Fishman, or Barone?

[Brad Russ]

I know there was a post similar to this awhile back, but I thought I'd ask this question: Who do you think would have been a better DJ on the show, Sal Barone, (the original DJ), or Michael Fishman? I definitely think they made the right choice with Michael Fishman, and quite honestly I'm surprised that he wasn't their first choice to begin with. Number 1, he was much cuter, with his little baby cheeks, and cute little voice in the first few seasons of the show. Number two, he looked more like the Conner's, especially Roseanne, who I thought he looked identical to. And thirdly, and probably most importantly, he seemed to get along great with the cast. He did get kind of annoying as the seasons wore on, and became less of an important character on the show, but I thought he was great in the first 3, or 4 seasons, and I doubt the other kid would have been any better. I do feel kind of bad about the first D.J. getting fired after only 1 episode, but those are the breaks I guess. What do you guys think? Who would have made the better D.J., and why? The poll results will probably be obvious, but I thought I'd post anyway. Who know's, maybe I'll be surprised.

[Crimson and Clover]

Definitly Michael.

[Tyler77]

At least the first DJ will go down in history as saying the the very first lines on the series--he asked Roseanne to untangle his shoelaces.

[Janice]

I didn't know that there was another actor who played DJ. Anyone feel like telling me the story there?
I totally agree with mdntrider about DJ looking just like Roseanne. I notice that it's mentioned on the show too. He's a dead ringer for her and could pass for her own son.
He was a cute little kid.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by Janice
I didn't know that there was another actor who played DJ. Anyone feel like telling me the story there?
I totally agree with mdntrider about DJ looking just like Roseanne. I notice that it's mentioned on the show too. He's a dead ringer for her and could pass for her own son.
He was a cute little kid.

Yeah, basically what happened, based on what Iv'e read here, and in other places is that Barone, and Sara Gilbert didn't get along too well. She apparently had big problems with him, so they let him go. There may have been other reasons also, but that is the only reason Iv'e heard as to why he was let go after only one show. I'm not sure exactly what the problems were between the two, but maybe somebody else here knows, and can fill you in. Whatever the problem was, it would sure make for a great E! True Hollywood Story! I wonder if they have backstage clips of the two arguing and stuff? That would be interesting to see.

[Janice]

That's wild. I'm surprised that Sara Gilbert would have such influence so early on in the show. I wonder what sort of problems a teenage girl could could have with a little boy.
Something tells me there's more than meets the eye on this story. Sometimes, we never end up knowing the deal on things.

[flagler]

I have posted this before but this comes from the 1998 Reunion show Roseanne did on her talk show. Roseanne said that Sara used to beat Sal up and the show called in the child welfare people (Sara doesn't remember the welfare people) Sara does admit she was rough with Sal and was told they were getting a new DJ and if she didn't get along with him she would be out. It is possible Sal's parents decided to take him off the show, not sure though. Have never heard anything from Sal though, he should be about 20 or so by now, would be interesting to hear what he remembers about it.

[roseannefan55]

i think it would be mike because he plays dj the best :p

[BigBadBob1982]

i read somewhere ( not sure where, or how corect ) that after the pilot was shot the producers didn't feel that the actor was right for the show and hired Michael Fishman to do the series

[bubblegum]

Michael!!!!!!!!! I only noticed that it was a different DJ after I had seen it on TV Tome.

Michael is married now which is really surprising because I always thought the show started when I was born (1991) but it started in 1988 So i thought he would have been around 18 now but he is 22 .

[flagler]

That may be true too cause Roseanne never said Sal was taken off the show because Sara and he didn't get along, but Sara was defintely warned when Michael came on that she better get along with him or else.

[BigBadBob1982]

could be. could also be a combonation of things

[db108108]

Can you imagine if they would have replace Sara and not Sal?

And that poor kid. Of course, when he got fired, they didn't know what "Roseanne" would become, but I bet he and his family were envious, angry and jealous for quite some time

[BigBadBob1982]

if that would have happened to me i would be jealous or a little angry. But i would also respect the director/producer decision to replace me, maybe if he was there for the series it might not have lasted as long, or maybe some of the cast would quit/get fired and it would've went down the toilet real fast.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by db108108
Can you imagine if they would have replace Sara and not Sal?

And that poor kid. Of course, when he got fired, they didn't know what "Roseanne" would become, but I bet he and his family were envious, angry and jealous for quite some time

Yeah, I feel bad for him too, and have often wondered how he feels today about being let off one of the greatest shows in tv history. Hopefully he's at peace with himself, and dealing with it well. I just find it odd how he's never spoken publicly about it. I agree with Flager, It would be very interesting to hear his side of everything, as well as to see what he looks like today.

[bunzofsteele]

I know this has nothing to do with Roseanne, but mtnrider, are you a Keith Green fan? (sorry if I shouldn't have put this on here, but I'm new, and not sure if there's a way to talk privately?) Just curious, because of your picture...

BTW, I think Michael Fishman was a good choice in terms of a cute little kid, and his eerie resemblance to Roseanne before she had her face redone... But he really couldn't act very well... and he never got better... :)

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by bunzofsteele
I know this has nothing to do with Roseanne, but mtnrider, are you a Keith Green fan? (sorry if I shouldn't have put this on here, but I'm new, and not sure if there's a way to talk

Yes, I am a huge Keith Green fan. I actually was listening to a bunch of his songs as recently as yesterday. In the two months or so that Iv'e had his picture as my avatar, Iv'e had atleast 7 people ask about him. Seems as if his face brings forth lots of curiosity. I know of at least two people here at S.O. who are also big fans of his. It's nice to see that there's another fan of his here.

As far as how to contact someone privately, you just go to one of their posts, click where it says profile, and a screen will pop up. When it does, there'll be an option to send someone a pm. Just click on that, and that's all there is to it.:)

[Janice]

Originally posted by mdntrider7
Yes, I am a huge Keith Green fan. I actually was listening to a bunch of his songs as recently as yesterday. In the two months or so that Iv'e had his picture as my avatar, Iv'e had atleast 7 people ask about him.
Make that 8. I've been curious about your avatar too. I figured he was a musician. I don't know why but The Doobie Brothers came to mind.
He had a nice warm type face. What happened to him? He sure died young, the poor guy.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by Janice
Make that 8. I've been curious about your avatar too. I figured he was a musician. I don't know why but The Doobie Brothers came to mind.
He had a nice warm type face. What happened to him? He sure died young, the poor guy.

I can see how you'd think he might be a Doobie Brother. He definitely has that Doobie Brother look about him. One person here actually thought he was Grizzly Adams. LOL.

Anyways, Keith indeed was a singer who started his Christian music career in 1977. He quickly became known as one of the top, and most controversial Christian artists of all time. Unfortunately in 1982 his life was cut short as he, his young son Josiah, and daughter Bethany, along with another family, tragically died in a plane crash in Texas near their home. I believe his death was even mentioned on NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. His death was a huge loss for the entire Christian community, but most obviously for his wife Melody who was pregnant at the time. About two years ago, Keith was inducted into the Gospel music Hall Of Fame, along with Elvis Presley. Last year a large group of Christian artists put out a tribute album commemorating the 20th anniversary of his death called: Your Love Broke Through: The Worship Songs of Keith Green. He was also friends with Bob Dylan, who actually played harmonica on one of his songs entitled "Pledge My Head To Heaven". I could literally talk about Keith for hours, but since this is a Roseanne board, I don't want to go overboard. You can find out all about him at http://www.lastdaysministries.org/. There you can read more details about his life and death, listen to sound clips, as well as all kinds of other stuff.

Simply put, Keith Green was the greatest Christian artist, and in my opinion the greatest musician period in music history! It's just too bad he didn't have more than five years to share his great music, and message.

[bunzofsteele]

Ok... I know we should stop the Keith Green talk on a Roseanne site, but I just wanted to say that I agree wholeheartedly with you mtnrider... Keith Green's music (and passion and personality, from what shines through his music) was amazing. I was just listening to it yesterday, in fact. I can't wait to meet him in Heaven! :) He truly was gifted.

[Janice]

Thanks for posting Keith Green's story mdntrider. That's a terrible shame what happened. His poor wife, losing her entire family. I wonder what ever became of her and their child?
His loss obviously was a huge one for the music world. :(

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by Janice
Thanks for posting Keith Green's story mdntrider. That's a terrible shame what happened. His poor wife, losing her entire family. I wonder what ever became of her and their child?
His loss obviously was a huge one for the music world. :(

You're welcome. It's always nice to share a bit about Keith Green with someone. And yes, his story is definitely a very sad one. I actually cried the first time I read his autobiography, the only book to ever have that affect on me. He just had so much to share with the world you know? His wife also had another small daughter that I forgot to mention who's a few years older than me. From the book Melody wrote, "No Compromise: The Life Story Of Keith Green", she said that her daughters were doing well. She also got re-married, but recently got a divorce. Melody has kept Last Days Ministries going, which was started when Keith Green was alive, and they're still going strong today. I believe that is what's taken up most of her time, and effort, (aside from raising her children), since Keith's death. Last I heard of Melody was that she had a stroke, but fortunately she seems to be recovering nicely from it.:)

[mudshark82]

since this board has gone totally off topic, why not make it a bit worse? you an allman brothers fan too? seeing that you chose midnight rider as your username. now that is one talented bunch of guys.

[mudshark82]

when i looked up sal barone online i found there is a gay comedian out there with that name. he looks like he could be about the same age and looks similar to the pic of barone on tvtome. anyone know if they are the same person? check out the little profile/pic on comedian barone
http://www.uscomedyinvasion.com/comicbios/sal.html

[Brent88]

I bet that's him, he was probably 5 or 6 in 1988(during the pilot) so that would make him 20-ish today.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by mudshark82
since this board has gone totally off topic, why not make it a bit worse? you an allman brothers fan too? seeing that you chose midnight rider as your username. now that is one talented bunch of guys.

The Allman Brothers are a pretty cool band, yeah. I wouldn't put them in a category with Lynard Skynard, CCR, and some of my other favorite bands, but I agree they are a talented bunch of guys! My user name to the surprise of most, has nothing to do with them, or that song. Infact, they didn't even come to mind when I was thinking of a user name. When I first got online, and was asked to come up with an email address, I chose nightrider since I love riding my bike in the wee morning hours. Just something very peaceful about it. The phone operater said that name was already in use, so she actually came up with mdntrider. I thought it sounded good, and went with it. The 7 at the end is just my favorite number.

We probably shouldn't worry too much about getting off topic. Iv'e noticed that most threads stray off topic to some degree. Some more than others. If someone wants to start talking about the original topic again, all they have to do is bring it up. It's no big deal.

Thanks for posting the address to that picture. Upon looking at it, I can see a slight resemblance between him, and the Sal Barone from Roseanne. And lets face it, that name must be pretty rare. I'm not 100 percent sure that's him, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were!

[mudshark82]

maybe if i or someone else gets motivated enough they can find a contact email addy for the comedian and ask the question.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by mudshark82
when i looked up sal barone online i found there is a gay comedian out there with that name. he looks like he could be about the same age and looks similar to the pic of barone on tvtome. anyone know if they are the same person? check out the little profile/pic on comedian barone
http://www.uscomedyinvasion.com/comicbios/sal.html

well, Michael Fishman made the "cute kid" better, but Sal Barone looks better as an adult. And he's gay too? always nice to see cute openly gay people, LOL.

[Dean Winchester]

Originally posted by mdntrider7
Yes, I am a huge Keith Green fan. I actually was listening to a bunch of his songs as recently as yesterday. In the two months or so that Iv'e had his picture as my avatar, Iv'e had atleast 7 people ask about him. Seems as if his face brings forth lots of curiosity. I know of at least two people here at S.O. who are also big fans of his. It's nice to see that there's another fan of his here.

As far as how to contact someone privately, you just go to one of their posts, click where it says profile, and a screen will pop up. When it does, there'll be an option to send someone a pm. Just click on that, and that's all there is to it.:)

wow, I didn't know that was a singer on your avatar. I dunno why, I suppose because the way the pic was taken (with the Kodak logo and all), I figured maybe your dad died when you were really young or something, and that was him, and you were paying tribute. I dunno why, I just thought that for some reason.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
wow, I didn't know that was a singer on your avatar. I dunno why, I suppose because the way the pic was taken (with the Kodak logo and all), I figured maybe your dad died when you were really young or something, and that was him, and you were paying tribute. I dunno why, I just thought that for some reason.

No, Keith Green definitely isn't my dad. LOL. Although when I look at pictures of my dad from the late 70's/ early 80's he does look an awful lot like him, that's for sure. That picture was actually taken right off the Last Days Ministries website. Anyway I'm honored that anyone would think he's my dad!

[Southern Hellraiser]

Michael Fishman was fantastic, but he looked very young for 7 in his first episode. He looked more like 5.