Roseanne: White Trash ChristmasABC
December 14, 1993
Sitcom
DVD
B
Lawrence Broch's first of eight Roseanne stories and William Lucas Walker's first of five has three plot threads. In one, Roseanne and Dan decide to defy the critics in the neighborhood and make their Christmas decorations tackier than ever; this mostly works but lacks a nice pay-off where we can see more of the final result, rather than just bits and pieces and "telling not showing." In the most serious thread, Dan and Roseanne give Becky a check for a semester at community college, but she wants the money to spent on Mark taking a course so he can work in a garage. When she and Roseanne clash about this, Becky gets a job as a waitress at Bunz, which I guess is like Hooters. Meanwhile, Bev takes D.J. to see The Nutcracker in Chicago, and D.J. finds out that David is living with Darlene. There's a nice scene with Darlene and D.J., where it's confirmed what I suspect elsewhere, that they're closer, despite their fights, than D.J. and Becky are. Again, a B+ was tempting, but besides the lack of a dazzling Christmas display, I just don't think Chalke can sell the fights with her parents the way Goranson could. (She's like a nice girl who's ticked off, while Goranson's Becky had seething anger and bitterness that could be tapped into.)
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