SparklesBitch

This whole cast is just absolute perfection! I laughed through the whole thing and cackled out loud at Meemaw’s “then you met my daughter and didn’t have to travel so far!” Mary’s expression was hilarious!

I’m digging this! I thought Katey Sagal fit right in and I would love to see more of her. I totally get why Dan isn’t ready to pursue anything with her character, but it would even be great to keep her around as a friend of his to show up occasionally. Also, this is the Futurama fan in me talking, but now whenever I see her in something and she starts speaking, all I can think of is Leela. :) I think Darlene and Becky were my favorite part of this episode. I enjoy their relationship a lot. They snipe and tease and joke, but you know they love each other and will absolutely be there for the other one. And I will always enjoy watching Laurie, so I was incredibly proud of Jackie for finding her back bone. I hope that was the last we’ee going to see of Peter. He’s so boring and wooden, and I still can’t tell if it’s the writing or a deliberate acting choice or the fact that I’ve just never really liked Matthew Broderick’s acting period.

Second week in a row I thought this show started at 8:30 instead of 8:00 and missed it. But anyway.... I loved the Halloween costumes, Jackie describing Harris’ terrible driving, Dan playing along with the Invisible Man costume, the return of the Muslim family, and Darlene being over qualified for a job where she had to insult people on command. I’m mostly in this for Darlene, Jackie and Dan, and I’m loving them. Not sure how to feel about the fact that I’m jealous of Darlene’s wardrobe. I want her clothes! :) As for the PC costume culture, I’m with Darlene in which I get the spirit of the rule, but I think it gets taken too far. Mark obviously put a lot of thought into his costume and genuinely likes Frida Kahlo, so I don’t see why there should be a problem with that. There should definitely be nothing like black face or Nazi crap or that sort of tasteless thing. Totally didn’t realize Jackie’s boyfriend was Matthew Broderick. Is he always that bad? Wow. Laurie looked amazing in that cheerleader costume!

Finally got around to watching this episode, and I thought it was really good! Blue showing up at the parent/teacher conference was highly inappropriate and I couldn't believe that she didn't see a problem with letting someone else's teenager have sex under her roof. Holy crap. Not a big fan of Blue. She DID give me one of my favorite lines of the episode, though: "I lived on a weed commune where we all shared in the raising of the children." Not going to lie, I cackled out loud, and Darlene's perfect reaction made it even better. Jackie's line about Bev saying how neither of her daughters inherited her beauty killed me dead, but her whole "Stitches was a bust" thing was my favorite. She feels more like original Jackie and I'm loving it. Loved her and Darlene and Becky together. I hope there's more of that to come. I thought the Dan and Becky confronting her alcoholism thing was well done too. The whole original cast is just fantastic. Oh, and I hope there's more Geena to come! I'm liking her.

I thought it started out a little clunky, but I ended up really liking it. It was funny and heartbreaking and sweet. The scene between Marcy and Dan broke my heart, as did the one near the end between Darlene and Jackie. Laurie Metcalf is a national treasure. I also loved Dan helping Mark pick a seat mate for his field trip, as well as Becky, Darlene and DJ snarking on each other. This is pretty much how my own family deals with death and tragedy, so I’m all aboard!

Oooh....I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter....:) /Homer Simpson Seriously though, I like this idea! Also, I had a soft spot for Charlotte too. Maybe they could bring them both back.

Love this whole post and agree 100%! I’d like to see everyone who is left have an episode or two where they’re focused on. Personally, I’ve always really liked Darlene (maybe because she and I are a lot alike in personality?) and would love to see them explore more of the Darlene/Becky sisterly friendship that was starting to emerge. My favorite characters in order were always Jackie, Darlene and then Dan, so I’d be perfectly happy to watch them interact with each other and the rest of the cast and have it be more of an ensemble show rather than the focus being more on one person as it was when Roseanne was the center. Hee!! I legit just choked on my water laughing at this! I’m partial to Larlene. :) Dan could be Lan or Pan or Sam or Don. Jackie could be referred to as Marjorie as a nod to Bev saying that was what Jackie’s real name is. The possibilities are endless!! :)

I agree. Speaking as someone who loved the episode An Officer and a Gentlemen, I would watch the crap out of “The Conners” if it was a show lead by John, Laurie and Sara. If they could get Michael and Lecy back, even better. Actually, the more I think about this, the more I like the idea. Dan could be healing for the first season or two, and Jackie (if they tone down Wacky Jackie and bring her personality back to circa seasons 1-2) could function as a support system for him while patching up her own life outside of Roseanne’s influence. They’d make great friends, I think, as the two adults who were closest to Roseanne. I don’t think it should ever be romantic between them, though. Then Darlene and Becky and D.J. could each have their own paths with more focus on their jobs and relationships and some grieving for their Mom mixed in there. Personally, I never liked Crystal, so they can skip her for all I care, but bring back Chuck and Anne Marie, etc to fill out the cast. That might be fun!!

He really is. And you can practically hear the pain in his response to her. This whole thing is like a train wreck I can’t look away from. I thought she said she was leaving Twitter. She can’t be sorry for what she said while she’s busy retweeting the people defending her and lashing out at the cast. Love the Sanofi tweet!

Holy crap, you guys. I was in the lab at work when this story broke and just now am getting to catch up. Honestly, I’m surprised it took her this long to finally tweet something vile enough for the axe to come down, but she finally did it. I can’t believe she thought she could pass that off as a joke. Wow. I think ABC absolutely did the right thing, though. I’m going to echo everyone who feels bad for the rest of the cast and the crew....crew members especially, all these people who suddenly lost their jobs overnight who aren’t already well off. That sucks. Like others have said, I can’t wrap my head around the people who are trying to make this a left/right thing. Had she just spouted her regular right-wing conservative viewpoints, we wouldn’t be here. This was about blatant racism, and it really alarms me that so many people (not here, just on the Internet in general) either can’t see that or refuse to see that.

“Hello, Dan’s House of Ecstacy” In the early episode “Saturday”, when Jackie calls Dwight cute, Roseanne responds with the suggestion that his parents are what?

I always took the Mark/Dan analogy as more of a comparison of their “hot young guy with the leather jacket and motorcycle” personna and how it affected Becky/Roseanne and their life choices rather than Mark and Dan being anything alike in actual personality. I hope it’s okay to reference this here, but there’s a great fanfic over on the website Archive of Our Own called Gotta Wear Shades that explores this dynamic. It’s old, posted back in 2011, but I just love it for that reason.

Finally got around to watching this episode, and I liked it! Darlene’s attempts at flirting at the casino cracked me up, as did her comment “I didn’t even flirt to have my kids!” I’m really enjoying the sisterly relationship between Darlene and Becky this season. As people upthread have said, I also think they’re much better for each other than Jackie and Roseanne are, at least currently. I like that they’re trying to help each other and nudge each other in the right direction. Dan’s scene in the basement with Chuck, as well as his bashing the crowbar into the wall was so heartbreaking. Like others have said, I was half expecting Dan to keel over from a heart attack. I’m still not fond of Harris, but it was sweet to see her support Darlene and her writing. Nana Mary’s favorite hat made me all teary, but then Jackie’s “this is Magdalena’s diary!” killed me. So funny! And I can totally see Bev telling the girls that the doll was worth more than the two of them put together. This episode was depressing in a lot of places, but I like how they manage to inject humor in between. I especially liked Dan’s reply to Chuck mentioning the leak: “Leak? I think the basement holds water pretty good.” That’s how my family has always dealt with crappy situations, and my brothers and I inherited it.....so we all crack jokes like this and talk to each other the way Darlene and Becky do. :) For that reason, I loved Roseanne answering Dan’s question of where she was with “at the end of my rope, where are you?” Lol! Sounds exactly like the environment I grew up in. :)

But I think it’s true, though. People don’t like to hear it, but life IS harder if you have kids to support. True, Becky works hard and Darlene definitely SHOULD have taken the casino job to at least have some money and benefits rolling in rather than holding out for something in her field. I’m glad she did take it even though I can understand why doing so would feel like giving up on her writing career, though. As for Darlene’s life being harder, I think it’s a legit point. She has to think about more than herself. She has to make enough money to support 3 people. I mean, just as an example.....I’m single and in my mid-thirties and have no kids. I have a STEM degree and after a LOT of putting in my time being a temp worker in labs with crap pay and zero benefits, I’ve been in a stable, permanent position for the last 7 years and finally make enough money to pay all of my bills, live in an apartment in a neighborhood that I love, and have some expendable income. Even though I worked really hard to get where I am, I know how lucky I am. But.....if I had kids during any of that time where I was a temp, it would have been even more worrisome than it already was to have a job without benefits and to make as little as I was making. If I had kids to support, there’s no way I could have responsibly spent that time working my way up. Not without some sort of help, anyway. Heck, even now that I make about $60K a year + benefits, in my area of the US, there’s no way I could afford to support 2 kids on my own. Single me does pretty well....single me trying to support me AND 2 kids on what I make right now would have us all destitute. So, even if nobody wants to hear it, I really do think Darlene had a fair point. She has more people to support, and in an economically depressed environment, her life is going to be harder than Becky’s. More worries, more sacrifice, etc. Just my opinion, of course. :)

I liked this one mostly for the sisterly relationship between Darlene and Becky. Darlene bringing Becky the brochure after she didn’t go for the job (and genuinely encouraging her!!) and then showing her what she looked like in the outfit as a thank you warmed my cold, dead heart. And they both got in some good sarcastic remarks at each other. Well done, show! I think my favorite line of this episode was Darlene’s “and then you can sit under a tree and play guitar with one friend of every color!” LOL! Also Dan’s “you have a honey-baked day too!” just cracked me up. JG’s delivery of that was perfect. I really loved Dan’s concern about Roseanne and her knee and also him asking her if she ever lied to him like this before. Roseanne actually had to admit to being flawed for once! I thought Becky squirting the whipped cream into the kids’ mouths was cute. Her “baby birds!!” As much as it drives me crazy when Jackie is so over the top, her grilling Harris cracked me up. The wide eyes thing was awesome. You can tell that LM is having a ton of fun being Jackie again, and that fact is almost making OOT Jackie bearable. Lastly, I will never get tired of Darlene and her smart mouth. I think I’m enjoying her just as much now as I did when she was little smartmouth Darlene back in the first few seasons.

Yes!! I loved Bonnie and definitely agree that she would have been fun to have around the Lunch Box. I never warmed to Nancy. She was good for a few laughs, but she was so one note, they never fleshed her out as a character. She was so self-absorbed too. Ugh. That episode where she’s all upset because she thinks Dan doesn’t like her drives me crazy. He was perfectly polite to her and to me, that’s all that should be required of people. Nobody has to like everyone, even if that person is your wife’s friend. Basic human kindness is what’s expected and that’s how Dan acted. That should have been enough. That was an awesome scene! Not going to lie, I’ve used a paraphrased version of that rant in my own life. Nobody ever gets it, but it amuses me, so that’s enough. Lol! As for Crystal and Jackie, I totally agree! I had a lot of respect for Jackie in that she seemed perfectly fine being alone (for the most part) and not being desperate enough to stay in a relationship just to have any man. I mean sure, she’d complain about being single every now and again (see awesome rant above) like everyone does, but at least she had some self respect. She could function perfectly fine as an adult human without having some guy around. Crystal made me cringe because her whole attitude toward relationships could be summed up by the one quote from one of the first season episodes (don’t remember which one) where Jackie accuses Roseanne of waking up on the wrong side of the bed and Crystal chimes in something like “there’s no wrong side of the bed when there’s a man in it.” She couldn’t be alone. She needed a man, any man would do. Then she wouldn’t listen to Dan’s warnings about his dad.....I spent a lot of time just wanting to slap Crystal upside the head all Moonstruck style: “Snap out of it!!”

Someone give Annie Potts an Emmy! I teared up at her talk with Mary and George about John and wondering if she’d be alone in the end. She was just perfect in this whole episode. Richard Kind is always delightful and it was fun to see him as Ira again. I love that he and John bonded over Connie in the furniture store. I know she doesn’t want them talking, but that scene cracked me up. The kids were great as usual. Missy and her “the kid’s an oddball” and Georgie’s comment about the show never coming out and saying that Tony Danza was the boss were both so funny. I’m with Missy, though. Angela was clearly, totally the boss!! I cackled out loud at John saying that being challenged was making Connie more attractive to him. So perfect. Also, the introduction of Sheldon’s relationship contracts!! Yay for continuity! Great episode all around! :)

This is my situation right now. I’m in my mid thirties and my parents are recently semi-retired. They’ve started watching Fox News within the past handful of years and I feel like I don’t know them anymore. Going back to my hometown to visit is hard and when they come to visit my (large, very liberal, very diverse) city, I’m forever on edge wondering what offensive thing they’re going to say next. I’ve already been embarrassed a few times. It’s exhausting and painful and to be honest, I see them a lot less than I used to because it’s not worth the emotional toll.

*head explodes* Wow. What is wrong with people?! I’m so sorry the owner had to go through that. Just wow. And I come from a tiny US town and moved to a large diverse city as soon as I was able. Some of the things I hear people say when I go back to visit make me cringe. Ugh. So I don’t think that the portrayal of the cashier saying those things directly to her face in a town like Lanford is far-fetched at all. If anything, it seems completely (and horrifyingly) spot-on.

So, to start this post with a totally shallow comment....wow, Geena is gorgeous. She seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor, though I suppose she’d have to in order to stay married into the Conner family long term. :) I really liked the new neighbors, I hope they stick around! Loved Samir bringing back the $30 at 2am and answering “oh yes!” when Roseanne asked if he had to bring it back then. Lol! Also, I know the whole thing was simplified in order to fit into a half hour comedy show, but I liked how Roseanne came around to being on her neighbors’ side. It’s a good reminder that we need to get to know individual people rather than make totally unfounded assumptions. I wanted to strangle the crap out of that cashier. Ugh. Also, I was so excited to see Anne Marie and Chuck!! Outside of Nana Mary, they were always my favorite recurring characters. I wonder if we’ll find out what became of Chuck Jr. Michael Fishman might not be the best actor, but my heart sort of melted at DJ’s talk with Dan in the garage. The whole thing about him sitting and watching Dan work on bikes and drink since he was 5 and being real good at both now made me go awww. I’m a sucker for Roseanne and Jackie’s sisterly banter, so I enjoyed them in the beginning arguing over how dangerous the neighbors might be and how exasperated Jackie was with Roseanne’s attitude. It cracked me up. :) Little Mary piping up “that’s 0200!” made me smile too.....I’m a cop’s kid, and my dad always used military time for everything while I was growing up, so I was that kid that was (helpfully, in my mind) forever spouting it off too. Lol Lastly, when did John Goodman start doing McDonalds commercials?!?!

Loved this episode!! I felt so bad for George when Sheldon made it clear that he doesn’t look up to him. Poor George! However, it DID give us Missy and George’s perfect dinner date. Missy is just the cutest. She never fails to make me smile.....especially at Red Lobster being the fanciest restaurant in all of Texas. And her dress!!! So awesomely Missy. Annie Potts is just wonderful and I felt so bad for Meemaw when the professor turned her down after she invited him to spend the night. She looked so crushed when she asked why he rejected her. His “intimate relations” proposal of sorts cracked me up, though. Mary and Georgie’s dinner absolutely killed me. Loved him asking about the math regarding his birthday and his parents’ wedding date, and Mary’s (really awful) attempts to lie her way out of it. Her prayer at the end was the best. Zoe Perry has her mom’s super expressive face and that made Mary’s discomfort hilariously fun to watch, at least for me. Small thing that also made me laugh: George telling Meemaw she looked great despite her wet hair after her water aerobics. Lol! This show is so delightful and just keeps getting better!

I’m confused about Jackie’s house and the restaurant too, but I enjoyed this one too despite them deciding to make Jackie’s life so miserable. I’m just happy she wasn’t so wacky in this one. Laurie’s so fantastic, it’s a breath of fresh air when they just let Jackie be closer to the person she was before all the over-the-top stuff. And yeah, Jackie got stuck with Bev, but at least Roseanne and Dan were actually grateful. Bev drives everyone insane, but Estelle plays so marvelously off of Roseanne and John and especially Laurie, that I’m actually glad that Bev will be living with Jackie. :) I’m a sucker for Dan and Darlene moments, and I loved their moment when he’s telling her about playing football in college and what happened when he didn’t follow directions. As for their argument, I get why she was defending Mark’s creativity, but I thought that in this situation, Dan was right because it was the job. I liked that Mark found a small way to make it his own anyway, and I thought the resolution was perfect. Darlene gave good advice about striking a balance. I’m also never going to get tired of her smart mouth! Lol! Mark still makes me smile....I think he’s adorable. So glad there was less Harris in this one. I’m no great fan of hers, but the look on her face when Bev opened the fridge as Roseanne’s telling her not to cracked me up.

This episode was definitely one of my favorites! Everyone’s comedy timing was on point. The dog was super cute too. :) The kid who plays Billy Sparks just cracks me up. I feel like in the hands of a different kid, Billy could be annoying and kind of cringe worthy, but he plays him with such a sweet exuberance that he makes me smile. Also, Brenda’s line “I don’t know what kind of house you keep!” when Mary demanded to know why else there would be a dead squirrel in her living room if not for the Sparks’ dog just killed me dead. Lol!

I’m super late to this, but I just finished watching this season of this show because of a recommendation from a coworker (I was completely unfamiliar with this show beforehand) and I loved it. Totally agree that Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott have great chemistry. It was such fun watching their marriage break down and watching Viv go nuts. I feel similarly about Tate/Violet too. So tragic! Agreed! I don’t get the hate for these two, I thought they were fantastic! Yes, me too! Her “what the hell face” was absolute perfection. Viv was definitely my favorite character this season. Agreed! I loved that both of them were so tough, especially when they survived the home invasion together! My feelings exactly!! I mean, I get why Violet wrote Tate off, but I still feel like what Ben did was 10X worse for all the reasons you mentioned.....and he essentially gets a happy ending while Tate is all lonely. Ugh.

Herself. The quote was something like “you’re always welcome in my home....and so am I!” Right? I think so, anyway. :) New question: In the same episode, Roseanne gave a suggestion about what Jackie could be instead of a cop that Jackie sort of agreed to. What was that job?