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 percentage of lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by people of color.
“Halloween V” Episode 6, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
There were about 50-55 lines by non-family members and none were spoken by people of color.
“Guilt By Imagination” Episode 8, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
There were about 20 lines by non-family members, and all of them were spoken by white characters.
“The Driver’s Seat” Episode 11, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
There were about 55 lines spoken by non-family members and they were all spoken by white people (almost all of them were spoken by characters who are gay or bi-sexual).
“White Trash Christmas” Episode 12, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
There are two things to comment on. First, Dan and Roseanne briefly discuss the possibility that their son DJ is gay. Dan doesn’t seem super excited about the possibility that his son is gay but he seems to be okay with it. Roseanne is totally okay with it. In general the show is very anti-homophobic.
At one point Roseanne says something about her son-in-law Mark trying to get a job and suggests that he might have trouble getting a job because employers MIGHT only be hiring women and people of color. I don’t think Roseanne is seriously worried about that, she’s just worried about her son-in-law getting work. The show is very consistently feminist and anti-racist, and towards the end of the series there’s a development meant to make viewers feel good about affirmative action. My thoughts about AA are here.
“Suck Up Or Shut Up” Episode 13, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
At the very end an actor and an actress from a soap opera IN THE REAL WORLD show up and one makes a bad joke about something he calls a “Mexican divorce.” It certainly sounds like a joke that is a bad fit for the generally anti-racist show.
There were about 40 lines spoken by non-family members and and only 10% were spoken by a person of color. On the other hand, about half of them were spoken by a gay character and a bi-sexual character.
