It may not be exoctic or glamourous but this stroll takes us to Lanford Illinois...come on along we may even stop for a loose meat sandwich at the Lanford Lunchbox.
Tonight I saw for the very first time, her new reality show called, "Roseanne's Nuts" (she's farming nuts on her farm in Hawaii) and it got me to thinking about her show which I watch in reruns several late nights a week and also about the woman. This woman who came to Hollywood looking like most of us do and low and behold...she became a star!
Roseanne was one of the most successful series of the late '80s and early '90s. It always received great ratings and was awarded with 4 Emmys, 3 Golden Globes and 4 American Comedy Awards. The show ran from 1988 to 1997 and ended with one of the most original (and confusing for some) endings in TV… More history. John Goodman played her husband Dan Conner, he was brilliant in the role. He was an "everyman", the guy you see going to work every day and somehow kept us laughing even through his struggles.
Set in small town Lanford Illinois, the show followed The Conners, a blue collar family with a humerous backbone, through the trials of: life, marriage, raising a family, and making ends meet.
Roseanne was a pioneer for women in television.
During the Bush Sr. years, 1988-1992, we were in a significant recession and jobs were hard to come by. (kind of like we are in today) There were no television shows that reflected Americans struggling with issues of money, paying the mortgage, unemployment, food, birth control, homosexuality, and abortion.
With the show Roseanne, we saw an overweight, strong, and independent woman struggling to raise children and pay the bills all with a sense of humor. We also saw gay characters. Roseanne had two regular gay characters, breaking through stereotypes and paving the way for television to finally show a much more accurate depiction of what America looks like. We are big, small, short, tall, thin, fat, gay, straight, poor, rich, and we are all Americans.
Later during the Clinton years, television shows only gave us “I wanna be skinny like the Friends.” I don’t see the struggles of Americans being reflected in television shows in the way Roseanne was able to do with great accuracy for the woman she played and times we lived in.
While Maude (tv show), was the first show to deal with the issue of abortion, Roseanne did a marvelous job of dealing with the issue on her show: being pregnant at the Planned Parenthood clinic yelling at the idiotic protesters, “Hell no, we won’t go. Life begins when we say so.”
Another remarkable episode is when Roseanne goes with her daughter to buy birth control. Roseanne takes a very real and very intelligent approach to a sex and family planning. While some of these topics may have made the sponsors nervous...it was time that real life and real issues for women and
families were right out there in the open. I could so relate to her relationship with her Mother, how they would fight when she visited but then cry when it was time for her to leave. Made me miss my own mom.
I loved when they had two actresses that played Becky at different times and even joked about it making a reference to the Bewitched show bringing in a new Darrin. Only this time the original popped back up again. And if you've never seen one of her Halloween shows, OMG! You have to do it this year, they usually run them all the week of Halloween and they are fantastic!
There is no one on television today to pick up the reins. Where is the next Roseanne?
Yes her personal life may have been all over the tabloids, but so what; she did something great in her professional lfe.
On the new show we see her still fighting the good fight and it looks like she is enjoying her new life in Hawaii on her nut farm...I guess years of living in L. A. gave her lots of practice!
Thanks Roseanne for being brave enough to show us what we didn't know we wanted to see...
Until we meet again........ Watch an old episode!
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