Roseanne: The Test

Roseanne: The Test
ABC
September 18, 1990
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Roseanne kicks off its third season showing that it will be more fearless than ever.  It still aired Tuesdays at 9 p.m., now with Head of the Class between it and Who's the Boss?  It would drop from #1 to #3, still impressive.

Bob Myer's first of eight Roseanne stories, and the first of twenty-three directed by John Whitesell, has Roseanne taking a pregnancy test and the family, plus Crystal, reacting characteristically.  (Note that instead of the seven of them sitting around the kitchen table arguing and kidding around, as in the first two seasons, Season Three opening credits show the family playing a card game and Crystal enters the kitchen, a hint that her role on the show was going to change.)  I like the acknowledgement of ambivalence, especially for Roseanne, about the possibility of another baby, and the way that abortion is mentioned.  I don't remember this much reflection in a later season, when Roseanne would indeed be pregnant, but I believe that was in the last third of the series run, when so much had changed.  The moment that encapsulates dealing with reality and consequences is when Roseanne first enters and says she's so happy she could sing, causing the studio audience to go crazy at this recognition of her controversial version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that summer.

Note that Dan is 38 at this point, Becky almost 16, D.J. 8.  Darlene is probably 14, but I'll wait for confirmation.