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Roseanne Video Showcase

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The Other All American Family

A year and a half ago a local sports radio jock asked people to call in with their favorite TV dad. I couldn't get in, but amidst all the 'Cliff Huxtable' calls, I kept waiting for someone else to recognize Dan Conner, who is my favorite TV dad. And while I certainly wouldn't want to be married to Rosanne or anyone like her, she was a pretty good mom also.

I have always seen a lot of similarities between the Conners and the Huxtables. Both complained about the kids hanging around, but offered homes to them and their various spouses and offspring forever!

Both couples had a powerful love that anchored their families and helped them raise a challenging brood. The Conners were cruder, the Huxtables more refined. It seems that the biggest difference was the the Huxtables showered before work and the Conners had to after work.

I have a dual at the bottom of the lens. I am asking if you think I am right, that these families were more similar than people think...or if I am nuts! If you vote please tell us why!

BTW, I usually put quotes in these lenses. I didn't here. It isn't that there aren't a lot of great quotes, but outside of the context of the family, and their obvious love for each other, well it just looks different on paper.

Contents at a Glance

1. We Learn to Love Those Abrasive Conn...
2. The Fun of The Family Started Every S...
3. The Afterwards Were Great
4. Halloween Will Always Belong to the C...
5. A Special Interview With 'DJ' and 'Be...
6. Funnier Moments from the Season

1. We Learn to Love Those Abrasive Conners

Most of us weren't sure why, but we loved them anyway. Perhaps it was because they were so much like those perfect Huxtables, only more real.

2. The Fun of The Family Started Every Show

Each week the show began with the family, and Crystal, gathered around the table, teasing and loving each other, sharing that pizza. No matter what happened in the show, the squabbles, the misunderstandings, we watched knowing that these people loved each other fiercely, and this introduction set the tone.

3. The Afterwards Were Great

Starting season three, the last minute of each show, was very special. Sometimes it would be an extension of the show, something to finish it. And sometimes it was something about the production, the actors or just something else, as with this video.

4. Halloween Will Always Belong to the Conners (Complete Halloween Carol Episode)

They did it like no one else. Most people are sad the first year their kid's don't believe in Santa. For Rosanne and Dan it was that year that they couldn't get them to do Halloween.

In season 4, Rosanne fittingly does her 'Christmas Carol' takeoff, the one that most shows eventually do, on Halloween. Its perfect.

5. A Special Interview With 'DJ' and 'Becky'

This is part of the DVD's. I love the fun of getting to know the people who play the people we know so well from the show.

6. Funnier Moments from the Season

7. Another Complete Halloween Episode; Nobody Did It Better

This is the Halloween where they finally get one over on Roseanne! Don't miss this one.

8. One of the Greatest Opening Credits Ever: We See the Family Evolve

This was the first year that they morphed the family from the first year to the eighth. We even see Becky go from Lecy Goranson to Sarah Chalk and back to Lecy.

It was a real treat to watch this each week.

9. Martin Mull Remembers the Final Episode

The 9th season was odd, more Lucy and Ethel without Ricky, than Rosanne and Jackie with Dan. It was an up and down season, but the last episode made it all worthwhile as we learned why she had to spend that year dreaming about something else.

One of the many highlights of this program was reuniting Martin Mull and Fred Willard. Mull was on in the middle of the series playing a gay man who was one of Roseanne's many bosses. He was great.

However in the last three seasons, with a stroke of genius, he was brought back as Roseanne and Jackie's partner in the loose meat restaurant. As peers they were able to torment each other to our delight.

And then, as if that weren't great enough, they brought in Fred Willard. Mull and Willard first joined up as a Johnny Carson/Ed McMahan type team on the show within a show, 'Fernwood Tonight' on the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman show.

Willard was brought on to play Mull's gay lover. Rosanne's running their wedding was vintage.

Roseanne Renions and Tributes

Ok, I Have Proposed That the Conners Were Really Very Much Like the Huxtables...

What Do You Think?

Yes, I Can See Your Point, Margo and Here's Why!

ShellysLGBT says:

They were the white, middle class version of the Huxtables and represented most modern, American middle class families. That family was JUST like my family around our dinner table!

Tipi says:

I'd never thought about it until you brought it up, but I can see how the multi dysfunctional Conners were similar to the Huxtables in some ways. How did your mind go in this direction, I wonder...

Margo, You Are Nuts and Here's Why!

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Where Are They Now?

The first great thing about the show is the family, the love that was so obvious, even as they fought and bickered, throwing barbs in a most dysfunctional way.

The second is that while this show is genuinely funny, it also handled a lot of issues such as child abuse, homosexuality, spousal abuse, insanity and others. It did this in a respectful manner.

The third is the great characters and the amazing people who played them. George Clooney had a recurring part in the first season and Debbie Reynolds played Dan's murderously psychotic mother in the last. In between was Mariel Hemmingway, the stars from One Life to Live playing themselves, Shelly Winters, Ned Beatty, Ellen Degeneres and many, many more. Roseanne was a plumb gig!

And what has happened to the stars? Well, Sarah Chalke has starred in Scrubs for years. Glenn Quinn, who played her less than bright husband, starred in Angel
but has since died of a drug OD. John Goodman has been a staple in Cohen brothers films. Sarah Gilbert has had another sitcom and was in the beginning episodes of 24 II. Johnny Gilecki, her husband has been in several sitcoms. Lecy Gorenson was seen on a Law and Order, Laurie Metcalf on Monk but have been less visible as has Micheal Fishman.

And Roseanne? Well, she is back on the stand up circuit with a long gig in Los Vegas. More more about them check Roseanne Stars.

As for the others, the featured, regular characters that gave this show so much? Here is more

Any Purchase Here Will Contribute to Heifer International: The Pay It Forward Entrepreneurial Charity

Bring Roseanne and Her Family to Your Family

Roseanne Season 1 - 9

Amazon Price: $549.50 (as of 06/05/2012)

Lets Hear It For Roseanne and the Gang!

Reply

Tipi Dec 20, 2010 @ 7:33 pm | delete

What a crazy and fun bunch, I used to take notes so I could apply all the wonderful life lessons to my own family. Kidding! Nice work, Margo!

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molly6342 Dec 13, 2010 @ 8:51 am | delete

I loved this show. The Connors might have been crude people but they were very good parents, the kids always did come first with them. My kids use to compare my sister and I with Roseanne and Jackie.

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pmolinero Dec 13, 2010 @ 3:09 am | delete

The name Roseanne tells me something, I think they showed it once in german television. I never watched it though.