What I’m Watching: Roseanne (Season Finale)

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 9 “Knee Deep” (B)

I think I would have expected a comedy like this to end its signature return run on a far more celebratory note than this one, but its characters were able to find a silver lining following an unpredictable and unstoppable event. The sight of Dan standing in the submerged basement didn’t leave much hope for their financial future, especially with Roseanne getting stuck on the toilet and in more pain each day. Chuck was pretty upset also with the notion that Dan was going to use other workers because he couldn’t afford him, but circumstances seem to have led to them making amends on Chuck’s highly demanding terms. Dan grabbing all of the sports trophies instead of the kids’ photos and birth certificates showcased the more humorous focus on the effects of the flood, something that should have devastated and impoverished the family if not for their successful chanting of “State of Emergency!” that suddenly turned their fortunes around completely. Their home may be ruined, but now they’ll have the funding they need to fix it and get plenty more work fixing other people’s homes at the same time. Roseanne and Jackie getting the doll that their mom treated like royalty but wouldn’t let them play with was mildly entertaining, and of course a minor repair meant that it was devalued from $5000 down to $100. Becky trying to teach Darlene how to make more tips was a tough job, and Darlene is only going to flirt and flounce in the way that she deems worthwhile, which really isn’t all that effective. I’ll probably continue watching this show in subsequent seasons if it attracts awards attention, and it’s enjoyable enough to merit a half-hour out of my week.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Sara Gilbert as Darlene

**Update as of 5/29 - apparently Roseanne Barr's latest tweet was enough to get ABC to cancel the show outright, meaning both that it won't be back again for subsequent seasons and also that it's highly unlikely it will earn any Emmy love this summer. An unexpected turn of events, to be sure!

What I’m Watching: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 8 “Netflix and Pill” (B)

Being so into television, I find that conversation with friends often turns to what we’re watching, and I’m definitely one of the few in my circles still keeping up with this show. I’m asked how this show supports Trump and his administration, and to me the best examples are the subtle digs that get turned into comedy about how no one in this family can afford to make a decent living and buy what they need because of how the deck is stacked against them in favor of some other, which may well be the masses. The news that Roseanne has been taking a whole lot of pain pills that didn’t belong to her elicited an immediate and serious response from Dan, one which shows how much he wants to make sure she doesn’t remain addicted and that says that he’ll find a way to pay for this surgery that she has been putting off because she doesn’t believe they can afford it. It’s a far realer issue than most of the content on this show, which is all presented through a comedic lens as a way to process it. Darlene didn’t need to put much effort in to get the job that Crystal was retiring from, and that appeal of the full benefits package was all the impetus she needed. Tim Bagley’s guest appearance as the hotel concierge was another portrayal of how those in the working class are often looked down upon by those more fortunate, though you’d have to hope that no institution employee would be quite as condescending as he was.

What I’m Watching: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 7 “Go Cubs” (B)

This was an undeniably entertaining episode, one that put all of Roseanne’s prejudices towards her Muslim neighbors out in the open. Tackling ignorance, immigration, and all that is especially interesting on a show like this that paints Roseanne as the sympathetic protagonist, similar most to the racist Archie Bunker, endearing despite the horrible things she baselessly thinks about people. Having Jackie there is like the opposite of Karen Waker on “Will and Grace,” a parody representation of what the other side thinks. In this case, Jackie was more than happy to share what they thought their neighbors’ wi-fi password was after Roseanne was managing to be mildly nice to them. You’d think that Samir would realize that ordering tons and tons of fertilizer by clicking too much on Amazon would probably make him look especially suspicious, but no one ever accused this show of being complex in its portrayal of people its main characters judge based on their appearance. Roseanne chewing out the cashier for airing her own discriminatory feelings hardly had the effect it should have since she just moved on to try to use a coupon, with the threat of telling her manager serving as the likely extent of her action. We briefly saw Andy Milder from “Weeds” as Al, who delivered the bad news to Dan that he wouldn’t be using his crew, prompting Dan to lament the use of “illegals,” a term he was warned not to use around anyone concerned with political correctness.

What I’m Watching: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 6 “No Country for Old Women” (B)

I had the chance to see Oscar winner Estelle Parsons, who is now ninety years old, briefly at a screening of “Diane,” in which she has a small role, at Tribeca a few years ago. It’s great to see her still getting great parts like this, reminiscent of Cloris Leachman, who is a year older than her. Sure, the role is incredibly exaggerated, namely with all of the sex she’s supposed to be having at inappropriate moments, but she’s evidently having fun. I loved the quick cameo from Christopher Lloyd, who himself is nearly eighty years old, as her boyfriend Lou who said he could mistake Beverly for Roseanne and Jackie’s sister and then did his best to make it down the stairs. Roseanne and Jackie enjoyed some competition over who wanted to host their mother the least, and Becky was dumb enough to volunteer to take pity on her poor grandmother only to nearly go insane as soon as she was left with her for a little bit. Jackie did manage to achieve a small moment of kinship with her mother that was over almost before it began. As usual, this show’s approach to LGBT content is unique, with Roseanne insisting that being with a woman must be easier than being with a man. Mark also managed to express himself with a secret design on the inside of the birdhouse that he had to make to the specifications Dan insisted upon, showing a lesson in doing a job without necessarily leaving your imprint on it.

What I’m Watching: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 5 “Darlene v. David” (B)

Not having watched this show during its original run means that I’m not familiar with the recurring characters who are now showing up again. I recognized Johnny Galecki from “The Big Bang Theory” right away as David, Darlene’s absent husband who suddenly showed up back in her life. I didn’t recognize Estelle Parsons, the esteemed Oscar winner from “Bonnie and Clyde” who is now ninety years old, as Roseanne and Jackie’s mother Beverly. I wasn’t all that fond of the content involving Beverly, who is apparently quite the sexually active senior, and who may now be sticking around a permanent basis after being barred from her retirement home due to her classification as a danger to others. David, on the other hand, was plenty entertaining, not pausing on the fact that his new girlfriend’s name was Blue and then launching unprepared into a long speech he didn’t expect to be allowed to finish. Darlene was intoxicated by the notion that they might be able to reconcile, but some helpful heart-to-hearts with her family members showed that their marriage never really worked in the first place. At least their relationship can be civil, with Dan sternly warning him not to mess anything up and Roseanne comforting him with her assurances that she still wants him to prove her right. Harris could use a role model that she didn’t have to guilt into buying her weed or ice cream, and having both of her parents around and a bit happier might just set her in the right direction.

Take Three: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 4 “Eggs Over, Not Easy” (B)

This show really knows what it wants to be, and after dealing with one problematic grandchild last week, now the focus is on the child we didn’t see in that episode. I had expected that Becky having a baby for Andrea would be a plotline carried throughout the entire season and perhaps beyond, but that dream was derailed pretty quickly. Roseanne didn’t need to call Andrea and tell her that Becky had lied about her age since that very fact made her ineligible to have the baby, prompting Andrea to awkwardly say goodbye and demand her expensive bedazzled egg back. While the first instinct of every member of this extended family is to list a person’s flaws for as long as they can until they’re interrupted, they’re also capable of some affirming interaction as well. Darlene had a few drinks with her sister, and Roseanne honestly admitted that she sometimes forgets that there are other people who apparently want stuff too. After everyone piled on Jackie and how she was the perfect person to get a dog because she had no life and no one to love her, she expressed some of her true individuality by training her dog to be an independent thinker, an excuse Dan realized meant that he didn’t listen to any of her commands. Dan realizing that he had upset Roseanne when he told her to drop it produced a humorous response when he requested something for lunch that had been prepared and sealed somewhere else.

What I’m Watching: Roseanne

Roseanne: Season 10, Episode 3 “Roseanne Gets the Chair” (B)

I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone that this show was already renewed for an eleventh season after its monstrously successful return last week. Though I wasn’t wowed by it, I stick by my contention that it’s going to be a talked-about series that an enthusiastic TV critic like myself really should be watching. This does feel like the definition of a sitcom, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s really so interesting to me that shows like this and “Will and Grace” can literally just pick up a decade or two after going off the air without changing anything about their formats or styles, the evolution of television in the time since then be damned. What did work well about this episode was that it was almost singularly-focused, forgetting about Becky and her surrogacy to show how Roseanne has a big problem with her granddaughter feeling entitled and like she’s better than the rest of the family. I was thinking that this Emma Kenney character is nothing compared to her rebellious teenager on “Shameless,” but then I realized that Roseanne might actually get along with her better. The laundry issue was just the tip of the iceberg, and all it took was a trip to the “Hillbilly Day Spa” to get Harris to realize just how selfish she was being, prompting her mother to side with Roseanne for once and talk some sense into her. None of these problems are permanently solved, of course, as her contributions to the family made her feel like she deserved a long and restful shower, and Roseanne getting into the shower with her probably did the trick of keeping her on her toes. I don’t know how much the chair will continue to be around, but it was a good bit of comedy for how much slower it was than Harris running down the stairs and Dan’s amazement that it actually worked when he hadn’t really tested it. This show does have some great lines, like the definition of Etsy as a yard sale online because people can’t afford yards and a vegetable brush as kind of like a hand. Dan and Roseanne pretending that there were no books about how to raise kids was funny too. Maybe this show will manage to win me over after all.

What I’m Watching: Roseanne (Series Return)

Roseanne: Season 10, Episodes 1 and 2 “Twenty Years to Life” and “Dress to Impress” (B)

It’s the age of revivals, and this popular sitcom is off to a fabulous start with extremely high ratings that even Donald Trump is announcing to those who will listen. I had never actually seen this show prior to this two-part season premiere, mainly because it went off the air before I really got into television. My understanding is that it was meant to represent the working-class family when other sitcoms didn’t deal directly with that. It’s an interesting counterpoint to “Will and Grace,” a show that has used its revival to comment on the state of politics and other things in America today that have changed tremendously since it first began twenty years ago. This slightly older show has just as much to say, but its protagonist is firmly in the pro-Trump camp, to the point that there’s a whole plotline with her liberal sister coming over to the house after a long feud wearing a pussy hat and a “Nasty Woman” t-shirt. There’s definitely a slant to how this show approaches that kind of fare, presuming that Laurie Metcalf’s Jackie would be so thrown off by Roseanne’s blind support for Trump that she would end up voting for Jill Stein because she didn’t know what to do. In a reference that I understood, Sarah Chalke is playing a character who the real Becky, played by original cast member Alicia Goranson, is going to be a surrogate for, adding more opportunity for political commentary along with the gender-nonconforming grandson that gives Roseanne and Dan plenty to mull over as they face modern times. I feel like this is a show that I should be watching because it’s going to be part of the conversation both in terms of society and come awards season, but I don’t really so what’s particularly special or funny about it.