Roseanne: Guilt by Imagination

Roseanne: Guilt by Imagination
ABC
November 9, 1993
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Pat Bullard, who'd later write three more Roseanne episodes, in one of which he'd play Deliveryman #1, and his collaborator Stevie Ray Fromstein, who'd played Bill earlier in the year, based this teleplay on the second of five Roseanne stories by Lois Bromfield, who had appeared as one Roseanne character already and would be another the next year.  Like the previous episode, it's laugh-out-loud funny but also real and insightful.

Vicki Lawrence appears in only the opening scene, but her role of Phyllis Zimmer has long-reaching consequences, into even the series finale.  Phyllis is the girl (I think referred to once before) that Dan slept with when he and Roseanne broke up in high school.  She invites Dan out to lunch and flirts outrageously with him in his office.  Nothing happens but Dan is flattered by her attention, and turned on enough to come home and passionately make love to Roseanne all afternoon.  Jackie is caught in the middle, when she's not a very good liar.  Meanwhile, Dan tells Fred to call attention to Jackie's ears, which she's insecure about, so Fred buys Jackie earrings, saying he's been thinking about her ears.  As Roseanne observes, "That's very flattering from somebody who's seen you naked."

Fabio makes an appearance in the tag as Roseanne's romantic fantasy.  This is the first episode without either Darlene or David, as the focus is more on the adults, but D.J. does get a good scene with Dan.  And we never hear how Fred and Jackie's date went.

Match Game 73: #1.3

Match Game 73: #1.3
CBS
July 4, 1973
Game Show
DVD
B-

Monday's winner, the black lady named Stanley, is still hanging in there on Wednesday of the first week.  The show is definitely still a work in progress, since Gene has to ask the judge(s) if words have to match exactly or if synonyms count.  But the contestants are getting the hang of things, and they're no longer scoring just a point or two each match.  Note that Gene calls Jack on all his insults of his wife Brett, little realizing that this would have long-ranging consequences for the show.  And with Richard's imitations of Paul Lynde, I'm starting to wonder if he should be credited with the Wait Till Your Father caterer's voice rather than Lynde.  (Dawson is listed for a different WTYF episode.)

Match Game 73: #1.1

I said "Brooklyn" and thus won 100 1973-dollars.

Match Game 73: #1.1
CBS
July 2, 1973
Game Show
DVD
B-

Revamped for the '70s but not yet quite Match Game as we know it, the show returns with Rayburn and Olson, but with six guest celebrities rather than just two.  And I have to admit that, although I played along, I wasn't any more drawn in than I was by the '62 episode.  It's partly that the questions and celebrity answers aren't either crude or refined enough, refined in the sense of being polished.  A contestant and I both said "wives" were traded, but the celebrities said things like "cars."  For "something you squeeze," the contestant said "a girl," while the panelists said "lemons" and "oranges," and I, trying to get in the mid-'70s mindset, said "Charmin."  It's not surprising that only Richard Dawson (who gets the Super-Match right with "London Bridge") would become a fixture on the panel.  It's not a bad (re)start by any means, but the show needed further retooling and development.

Marc Breslow directed this and future episodes.