Roseanne: Single Married Female

Roseanne: Single Married Female
ABC
February 22, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Betsy Borns wrote this episode where both Dan and the story need Roseanne.  (Barr does appear as herself in the cute tag.)  Roseanne C. is visiting partially deaf Auntie Barbara (the one that Jackie had to call when her dad died).  Dan has to not only look after the kids (including babysitting nephew Andy), but he has to decide what to do when he catches Jackie with a male friend at the Lobo.  Jackie swears nothing is going on, but Dan is still worried.  After some advice from David (who, remember, not that long ago spied on Jimmy), Dan decides to tell Fred, who ends up leaving Jackie.

Fred would be in more episodes, but I get the feeling here and elsewhere that the writers really didn't know what to do with him once he and Jackie got married.  They were sweet together while dating, but maybe, as the episode's title suggests, a married Jackie felt like a contradiction in terms.  It's disappointing that it went this way.  Also, Borns further Flanderizes Mark as stupid, although obviously she's not the only culprit.  So, yeah, a C+.  Not the worst this year obviously, but below the quality of the series' middle years.

John McConnell again plays Dan's poker buddy Bob, who in this episode comes across as a poor man's Arnie, stupid and eager.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes his last appearance as D.J.'s friend George.  It's also the last appearance of Lords as Stacy Flagler, and she's only in the first scene anyway.

Roseanne: Follow the Son

Roseanne: Follow the Son
ABC
November 2, 1994
Sitcom
DVD
B

D.J. is tired of working as a busboy at the Lunch Box, while David is worried about Darlene's plans to move in with Jimmy (Danny Masterson, later of That '70s Show).  Joseph Gordon-Levitt returns as D.J.'s boring friend George, his hair closer to his 3rd Rock from the Sun look.  Future Roseanne writer Bob Nickman's third of four roles on the show is a Customer.  And Traci Lords makes her first of three appearances as "busgirl" Stacy Flagler, with a porno parody in this episode's tag.

Roseanne: I Pray the Lord My Stove to Keep

Roseanne: I Pray the Lord My Stove to Keep
ABC
May 3, 1994
Sitcom
DVD
B

Pat Bullard wrote this episode with Kevin Abbott and plays Deliveryman #1, as an appliance company keeps accidentally delivering stoves to the Lunch Box.  Meanwhile, D.J. claims he's hanging out with his boring friend George (Joseph Gordon-Levitt again), but he's actually going to church every day.  The Conners do their best to deal with this change, and David offers to give up the nose-ring that Darlene talked him into.

Another Zappa kid appears in this episode: Dweezil as a guitarist in the tag.

Roseanne: Daughters and Other Strangers

Roseanne: Daughters and Other Strangers
ABC
May 18, 1993
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Eric Gilliland wrote this season closer, where Roseanne thinks Darlene is going to run off to Chicago, until her daughter takes $300 out of her account to spend it on a CD player for David.   Darlene now has a job at Buy & Bag, yes, like Becky.  Roseanne doesn't want Darlene to waste her life in Lanford, and she mentions wanting to write children's books.  Dan points out she never did anything with the writing room he built for her in the basement (now David's room).  Roseanne and Dan agree that Darlene should go to Chicago, but she doesn't want to.  Roseanne thinks it's because of David, who admits he told Darlene he'd break up with her if she did.  It turns out that Darlene is afraid of failure, but Roseanne encourages her to try.  We don't see Darlene's talk with David, but I imagine it was difficult.  There are funny moments mixed in with the drama of course, like "BitchFest '93" and the chicken shirt that gets passed around to every family member.  In the tag we find out that DJ touched a girl's "boob" and she's now his girlfriend.  And, yes, that's twelve-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt making his debut as DJ's boring new "friend" George, three years before Third Rock from the Sun.

Roseanne in its middle season ranges from C+ to A- (and three of those), averaging out to an amazing B.  The writing, direction, and of course cast, including regulars, semi-regulars, and guests (with the exception of Joan Collins), are at their peak.  Even the addition of the Tildens doesn't do serious damage to the show, and at least it does nudge Darlene to acknowledge her feelings for David.  As far as that peak goes, I said earlier that I recall the Roseanne seasons as having a triangle for quality, so Season Six will probably be a decline, although not a dramatic one and maybe only to the level of Season Four.  We're still a long way off from the batshittery of Season Nine, and for now this remains a very real, if sometimes silly, series.