's younger?  Because he's her boss?  Because he's conceited?  Other?  Do we ever find out?

He wins and she asks if he wants her "against her will."  He says of course.  But then he says he doesn't want it to happen because of a bet.  So what is the point of the "against her will" line?  And is it something she wants or not?  On a soap opera, this kind of ambiguity might be OK, but this is a sitcom and I'd like some insight if not closure on this plot thread.

Evelina Fernández and Annie Faulkner return as Juanita and Sylvia but apparently they're not allowed to be in any scene outside Wellman's Plastics, so they don't go bowling.  Ron Perkins returns as Pete and gets insulted.  Josh C. Williams makes his first of two appearances as Crystal's son Lonnie Anderson (get it?), although he's not referred to by name here.  This is the first of 13 Roseanne episodes written by Danny Jacobson.  I assume he improved.

Roseanne: Radio Days

Roseanne: Radio Days
ABC
November 29, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Laurie Gelman story is uneven but has some interesting elements.  Roseanne encourages Dan to enter a song-writing contest on the radio, which he does, using one of her own poems.  They come in fourth but we hear the song a couple times and so we know that both Dan and Roseanne have talent.  Meanwhile, Becky and Darlene bicker, D.J. remains adorable, Booker and Jackie engage in behavior that isn't clearly flirtation or mutual harassment, and we find out some of Crystal's tragicomic background.

Roseanne's coworkers Juanita (Evelina Fernández), Sylvia (Anne Faulkner), and Vonda (Charlayne Woodard) return and are given a little more personality.  Ron Perkins is credited on IMDB for two previous appearances as Pete Wilkins, but this is the first time I noticed him.

Roseanne: Language Lessons

Roseanne: Language Lessons
ABC
November 22, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B

Laurie Gelman's first of five Roseanne stories just has the family, at the Conner house, and the characters fight and play and make up and generally interact in a believable way.  Nothing earth-shattering or particularly plot-heavy, but a nice further introduction to the dynamic of how these relatives get along, and don't get along, with Roseanne often in the middle.  (If I recall correctly, she'll later be accused of putting herself in the middle, making her not unlike Tony Micelli.)

Roseanne: D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Roseanne: D-I-V-O-R-C-E
ABC
November 1, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B

Lauren Eve Anderson's first of four Roseanne stories has Dan and Roseanne going to dinner at the Landford Inn, while 13-year-old Becky and Aunt Jackie share the babysitting duties.  Note that Becky is the same age that Marcia was when she and Greg (then 14) argued that they were old enough to sit for their younger siblings.  On Bunch, the parents, especially Carol, worried about the children and couldn't relax and enjoy dinner, but Roseanne and Dan in contrast joke about who would get stuck with the kids if they ever got divorced.  There's no doubt of the Conners' love for each other, however, and this is a relatively sentimental episode for this series.  The mention of Roseanne's plans to be a writer would have long-ranging consequences.

Roseanne: We're in the Money

Roseanne: We're in the Money
ABC
October 25, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B-

David McFadzean's first of five Roseanne scripts isn't as strong as the pilot, partly because the factory scene (generally the weakest aspect of the first season anyway) feels too long and somewhat unnecessary.  Still, it's interesting to see how Roseanne and Dan manage money.

Michael Fishman becomes the new D.J. in this episode and is adorable.  Perfume Counter Saleswoman Christina Pickles would later play Mona's sister-in-law on Who's the Boss?

Roseanne: Life and Stuff

Roseanne: Life and Stuff
ABC
October 18, 1988
Sitcom
DVD
B

Even though this series originally ran on ABC right after Who's the Boss?, I definitely wasn't watching it the first season.  (And to be honest, what with changes in my life in the late '80s, I wasn't watching WtB that regularly.)  This is the only episode written by co-creator Matt Williams, but it obviously incorporates a lot of Roseanne's stand-up act and persona.  On the other hand, director Ellen Falcon did the majority (fifteen) of the first season episodes.

You know the cast now, but back in '88 no one did, so first of all, Roseanne and her family:

• Roseanne Barr as the Danzaly named Roseanne Conner
• John Goodman as her husband Dan
• Laurie Metcalf as her sister Jackie
• Lecy Goranson as older daughter Becky
• Sara Gilbert as younger daughter Darlene
• and Sal Barone as son D.J. (soon to be replaced because he didn't get along with Gilbert)

Roseanne's coworkers at the factory include Sylvia Foster (Anne Faulkner in her first of nine appearances), Juanita Herrera (Evelina Fernandez, also first of nine), and Vonda Green (Charlayne Woodard, first of five), but they're not given much to do here.  Natalie West as Crystal Anderson, however, would do 83 more episodes, and she is in the opening credits.  (Crystal wishes she could find a husband like Dan, which would later be ironic.)  And, yes, that's 27-year-old George Clooney (post-Facts-of-Life) as Roseanne's boss Booker.

When I watched Season One a few years later, it didn't seem as good as later seasons (except for of course the infamous last season), but this pilot (back when the series was made as Life and Stuff) holds up really well.  Although Barr is not technically an actress at this point, more of a personality, she is laugh-out-loud funny and of course she and Goodman have immediate, believable chemistry.  No one else, not even future Emmy-winner Metcalf, is anywhere near as interesting yet, but they don't have to be.  And, yes, the theme of an imperfect but loving working-class family (not the Cosbys, but not the Bundys either) is here right from the start.