Roseanne Reviews A

This is a set of reviews of Roseanne episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I will focus only on the political aspects and will mention what percent of lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by people of color.

“Life and Stuff” Episode one, Season one. The wikipedia summary is: “Roseanne is summoned to a parent/teacher conference after Darlene has been barking in class. Stressed from the pressures of coping with home and work, she lashes out at Dan for not doing his share.”

This is the pilot. We learn that they’re working-class poor. They seem to struggle more than a lot of people I would call working-class- for example , they can afford to donate only two cans to canned-food drive for Becky’s class, and do so reluctantly, with Roseanne saying they should be RECEIVING instead of giving. Dan, at this point is a drywall contractor. Roseanne works in a plastics factory. Most or possibly all of her co-workers are women, but apparently management is male. About 10% of the lines spoken by non-relatives are by a black woman Roseanne is work-friends with.

“We’re in the Money” Episode two, Season one. The wikipedia summary is: “Although Dan and Roseanne agree not to spend any of Dan's $500 advance on themselves, neither can resist the temptation.”

This episode, as usual, highlights the fact that they’re working-class. They can barely pay the bills and have almost nothing else for things that middle-class people buy casually. It also reminds me that the phrase “working families” is important. They struggle a lot more than working-class people without children under 18, and to one degree or another are contributing more to our society (although that might not be true if they’re horrible parents and/or their kids turn out bad, but in general I admire people raising kids).

There’s about 20 lines by non-family members and all are by white people. So that really sucks.

“D-I-V-O-R-C-E” Episode three, Season one. The wikipedia summary is: “Date night for Dan and Roseanne turns into a brush with divorce, after they run into an old, newly-single friend. Dan begins to fear the worst about their marriage and puts their relationship under a microscope. After a lot of "what ifs" he and Roseanne conclude there is hope after all. Meanwhile, Roseanne's sister Jackie inadvertently forgets she promised to baby-sit the kids, who lock her out of the house.”

The only thing worth mentioning is that of the 20 or so lines spoken by non-family members, 0% are by people of color, which really sucks.

“Radio Days” Episode five Season one. The wikipedia summary is: “As Becky and Darlene bicker over territory, Roseanne encourages Dan to enter a song writing contest (using one of her own poems as the lyrics) in hopes of crooning his way to fame and fortune. The episode features a full length rendition sung by John Goodman. Meanwhile, friction between Booker, the factory manager, and Jackie heats up.”

There are two things that remind us they’re poor. The two girls, the older one a teenager, have to share a room. Also, a recurring character mentions losing her husband years earlier. As we learn later in the series, he was killed in an on-the-job accident at a construction site, which raises the fact that a lot of working-class jobs, unlike almost all middle-class jobs, involve some physical danger and sort of brings up the issue of work-place safety.

We also learn that Roseanne went to protest marches when younger (probably in the early 70s).

About 10% of the lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by a black woman Roseanne is friends with at work and about 10% are by a Latina friend at work.