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.

Ellen: Guns 'N Ellen

Adam/Audrey is launched.

Ellen: Guns 'N Ellen
ABC
February 15, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this Newman & Stark story, when Ellen is robbed, Detective Gil Ryan (Eric Allan Kramer, who was Bobo on Roseanne in '89) teaches her and her friends self-defense.  Audrey, who's transitioning from negative to her more upbeat and memorable self, not only promotes guns but flirts a lot with Adam.

Roseanne: Lost Youth

Roseanne: Lost Youth
ABC
February 15, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Bullard & Fromstein story pulls things further back on track, focusing on the characters and their relationships in a more realistic way than some episodes this season.  The "lost youth" of the title refers to that of both Jackie and Mark.  She feels like things are in a rut, especially when Fred is shocked at the idea of having sex in their car.  Meanwhile, Mark gets in a competition with David for the attention of Stacy (Lords), and it's unclear if he's doing this partly because he misses being a bachelor, or if he feels jealous of David's good SAT scores and chance of getting into college.  (David has turned his scholastic career around since last season, presumably making up for ditching school and living with Darlene.)  The relationship between the two Healy brothers is given more dimensions than usual, instead of just exchanges of insults.  As for Fred and Jackie, this will prove to be the beginning of the end for them.

Ellen: Ballet Class

Ellen: Ballet Class
ABC
February 8, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B

Richard Day wrote this episode that turned out better than I expected.  Ellen decides to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina.  And Adam, who trained in ballet for six years, agrees to coach her.  She's taking a class from Peter (Patrick Bristow) from Helping Hands and hopes to get the lead.  Meanwhile, Joe sarcastically lets Ellen know when he's being sarcastic, her mother continues to pressure her about finding a man, and Paige's new boyfriend wears bad '70s fashions.  This all comes to a head in two scenes, one where Ellen's parents are delighted she's brought a man home, even though Peter is very, very obviously gay.  (Bristow is adorable in the role and I'm glad he became semi-recurring.)  The finale has Adam and Ellen dancing the leads (after the bitchy prima donna does herself an injury), and everyone cheers them, including Paige in a "vinyl cow dress" as Joe puts it.  I like that for once Ellen is allowed to triumph, without it being undercut.  (She's clumsy in the tag, but that's OK.)

Ballet Dancer Courtney Pakiz had previously been the Yoga Instructor.

Roseanne: Sisters

Roseanne: Sisters
ABC
February 8, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While there are still some cheap, unfunny jokes in this episode written by Michael Borkow, this is a definite improvement over the previous two episodes.  When Fred decides that D.J. is too weird to be visiting so much, Jackie pretends that Fred's opinion is hers, which causes a falling-out with Roseanne.  Meanwhile, Darlene has been lured home for her mother's birthday (which formerly was in October) by Dan claiming that Nana Mary died.  Becky and Darlene have an uneasy reconciliation, but when David tries to make peace, Darlene lies and says that she's much happier with Jimmy, especially in bed.  Darlene and Jackie confide in each other, and Darlene reveals that Jimmy dumped her.

Twins Garrett and Kent Hazen make their debut as baby Andy.

Roseanne: Bed and Bored

Roseanne: Bed and Bored
ABC
February 1, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
C

A couple minutes into this Eric Gilliland story, I felt like the humor and reality were gone.  A bunch of people were onstage, looking and sounding like the characters we've come to know, but not acting like them.  There is one laugh-out-loud line (about Shaft) and the scene where Bev and Jackie talk about motherhood is good, even if Metcalf is showing signs in this episode of the Flanderization where Jackie is too often cartoonish.  (This would get worse in Seasons Eight and Nine as I recall.)  But the plot of Roseanne pretending to feel worse than she does in order to have bed rest just doesn't work.  I'm not yet ready to hand out C-s to this series, but it is becoming more likely.

Ellen: The Spa

Ellen: The Spa
ABC
January 25, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
C+

While it's nice to see Garry Shandling's Molly Cheek as Sylvia, I couldn't get into the main plot in Suzanne Martin's story, since I couldn't see why Ellen couldn't just leave the spa if she was that unhappy.  I did enjoy the subplot, with Adam nervously attempting to become friends with Joe, the two playing up the double meanings, like when the cable quits and Adam says this has never happened to him before.

Patrick Warburton, who plays Brent, would return in the role of Jack.  We hear that Joe and Stephanie recently broke up, but not why.