Why Roseanne's season finale was ridiculous, infuriating and disingenuous - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 05-22-2018, 11:46 PM

http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/rosea...airy-tale.html

"All season long," says Kathryn VanArendonk. "Roseanne has deliberately poked and prodded at some of the most tender, aching spots in the American cultural psyche. The show has danced past or lingered over topics including health care, opioids, immigration and assimilation, resentfulness, cycles of poverty, jokes about lost dreams and jokes about being in chronic pain. The message Roseanne and Dan have said aloud, explicitly, and in every episode, is clear: Things are bad, their world is unsustainable, and they’re not sure how they’ll make it. In the penultimate episode, 'Netflix & Pill,' we learn that Roseanne is addicted to opioids, and in the closing moments she locates a secret stash of pills she’s keeping hidden from her husband. The message of the show could have been – should have been – that these problems are real and they’re not going to go away with the wave of a wand." The finale, she adds, showed "Roseanne’s most cowardly impulse: to raise the specter of American desperation and then cleanly cover it all with a sudden rush of water. You could see the flood as absolution, I suppose. It could be a fresh start. To me, it looks more like a convenient way to hide some bodies."

ALSO:

Showrunner Bruce Helford promises: "We will definitely be handling issues that are political hot-buttons" in Season 2
"The only issue we discussed tackling, but didn’t have time to address, was sexual harassment," says Helford
Roseanne Conner proved to be the quintessential Trump supporter
The season finale was the closest Roseanne came to firing on all cylinders

RetroGuy2000 · 05-23-2018, 01:54 AM

Personally, I liked it.

tlc38tlc38 · 05-23-2018, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Personally, I liked it.

Me too. Can't wait for season 2.

JSP · 05-24-2018, 10:31 PM

That writer was trying too hard to pan the show. Can’t liberals get over the fact that one character on TV is a Conservative and the protagonist of the show? Sheesh.

Impressions · 05-26-2018, 09:27 AM

I agree with the author. Some people have said it's because she's a Conservative. No, that's besides the point. It's how they handled all the political topics, which is what made it ridiculous, infuriating and disingenuous.

The article argues that politics drive the show first, rather than family, and I'd have to agree that is why it is so ingenuous. It seems like almost every episode is agenda driven, some kind of "very special episode," or an after school special, and it's frustrating to see how they handle these topics. Roseanne says one thing about the government in the episode, and then in another episode, directly contradicts it. She's anti-government in the first episode, and then pro-government in the last episode...WTF? One episode she's a pill popper, and then suddenly in the next episode, she's magically cured....WTF? It feels like the writers didn't think about each episode thoroughly or even considered how not believable these storylines are...a lot of these plots feel forced just to drive a certain agenda home, and it shows.

autbey · 05-26-2018, 11:33 AM

I watched every episode but was very disappointed in this season. The lack of continuity between this season and the original run were jarring.

It feels like every character on the show is suffering from selective amnesia. Two Crystal appearances and no mention that she married Dan's dad and had two kids with him. No mention of Jackie's son, Andy. Not reference at all the The Lunch Box. And the last episode where DJ pulls out a magician act and implies he used to do it all the time, I've watched every episode of the original run multiple times he never did a magic trick ever.

In the first run, especially seasons 4 and on, each episode almost seamlessly flowed into the next, this new season just felt like a mess.

Roseanne isn't a conservative, she's a Trump supporter but that doesn't make her conservative. Her character has been shown to be pro-choice and pro-lgbtq. They even had a gay wedding on the show.

Mr. Television · 05-26-2018, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by autbey

I watched every episode but was very disappointed in this season. The lack of continuity between this season and the original run were jarring.

It feels like every character on the show is suffering from selective amnesia. Two Crystal appearances and no mention that she married Dan's dad and had two kids with him. No mention of Jackie's son, Andy. Not reference at all the The Lunch Box. And the last episode where DJ pulls out a magician act and implies he used to do it all the time, I've watched every episode of the original run multiple times he never did a magic trick ever.

In the first run, especially seasons 4 and on, each episode almost seamlessly flowed into the next, this new season just felt like a mess.

Roseanne isn't a conservative, she's a Trump supporter but that doesn't make her conservative. Her character has been shown to be pro-choice and pro-lgbtq. They even had a gay wedding on the show.

Just because they didn't mention those things doesn't mean they won't next year. If you want to see a show that screwed up the legacy of the original show check out TNT's Dallas. Nothing flowed in that one. Even down to the county that Southfork was located in.

05-22-2018, 11:46 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,800	Why Roseanne's season finale was ridiculous, infuriating and disingenuous http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/rosea...airy-tale.html "All season long," says Kathryn VanArendonk. "Roseanne has deliberately poked and prodded at some of the most tender, aching spots in the American cultural psyche. The show has danced past or lingered over topics including health care, opioids, immigration and assimilation, resentfulness, cycles of poverty, jokes about lost dreams and jokes about being in chronic pain. The message Roseanne and Dan have said aloud, explicitly, and in every episode, is clear: Things are bad, their world is unsustainable, and they’re not sure how they’ll make it. In the penultimate episode, 'Netflix & Pill,' we learn that Roseanne is addicted to opioids, and in the closing moments she locates a secret stash of pills she’s keeping hidden from her husband. The message of the show could have been – should have been – that these problems are real and they’re not going to go away with the wave of a wand." The finale, she adds, showed "Roseanne’s most cowardly impulse: to raise the specter of American desperation and then cleanly cover it all with a sudden rush of water. You could see the flood as absolution, I suppose. It could be a fresh start. To me, it looks more like a convenient way to hide some bodies." ALSO: Showrunner Bruce Helford promises: "We will definitely be handling issues that are political hot-buttons" in Season 2 "The only issue we discussed tackling, but didn’t have time to address, was sexual harassment," says Helford Roseanne Conner proved to be the quintessential Trump supporter The season finale was the closest Roseanne came to firing on all cylinders

05-23-2018, 01:54 AM	#2
RetroGuy2000 Julie,Julie Anne,&Felice 4Ever Forum Star Join Date: Dec 27, 2013 Posts: 16,914	Personally, I liked it.
	__________________ The Facts of Life's "Lost Girls" Tribute to Julie Piekarski, Eastland Girl Join "The Group", Sitcoms Online's Facts of Life group!

05-24-2018, 10:31 PM	#4
JSP Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 19, 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,735	That writer was trying too hard to pan the show. Can’t liberals get over the fact that one character on TV is a Conservative and the protagonist of the show? Sheesh.

05-26-2018, 09:27 AM	#5
Impressions She died the way she lived Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: May 08, 2002 Posts: 4,640	I agree with the author. Some people have said it's because she's a Conservative. No, that's besides the point. It's how they handled all the political topics, which is what made it ridiculous, infuriating and disingenuous. The article argues that politics drive the show first, rather than family, and I'd have to agree that is why it is so ingenuous. It seems like almost every episode is agenda driven, some kind of "very special episode," or an after school special, and it's frustrating to see how they handle these topics. Roseanne says one thing about the government in the episode, and then in another episode, directly contradicts it. She's anti-government in the first episode, and then pro-government in the last episode...WTF? One episode she's a pill popper, and then suddenly in the next episode, she's magically cured....WTF? It feels like the writers didn't think about each episode thoroughly or even considered how not believable these storylines are...a lot of these plots feel forced just to drive a certain agenda home, and it shows.

05-26-2018, 11:33 AM	#6
autbey Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 09, 2012 Posts: 45	I watched every episode but was very disappointed in this season. The lack of continuity between this season and the original run were jarring. It feels like every character on the show is suffering from selective amnesia. Two Crystal appearances and no mention that she married Dan's dad and had two kids with him. No mention of Jackie's son, Andy. Not reference at all the The Lunch Box. And the last episode where DJ pulls out a magician act and implies he used to do it all the time, I've watched every episode of the original run multiple times he never did a magic trick ever. In the first run, especially seasons 4 and on, each episode almost seamlessly flowed into the next, this new season just felt like a mess. Roseanne isn't a conservative, she's a Trump supporter but that doesn't make her conservative. Her character has been shown to be pro-choice and pro-lgbtq. They even had a gay wedding on the show.