S10.E01: Twenty Years to Life / S10.E02: Dress to Impress

[Scarlett45]

32 minutes ago, llewis823 said:

I wholeheartedly agree. And that was Dan & Roseanne's problem with it as well - that she'd be giving away their grandchild.

So do sperm and egg donors though (letting someone else parent their biological child)....yes carrying a full term pregnancy is a lot more physical and emotional work than egg donation (ah how easy sperm donors have it!!) I’m hand waving it as “tv logic”. Becky may not have wanted to raise kids living hand to mouth but might like the idea of her dna living on. 

YES I got an “All in the Family” feel too @Ottis . My actual life reflected The Cosby show more than Roseanne but I always like Roseanne because it was unique for its time. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Scarlett45

[Chicken Wing]

10 minutes ago, RayAdverb said:

I never watched much of the original show, but I do remember a scene where Dan found out Darlene was pregnant and was upset about this.  I know the 9th season ended in 1997.  This I remember pretty distinctly because I remember a student in my 10th grade history class talking about the finale with our teacher.  Since that was close to 21 years ago, any child conceived during the original show would have to be 20 years old, minimum.  I don't know what the name of this child is, so I didn't immediately find anything wrong with Darlene's older child being in high school.  I was just left wondering where this early 20s child was.

This is the same child, Harris Conner-Healy. They just decided to de-age her so she'd be teenaged now, because I guess they thought it was more interesting to watch Darlene parent a teenager.

5 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

First seasons of shows are usually extremely short.  Ten to twelve episodes are usually the norm.  Which is short by regular network standards.  I am not sure of the ratings but if they are good and stay good and the cast snare happy and ABC is happy with them then ABC might expand the episode count next season.  Or maybe not.  There are plenty of very good shows that do put out 10-13 episodes a season and the tight episode count keeps them on point.

A typical full-season of a show, even in its first season, is 22 episodes. However, that's assuming it began at the start of the fall season, and actually got picked up for the full season. Midseason replacement shows can get an order of 13 episodes, or like this one as few as 9. (I recall the first season of Grey's Anatomy, which premiered the same week -- same day, actually -- in 2005, also had only nine episodes.)

Edited March 28, 2018 by Chicken Wing

[TaraS1]

Like all other fans of the original show, I wanted to love this, but I was really bummed at how weird and forced everything felt.  There were so many clunky lines that felt like they were churned out of a joke machine, and some of the acting was kinda painful.  I adore John Goodman, but I never felt like I was watching Dan Conner.  It just seemed like I was watching a Roseanne skit on SNL or something, not a real episode of Roseanne.

That being said, I still love all these characters and actors and I'm hoping they'll be more in the groove next week.

(I'm pissed, though, if it's true that we won't see or hear anything about Andy!  As others have said so eloquently, Andy is a huge, huge part of who Jackie is and it would suck to have no acknowledgment of his existence or see her with her grown son.)

[Chaos Theory]

2 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

This is the same child, Harris Conner-Healy. They just decided to de-age her so she'd be teenaged now, because I guess they thought it was more interesting to watch Darlene parent a teenager.

Heck they brought Dan back from the dead.  Plus it really is more interesting sending Darlene’s daughter back to the school she hated. 

[ChicksDigScars]

5 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

 No one But John Goodman seemed to fit right back in character, the others struggled a bit.  The second episode flowed much better. The Becky and Darlene fights still make me laugh.

I think that Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman showed the most ease in the first episode, which makes total sense.  The others took awhile to get their footing and their timing down.  Laurie, John, and Sarah Chalke are the only ones that we've seen most actively in other acting projects since Roseanne ended. We've seen Sara Gilbert on Big Bang, but her genre the past few years has been a talk show, which is very different from saying lines and comedic timing.  By the second episode, Sara seemed comfortable.  Sarah Chalke also seemed right at ease, but she's been doing comedy since Roseanne ended. 

 

If Sarah (with an "h") is going to continue to be a part of the show, they're going to have to stretch out the Becky pregnancy, or turn the Becky/Andrea thing into a full blown friendship...or more.  That would be one way to get both Becky's back into the family. 

 

The other reboots haven't held up. I hope that Roseanne is the exception. Fuller House was just bad from the jump, and Will and Grace started out with a head of steam, but for me, has petered out. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[SunnyBeBe]

I actually liked it a lot.  It felt so familiar, but was still really funny. I don't see much difference at all from the old show, except their looks and the parents being thinner.  I laughed out loud a lot, so, I will definitely make it a must see for me. 

The only other comedy I like is Mom, so this a real treat!

  The old Becky still makes me laugh the most. For some reason her irritation with her family just cracks me up.  

[BlossomCulp]

With regard to surrogacy, I haven't seen the new episodes yet and am wondering, do they address Becky's age at all?  While women certainly can, and do, have children in their 40s it does come with more potential problems than a younger woman would likely have.  Why would someone go to the trouble and expense of having a surrogate but choosing one who is in her 40s?

[Scarlett45]

5 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

With regard to surrogacy, I haven't seen the new episodes yet and am wondering, do they address Becky's age at all?  While women certainly can, and do, have children in their 40s it does come with more potential problems than a younger woman would likely have.  Why would someone go to the trouble and expense of having a surrogate but choosing one who is in her 40s?

Yes- Becky has lied about her age and stated she’s 33 instead of 43...

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

It cold be that the little girl that got cast was the best for the part, despite not “looking biracial”, as in she was the best actress. It also could very well be that DJ adopted her. Many many people look nothing like their parents (especially if their parent is of another race) but are still biologically related. The little girl could be the splitting image of her mother.

I wasn’t bothered or confused- but I’m someone who’s constantly assumed to be biracial (I’m not) and who continually sees light skinned black actors portrayed as biracial on tv so this is a welcome change. 

I do hope the girl can act. I do think it was a throw back to the episode where DJ didn’t want to kiss a black girl when he was younger. 

 

 

 

Roseanne said when she, John Goodman and Sara Gilbert were on The View yesterday that

 

DJ did indeed marry Gina, the girl he didn't want to kiss in the original series; thought it was a great way to make it full circle

.

And as others have stated, a child that is biracial can look as if they're not. Look at Wentworth Miller, who for years, I didn't know was biracial. Or Victoria Rowell, whose daughter is a white blonde-hair, blue-eyed blonde. It is possible.

1 hour ago, AgentRXS said:

One thing I loved is that I noticed a more racially mixed classroom at Lanford Elementary. Their was a fair mix of black and brown faces in that classroom.  I can see Lanford's demographics slowly changing as more of the older generation's children head to the big cities in search of work. They mentioned Dan is still doing drywall--I wonder if they are going to touch on the immigrant worker issue.

 

Sara Gilbert and Roseanne revealed that it's the Whites that are the minority now in real life Lanford. They've really done the research to make sure that this show does exhibit as much of real life as possible.

51 minutes ago, Ottis said:

I liked it. My main memory of the original series, which I only watched for a couple of years and then lost interest, was that Roseanne was the anti- Cosby Show - people who reflected reality more than all the happy families then on TV. I really liked that honesty. I think I'll like it this time, too, if they can just address one or two things at a time. The whole discussion between Dan and Roseanne on their pills and how they divided them up due to reduced health insurance coverage was very real for many people. 

I never thought of this show as the Anti-Cosby. In fact, the one thing that Cosby and Rashad, and others stated was, for the first time they were able to show a successful Black family, who wasn't struggling. I loved both shows. Though what with what's been revealed about real life Cosby, I haven't been able to watch that show. Normally, I can separate real life from character, but this time I can't.

38 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

And is it really being a surrogate when you're using your own eggs to carry your own biological child? Isn't that just agreeing to conceive a child and then letting someone else adopt it? Also, why would you want to use "donor" eggs from a 43-year-old woman? It'd be fine with Becky just being the one to carry a baby, but having it be with her eggs and therefore her biological child just added an unnecessary layer of unrealistic that will bug the crap out of me until this whole surrogacy idea is resolved.

 

I've always thought that a surrogate was someone who carried the fertilized egg/eggs of the biological mother and father, and not her own egg. Because that would make her the mother. Not a fan of this storyline, either.

I wasn't sure if I was going to watch this. I watched the original, except for the last season; partly because John Goodman wasn't there, and partly due to my own real life issues. While I loved the early years, the last two I saw, I think I watched casually. I know one of the things I hated was turning Mark into the misogynistic asshole by the end. When we first met him, yeah, bad boy, rides a bike, but I could see he cared and then loved Becky. Was it shaving off all that hair that turned him into a jerk? Anyhoo, Darlene and Dan were my favorite characters; then Jackie.

As for the estrangement between Jackie and Roseanne? I was spoiled to what it was about, and frankly, I didn't find it as heavy handed as the jokes about 45 on Will & Grace. I thought it was well done, and yes, people/family do fight about politics like it was shown last night. The surprise for me was that Jackie ended up voting for Stein; but I can believe that Roseanne was capable of manipulating her into changing her vote from Hillary to Stein. I lasted only two episodes with Will & Grace's revival before I dropped it. But this show? I'm all in.

I'm of two minds regarding Roseanne--I can see how she could vote for 45, but then again, after reading what @Chicken Wing stated, I can see that side as well. And now, well, I don't know what to think. I know Roseanne, the actress's reasoning for it, but now I'm wondering if it's also because of her own shift.

I'm glad that there will be 10 episodes. I thought they only got 8. And the actress they cast for Darlene's daughter was pitch perfect. I started to wonder if Sara had a daughter in real life who was an actress and if that was her?

The only odd thing I found was the look of the show. It didn't have that lighter color of late '80s and '90s sitcoms. Looked more like film you would see on a procedural or movie, if that makes sense.

Watching this was like putting on a pair of comfy slippers that had been in storage, but still feel the same.

Edited March 28, 2018 by GHScorpiosRule

[qtpye]

11 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

Holy shit, I think they pulled it off.

this wasn’t bad at all.   This was pretty good. 

 

11 hours ago, SparklesBitch said:

Like I said in the live thread, I’m in! It still feels like the underlying feeling among the family is love, and that’s all I really needed. 

I think they pulled off the political stuff pretty well, it felt natural to me. Love that Jackie is a life coach....perfect choice. She’s still wacky, but at a level of wacky I can deal with. Laurie Metcalf’s comedy timing is on point! 

Darlene seems like a great mom and Mark is the cutest. Harris cracks me up, she’s like a young Darlene clone. I’m surprised we didn’t see more of DJ and Mary, though. 

Roseanne and John are still wonderfully, perfectly Roseanne and Dan. 

Lecy’s deeper voice is throwing me off, and I was a lot less interested in Becky’s life than everyone else’s but I’ll give it time. 

Overall, I think they nailed it. :) 

I really liked it. It was like seeing a good friend that you lost touch with. Though not perfect, it did a lot to take out the bad taste of the last season.

11 hours ago, WednesdayAddams said:

I heard Johnny Galecki would be on, so I'm assuming divorced. Jackie was a lesbian according to the finale, so is that still true? I remember thinking that Andy was made up for the story once she made Jackie a lesbian. 

 

11 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I haven't rewatched the original series in quite some time, so getting back into it with this revival was a little jarring, but I did settle in nicely. I do think they pushed really hard with all the politics, but all in all, I did enjoy it. I know this show has never shied away from going all in. I found Sara Gilbert a highlight; I remember her being good on the original series, but over 20 years later, and she's really gotten better. Her talk to Mark in the second episode was really well done. 

I think Lecy's weaker, likely because she hasn't done much acting since the original series, and Roseanne was a little too jilted at times, despite mostly playing herself, but everyone else was simply wonderful. The writing was rough in places, but the message behind both episodes was entirely clear. Plus, I like the show going all in on all views but keeping the message about family being the most important thing. It was really nice to see. 

I don't think so. I think it was implied that her and David have been divorced for a few years, despite not even mentioning him; Becky's the one with the dead husband, who I assume would be Mark. Harris seems to be in high school, so I guess they aged her down by three years. I am surprised they haven't mentioned where David is or why Darlene seems to have sole physical custody of the kids, so I'm hoping that's explained soon.

 

11 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

I was hoping it was going to be revealed that Darlene was gay, and that's why she and David are divorced.  I wonder how they will address the David question.

I didn't expect to like it.  I thought I would tune in once, hate it, and never watch again.  I was wrong.  It was way better than I believed it would be.

Was DJ being married to an African-American a call back to the episode where DJ didn't want to kiss a girl because she was black?  If I remember correctly, DJ and Dan talked about it, and the conversation ended with DJ saying something about he had heard she used her tongue, and Dan told him to stay in touch with her or something like that because someday he would be glad he did.

 

11 hours ago, ThatsDarling said:

Becky was planning on going to college towards the end of the original series, and her parents even offered her some money for tuition at one point. If she had the baby she was pregnant with at the end of S9, it would make sense that she never had the opportunity to pursue higher education, but she's child-free in this version. Without a family to support, I wonder how her situation became so desperate. 

 

11 hours ago, TigerLynx said:

Maybe Mark had a terminal illness that lasted for a while, and that took what little money they did have?  Also, if Becky had gone to college, there would be no guarantee she could get a good paying job.  Lots of people graduate college with a ton of debt and no job prospects.  Darlene apparently lost her job, and she has a college education.

 

11 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

It seems like a fairly unorthodox set up.  Certainly it doesn't seem as though an agency of any kind is involved given Becky is lying about her age, and I don't think they would use someone who doesn't have any children already.  

 

10 hours ago, Keywestclubkid said:

Cause they are trying to make her the “wacky” Jackie they turned her into the last 4 seasons of the show. I do like the season 1-3 Jackie a lot more then what the eventually turned her into 

 

10 hours ago, Not4Me said:

I remember in the original series, Jackie, when challenged by Fred about how dressing Andy in a gender non-confirmative way could make him gay, she quipped that she would march down with him in “one of those parades” with a big rainbow flag. I think it would have made for a great story, and totally in character for Jackie, if she had ended up as a card-carrying PFLAG mom. But it sounds like Andy’s existence may be retconned. :-/

Jackie was the best in the new episodes. I died when she revealed how sometimes at night she’d put on Prince and wear men’s underwear. She’s always trying to be the cool aunt but ends up just being awkward.

Other than Roseanne calling herself “the white witch” which made me laugh, I’m not feeling her again yet. I feel something about her character seems off, her ignorance at times was grating than funny. And she wasn’t like that in the early years of the original series. She had a certain level of smarts and intelligence in-spite of her working class upbringing that wasn’t present here.

 

10 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

I went into this trying to take a wait and see attitude after all the less than savory press about the titular actress, and came away wanting to like this so much more than I ultimately did.  It's really obvious which actors have worked much in recent years because of the ones who haven't, their line readings were often stiff and just downright oddly paced.  The political jokes were so ridiculously hamfisted that I'm at a loss as to what sort of insight we were supposed to gain from them about how any of the characters might have gotten there.  I'm also not thrilled they brought back the later seasons often shouty Wacky Jackie or that they couldn't cut a couple of the worst landing political jabs to at least superficially tell us what's happened since we saw these people last.  Hopefully, they'll figure out their pacing or whatever else isn't working because at times it felt less like the rare jewel of authenticity on TV so many of us grew up on and more like an impersonator tribute act of it.

What saves it for me is adult Darlene.  She fulfilled the comment the much younger version of herself once made to Roseanne about how each generation of the family's women was a little better mother than her mother before her and she figured she'd be better still when it was her turn.  The second episode plot about Mark at times felt like it was veering dangerously close to Very Special Episode territory, but they managed to sensitively pull it out in dealing with the very realistic fear that what an odd kid might be able to get away with in a city school they wouldn't be able to an smaller town environment.

 

8 hours ago, kit.kat343 said:

What is most likely to happen is that a young woman is selected to be an egg donor (usually in her early 20s since at that age her eggs are most likely to be chromosomal normal).   Most reputable clinics will require surrogates who carry the baby to already have children, so they are usually a little older than egg donors.  A 43 year old woman would statistically have 80% of her eggs be chromosomal abnormal, which would lead to miscarriage or babies with down's syndrome or the small percentage of babies with trisomy 13 or 18 that survive but are very sick and usually die by their first birthday.  It would be a highly unreputable egg donor service that would not screen the donor for age, since IVF is really unlikely to work statistically for a 43 year old woman.  A 43 year old woman could be a surrogate, but as an egg donor she would be a very poor choice.  The families can test the embryos and only implant the ones that are chromosomal normal, but it is unlikely that a 43 year old woman would be successful with one round of IVF (not impossible, but unlikely) and the big money only comes from being able to produce a child that's born, so the clinics have some incentive to ensure this will happen.  There's no regulation for the fertility industry, so its like the wild west.  I'm highly concerned that egg donors are being put on really high hormone levels, since some of them are producing a huge number of eggs (some have been 30-34 in a  cycle).  Producing a huge number of eggs puts them at risk of OHSS, which can lead to serious health effects for the donors.  I just went though IVF with my own eggs, and the doctors were very careful to limit the number of eggs I made to protect my health, but it scares me to think of girls in college being pumped full of drugs since the more eggs they make, the more likely a baby can be created for the intended parents (and parents often want all of their children to be genetically related so if they can make 5 or six embryos from one IVF cycle they are likely to be able to complete their family without needing to pay for donor eggs again).    

 

8 hours ago, anna0852 said:

Becky is really playing with fire here. I know this surrogate thing is being played for laughs and to illustrate how badly she needs the money but she is a) not working through an agency which gives her no legal protections either, b) lying about her age which is going to bite her in the butt if/when she gets caught (and pregnancies at her age have *much* high risk of complications and c) doing this with her own eggs makes this psychologically so much harder than it has to be.

 

8 hours ago, LiveenLetLive said:

co-sign your entire post about the ridiculous Becky surrogacy plot--she is too old period to use her own eggs and pumping a 43 year old woman full of hormones is risky need I bring up the unfortunate Elizabeth Edwards who had 2 more children at 50 after she and her husband lost their son? I still suspect that her breast cancer could have been potentiated by fertility drugs. 

As I said, I enjoyed the show but was sad to see characters I love end up the way they did, even if it was realistic.

I was SHOCKED that Becky did not even finish High School. That good student and industrious Becky never bothered to get her GED was a letdown. What happened to the girl who wanted to be an EMT  and maybe a doctor?

If I had not seen earlier episodes I would have thought Darlene must have been the studious one and Becky must have been the flaky partier.  They are very different from their childhood selves, but it is realistic with the trajectory of their lives.

No way would anyone clear 43 year old's eggs for harvesting.  A surrogate can be older for full embryo implantation, but why would you over 40 eggs, particularly if you had enough cash to pay 50K and could easily get a much younger woman? Also, no Becky you do not look 33 and Sara Chalke's character would not be fooled so easily...not to mention any prerequisite medical exam would reveal her true age. It is not funny to lie about stuff like this and I guess it just shows how desperate Becky is for money.

From what I remember Darlene is a writer and/or copywriter. What type of work will she get in Landford? Perhaps work for their newspaper (if it is not out of business), but is she a journalist?

When I was growing up, I always loved the cool single gal characters who were so much more carefree than their married counterparts. It seemed like a lot of these shows made these awesome single women pathetic later in life. Roz from Frasier was so cool and then she became sad and lonely out of nowhere.

Early season Jackie was so cool. She would have aged into an amazing single older woman. I could see her doing things like dating a bunch of interesting guys, going on nice vacations, and still doing community service type of things like volunteering at the local theater group.

I really hope that she is not some wacky sad sack who just hangs around her sister's family and blames Roseanne for all her life choices. The original recipe Jackie had much more agency than that.

[bigskygirl]

Not too impressed so far. I cannot stand Jackie at all. I thought her acting was over the top bad. Her life coach spiel was terrible. I like the first two seasons of the original series much better.

[Sakura12]

This wasn't as good as I wanted it be but it was decent enough to keep watching. I like it better than the Will & Grace revival I missed seeing the Conner's on my screen. Being from the Midwest just outside Chicago I loved seeing a show set near me. The acting was a little stiff with some of them, but I'll give them time to get back into their roles. 

All the political talk in the first episode was a bit much, the only gag I liked was Jackie bringing Russian dressing for the salad. I don't mind the family having different political views (that is true to real life) but I don't want that to be the only thing they talk about all time. I did like the reveal that Jackie voted for Jill Stein because Roseanne got in her head and Rosanne responded "The important thing is you voted". 

With Becky's storyline, that's being an egg donor not surrogate. Being a surrogate would be more believable considering she's 43. Is this the only way they could think of to get second Becky on the show. Were there other options? 

Being bi-racial we don't always look like both parents, my brother and I look more Japanese while my sister looks more European. My friends kids look nothing like her they look 100% Irish, she gets mistaken for being their nanny because she's Filapino. Genes work in mysterious ways so I can buy DJ's kid being his biological daughter despite not looking like him. 

Growing up I loved Darlene and that hasn't changed. I like seeing her being a good mother to her kids. I think Sara actually teared up when telling Mark that he's weird but to embrace that. She was probably thinking of her own experiences. I also liked Dan not understanding but loving his grandson anyway. He was more worried about him getting hurt at school. Which is a legitimate concern knowing kids today. Then realizing how brave Mark is for continuing to be who he is and not changing to fit in. Besides being taller, Harris does look like Darlene. I guess she got the height from her grandfather. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Sakura12

[WednesdayAddams]

It may have been mentioned before, but I think the issue with Becky is that the 2 women played her differently. Sarah played her as if she didn't mind working at a Hooters type place, and living at home (also trying to start at family while living at home, who does that?). Lecy played her studiously, hated ending up at a trailer park, wanted to be a doctor. I was hoping they'd keep up with the studious side. But there's still more to learn about her life and how Mark died.

I guess we can't be too surprised if Jackie is still just a sidekick with no life of her own. I always thought it was unfair that they gave her a wedding in Roseanne's damn living room. They couldn't give her a nice little ceremony like Darlene had?

[SunnyBeBe]

17 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

With regard to surrogacy, I haven't seen the new episodes yet and am wondering, do they address Becky's age at all?  While women certainly can, and do, have children in their 40s it does come with more potential problems than a younger woman would likely have.  Why would someone go to the trouble and expense of having a surrogate but choosing one who is in her 40s?

Someone upthread answered your question.  I think that lying about her age is not very realistic, because, things like that would be checked, plus, the doctor would know.....but, I'm suspending reality to enjoy the sitcom.  I suspect that this storyline is a way to bring original Becky and replacement Becky into the family and that after birth, both mothers will share in the care of the child.  lol  Maybe, I'm just dreaming, but, it's one option.

  I see the show as touching on all kinds of new realities of accepting individuals in the Connor family, including a blended family potential.  Like Darlene said, the Connors are weird, so they are going to have some rather unique situations arise.  I expect to see a lot of creativity, but, also sensitivity with the storylines. 

[Mmmfloorpie]

Too many posts here to read! Wow.

Since people are talking about their dislikes, I will mention mine. 

Jackie says to Becky "since your husband died".

I thought that was a really cold way to say it. Should have been "since you lost Mark" or something.

I know they said husband so as to let new viewers know and to avoid confusion with the new Mark but still...

Also, I thought there were far too few references to the original series. We are 2 episodes in and still don't know for certain what Dan and Roseanne do for jobs or what happened to the Lunchbox etc.

In the second ep Becky drops by around the time the kids go to school. She says she is on her way to work... That Mexican restaurant is open at 830?

[TV Diva Queen]

10 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

Plausible, you don't really need a car to get around in Chicago. But she would have to drive to Lanford...

She could have easily taken the Metra Milwaukee West line.  Lanford is supposed to be somewhere near Elgin.  ;)

[BooBear]

12 minutes ago, Mmmfloorpie said:

Also, I thought there were far too few references to the original series. We are 2 episodes in and still don't know for certain what Dan and Roseanne do for jobs or what happened to the Lunchbox etc.

In the second ep Becky drops by around the time the kids go to school. She says she is on her way to work... That Mexican restaurant is open at 830?

I assumed they were retired and maybe on social security? I assumed Becky had a second job. 

[Phoebe70]

I was so relieved that Roseanne 2.0 was much better than Will & Grace 2.0.  The first 10 minutes I was a little worried that it would be all about politics like W & G 2.0, but it wasn't.  Thank goodness! I thought they did a great job with the set.  It looked exactly like the old Connor house, even down to the crochet afghan.

I completely forgot about Jerry.  Honestly the last couple seasons of Roseanne weren't that great (Jerry, winning the lottery) so I don't care if Jerry isn't a part of the show.

I'm glad to hear that they'll be bringing some of the former cast mates  back.  I wonder if they'll bring Leon back.  I also really liked Fred (Jackie's ex-hubby) and wished they could have made it work.

My 2 wishes for this show: 1. Don't make it be too political, and 2.  Get rid of the whole "Becky surrogacy" storyline.  I'm wondering if they're going to have Becky get pregnant and then someone the deal falls through and Becky ends up being a single mother. 

All in all, I was so happy that the show was better than I expected.  Good job!

[ChicksDigScars]

Quote

In the second ep Becky drops by around the time the kids go to school. She says she is on her way to work... That Mexican restaurant is open at 830?

Well, maybe Becky's the opening lunch server at Not-Chi Chi's and has to do morning prep work? (/snark) Seeing her in her uniform makes me hungry for some Cha-jitas. Not Fajitas. CHA-jitas.

Maybe Roseanne is now on disability. If the Lunchbox went under (remember, they only sold/gave it to Leon and Nancy after winning the Lotto, which never happened in the reboot), she probably couldn't work anymore because of her knee. If she needs a damn chair lift to go upstairs, she probably can't work. 

How old are Dan and Roseanne now? They were in their late 30's when the show started (36 or so). I'm thinking that they referenced graduating from high school in 1971 or 1972 in the original series. So, they are 65 or 66 years old, now.  So, yeah, Social Security age. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by ChicksDigScars

[imjagain]

11 hours ago, Not4Me said:

I remember in the original series, Jackie, when challenged by Fred about how dressing Andy in a gender non-confirmative way could make him gay, she quipped that she would march down with him in “one of those parades” with a big rainbow flag. I think it would have made for a great story, and totally in character for Jackie, if she had ended up as a card-carrying PFLAG mom. But it sounds like Andy’s existence may be retconned. :-/

Jackie was the best in the new episodes. I died when she revealed how sometimes at night she’d put on Prince and wear men’s underwear. She’s always trying to be the cool aunt but ends up just being awkward.

Other than Roseanne calling herself “the white witch” which made me laugh, I’m not feeling her again yet. I feel something about her character seems off, her ignorance at times was grating than funny. And she wasn’t like that in the early years of the original series. She had a certain level of smarts and intelligence in-spite of her working class upbringing that wasn’t present here.

 

I enjoyed The Show but Yeah Something About Roseanne is off. Especially the gun. I could never have seen Dan and Rosie having a gun. I don't know if they are trying too hard to act like what they think "middle America " is. Idk.  

Jackie was the highlight as was Darlene's son. Dan hugging him at the made me tear up.

The line that cracked me up was from Darlene, is anyone going to mention she's 50. Regarding Becky  being a surrogate lol.

Edited March 28, 2018 by imjagain

[Seeminglynormal]

Regarding the surrogacy plot line, I’m wondering if it’s going to be some sort of scam. I think someone (maybe in this thread?) wondered why Andrea wasn’t going through an agency of some sort. I’m hoping it won’t end with Becky actually being pregnant but we’ll see.

[Calm81]

I couldn’t wait any longer, I decided to pay $1.99 each on amazon prime for the two episodes and boy was it worth it!!!!

It’s been a very long time since I had watery eyes due to laughter. ?

I was worried that the nostalgia of the show was going to be all that will drive me to watch the entire episode like “Fuller House” (Fuller House is a cute show but it wasn’t the same as the original - to me anyways, but a good show without the attachment to “Full House”) but it wasn’t forced. I truly loved both of the episodes like I did when the show originally aired. 

It was legit FUNNY, and picked up where it left off...they were all their same and it felt warm and fuzzy watching it. I’m 36 years old now, so I was the same age as DJ was (Michael Fisherman) so I wasn’t able to watch the show when it aired but in syndication. I’m going to make a goal to see a live taping in the near future - hopefully!! ?

It wasn’t as politically driven as I thought it was going to be but I liked how they made it to where there was a voter for both sides of the election versus them ALL being for one specific person. It was funny. 

Dan and Roseanne make awesome grandparents and I love how they don’t baby talk the kids and talk to them the same way they did with their kids with tons of sarcasm and wit.

Darlene looks better than ever. I loved seeing Becky OG, her voice did sound much different but we have to remember she was a teenager when we last saw her and her voice may have deepened with age but daaaaaamn, her face didn’t age!!!!!

Darlene’s wardrobe is so cool.

Not much lines for DJ, then again he was very young when the show originally aired and he survived off of quick one liners and nothing with too much depth, so maybe acting just isn’t a strength of his but they are working with him to keep him in his role, but I don’t see him getting outside acting gigs. Nothing bad on him, but acting doesn’t come as natural to him as Becky and Darlene.

 

Dan jumped back into his role like he never left it. I’ve seen him in a lot of different roles since the show cancelled, one being “The Patriot” where his personality is completely different than the Dan character and I loved seeing how he was able to get back into the same character we remembered.

Jackie is the same and I absolutely adore her. She hasn’t changed a bit!!! The only thing I would change is to make her act like she did in the first 3 seasons before they got her more whacky, but I still love her.

Mark was a great addition. I like how they added him and how the Conners, especially Darlene, are embracing it ...Dan took a moment but Dan meant well.

Darlene 2.0 even dresses like Darlene used to, actually, I think Darlene’s wardrobe is the same lol.

I can’t stop smiling. The opening with the original theme song with them sitting around the table gave me goosebumps and I sported a smile and a ton of chuckles throughout both episodes. I can confidently say, this show will need the cast to quit it in order for it to stop airing because I foresee the ratings going through the roof while maintaining it well past the hype stage. 

This show isn’t going to survive on nostalgia, it’s a friggin hit!!!!!!! Welcome back , Conners!!! The Calm family missed you!!!!!!!!!!! ♥️♥️??

Edited March 29, 2018 by Calm81
Autocorrect messed up some shit lol

[txhorns79]

Quote

Regarding the surrogacy plot line, I’m wondering if it’s going to be some sort of scam. I think someone (maybe in this thread?) wondered why Andrea wasn’t going through an agency of some sort. I’m hoping it won’t end with Becky actually being pregnant but we’ll see.

I can't imagine Becky is trying to scam anyone, unless they are planning a really dark turn for the character.  And if it is from the other direction, what would Andrea actually be scamming from Becky?  It isn't as though she has money.  

Quote

I loved seeing Becky OG, her voice did sound much different but we have to remember she was a teenager when we last saw her and her voice may have deepened with age but daaaaaamn, her face didn’t age!!!!!

I'm pretty sure Lecy was in her 20s by the time of her last appearance on the original show. 

[laurakaye]

12 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I'm not going to worry about who's where or other questions, I'll just trust the next eps will include the answers.

I will be happy to let the show unfold on its own time, as long as the more pressing questions get answered.  Reboots like this are tricky because they have such a deeply loyal fanbase, but at the same time, info-dumping in the first episode is sort of cringe-worthy to sit through.  I liked when DJ came in with his daughter and there was no explanation, because I know we'll get that later.  I do need to know what happened with Jackie, Fred and Andy, though.  As others mentioned, a throwaway line would be just fine.  Fred and Andy were too big a part of the show to be ignored - and has anyone heard if Michael O'Keefe is returning at all?

 

12 hours ago, snarts said:

I don't remember her acting this stilted previously. Her voice is odd as well.  She guest starred on SVU years ago and was similar but I chalked it up to the character. 

Sara Gilbert was on point from the jump. Laurie Metcalf too.  Roseanne & John Goodman were better in the 2nd episode. 

All in all, so happy to have the Conners back on my TV.

Referring to Lecy, she was always so on-point as teen-age Becky Conner back in the day.  Her and Sara Gilbert were fantastic and so believable as sisters.  Hopefully she's just getting back into the Connor groove. :)

 

8 hours ago, Hellohappylife said:

I won’t lie,I almost cried during darlene’s Conversation with Mark about how it’s okay to be “weird”  her tears and emotions felt so real!

To me it seemed that she had to collect herself in real time as she was delivering her lines, and I found that to be very moving.  I adore Sara Gilbert.

Edited March 28, 2018 by laurakaye

[Chaos Theory]

11 minutes ago, imjagain said:

I enjoyed The Show but Yeah Something About Roseanne is off. Especially the gun. I could never have seen Dan and Rosie having a gun. I don't if they are trying too hard to act like what they think "middle America " is. Idk.  

Jackie was the highlight as was Darlene's son. Dan hugging him at the made me tear up.

That’s kinda realistic too.  I know a few people who never even thought about buying a gun who suddenly just had to have one around the time Obama became President and the NRA upped tactics of the government coming into your house and taking your weapons.  I could see Dan and Roseanne getting fired up buying the gun and then just kinda forgetting about it.

[BitterApple]

Regarding Becky, I agree with the poster up thread who said it's kind of crazy that in 20 years she hasn't managed to do something with her life. It's not like she was tied down with five kids and going to college or trade school would've been all but impossible. I wonder if Darlene alluding to Becky being a drunk is going to reveal a substance abuse problem in later episodes.

[2727]

I took it at face value that Dan's hanging sheetrock and Roseanne's driving for Uber part time. Hopefully the show doesn't expect me to believe they'd have enough money to retire after living paycheck to paycheck for 40 years and almost losing their house. Which they had probably refinanced, or else it should have been paid off by now. (Yeah, I'm abnormally fixated on unrealistic or ill-defined finances of TV characters.)

I'm looking forward to getting more backstory on everyone and catching up with these old friends!

[Calm81]

1 minute ago, 2727 said:

I took it at face value that Dan's hanging sheetrock and Roseanne's driving for Uber part time. Hopefully the show doesn't expect me to believe they'd have enough money to retire after living paycheck to paycheck for 40 years and almost losing their house. Which they had probably refinanced, or else it should have been paid off by now. (Yeah, I'm abnormally fixated on unrealistic or ill-defined finances of TV characters.)

I'm looking forward to getting more backstory on everyone and catching up with these old friends!

I always crack up when I watch a lifetime movie where the main character has a low paying job profession but lives in an incredibly pricey home with nice furniture and cars. Lol. 

[SunnyBeBe]

One of my most favorite lines was when Darlene's son Mark, says to Roseann, "I'm not scared of you"  and she responds, "Give it time."   lol  

[Phoebe70]

13 minutes ago, Calm81 said:

I always crack up when I watch a lifetime movie where the main character has a low paying job profession but lives in an incredibly pricey home with nice furniture and cars. Lol. 

YES!  Me too!  That's one of the things I always disliked about "Friends."  We were supposed to believe that these 20-somethings were able to afford a huge apartment in NYC....not.

[imjagain]

1 minute ago, Chaos Theory said:

That’s kinda realistic too.  I know a few people who never even thought about buying a gun who suddenly just had to have one around the time Obama became President and the NRA upped tactics of the government coming into your house and taking your weapons.  I could see Dan and Roseanne getting fired up buying the gun and then just kinda forgetting about it.

Like the weed they found years later lol, one of my favorite episodes. 

Maybe your right. Idk. It just felt forced.  

I want add I'm actually happy I watch I wasn't going because I didn't want to hear about Trump but I found myself laughing.

[seniorpatriot]

13 hours ago, WednesdayAddams said:

I heard Johnny Galecki would be on, so I'm assuming divorced. Jackie was a lesbian according to the finale, so is that still true? I remember thinking that Andy was made up for the story once she made Jackie a lesbian. 

I don't recall jackie being gay, it was Bev, the Mom who was gay.  I am still on the fence about the show myself.

I thought a few of the actors seemed very rusty in some spots. But mostly, is it going to be week after week of political issues? They seemed to have leveled it tho so that both sides of a subject were sort of presented. But will it heavily swing one way or the other? Time will tell. I don't watch comedies for political discourse. 

6 minutes ago, Phoebe70 said:

YES!  Me too!  That's one of the things I always disliked about "Friends."  We were supposed to believe that these 20-somethings were able to afford a huge apartment in NYC....not.

The Frioends apartment was "rent controlled", left to Monica by her grandmother. That was stated many times in the show. DOn't know how the guys afforded theirs tho. 

[Chicken Wing]

1 minute ago, seniorpatriot said:

I don't recall jackie being gay, it was Bev, the Mom who was gay.

During the show, Bev accidentally came out as a lesbian during a Thanksgiving episode. In the series finale, everything was revealed to be a topsy-turvy version of Roseanne Conner's "real" life for a book she was writing and in that "real" life Jackie was the one who was a lesbian. But with the revival, it seems they've made the finale reveal part of the book and so everything that happened on the show was her real life. Jackie is straight, Bev was gay, Darlene married David and Becky married Mark.

[Phoebe70]

Just now, seniorpatriot said:

I don't recall jackie being gay, it was Bev, the Mom who was gay.  I am still on the fence about the show myself.

 

At the end of the series Roseanne announced that Jackie was gay, Dan was dead and the sisters married the opposite brothers (Becky married David and Darlene married Mark).

[Keywestclubkid]

52 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

I liked when DJ came in with his daughter and there was no explanation, because I know we'll get that later. 

 

 

 

But there was an explanation his wife and her mother is overseas still in the army .... everyone that was not at that table that was part of their immediate family that was there day to day got a shout out well everyone but Andy

Edited March 28, 2018 by Keywestclubkid
spelling correction

[Jillybean]

I liked that Roseanne pulled out the "book" she had been writing in the finale, and Dad said it would have been better If she hadn't killed off the best character. So basically they were saying that the very end of the original series finale -- Dan's death, the David-Mark partner switch, Jackie being gay -- was part of Roseanne's fictional writing. That was an interesting way to handle the obvious problem of retconning the finale.  But it does sort of ruin all future viewings of the finale.

I'm surprised Roseanne and Dan seem to be retired or semi-retired. I wouldn't have thought they could afford it.

[HighMaintenance]

I watched most of the 1st episode, and then had to do some work so I missed the 2nd 1/2 hour.  Best line was Darlene's response to Becky getting pregnant - "Aren't you like... 50?"

DJ's 2 line inclusion to the storyline was (thankfully) just a couple of lines.  Mike Fishman was never much of a kid actor and doesn't seem like he's much of an adult actor.

Does anyone know if Lanford is = to the real world Rockford, Illinois?

[JAYJAY1979]

Sara was the MVP!  Who knew Darlene would be the responsible daughter LOL

Jackie was toned down, but she's the perfect example of family enmeshment and how unhealthy it is.  She was typically blaming Roseanne for her voting for Jill Stein instead of taking personal responsiblity.. yet she's a life coach?  I had looked into being a life coach years ago and one of the requirements was going to an actual life coach yourself and rebuilding your own life before you could get licensed as a life coach.

Roseanne and John were both a little shaky in the first episode, but by the 2nd episode both had settled in nicely with the rhythm of a sitcom and their characters again.

From what I'm gathering, she is aiming to show how politics have divided a family and how that family comes together once again.. and it is showing that not all Trump supporters are evil.. and not all Hillary/Jill Stein supporters are saints either.  

I am curious to find out more about what's been going on with Becky, as well as wondering what Roseanne is doing with her time since Dan is still drywalling... is Roseanne retired?

[vmcd88]

I enjoyed the show.  I didnt enjoy the political jokes.  That seemed forced.  Things I liked:  the 2 Beckys and the whole "it's like looking in a mirror," Jackie inserting her "as a life coach" line into conversations, and Rosy and Dan assuming Darlene was gay and her say "not gay."  I'll stick around.  Hey it's better than watching that King of Queens reboot also known as Kevin Can Wait.

[Keywestclubkid]

Just now, vmcd88 said:

  Hey it's better than watching that King of Queens reboot also known as Kevin Can Wait.

right? ugh

[UYI]

11 minutes ago, HighMaintenance said:

Does anyone know if Lanford is = to the real world Rockford, Illinois?

Far enough that when Darlene and Molly didn't immediately come home from the Daisy Chainsaw (an actual band, for the record) concert there in season 5, it caused a LOT of worry from Dan and Roseanne. 

[mtlchick]

The numbers are in and so far so BIG.

 

http://ew.com/tv/2018/03/28/roseanne-ratings/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly&utm_medium=social&__twitter_impression=true

[BitterApple]

45 minutes ago, Calm81 said:

I always crack up when I watch a lifetime movie where the main character has a low paying job profession but lives in an incredibly pricey home with nice furniture and cars. Lol. 

I remember one where the husband was a district attorney and the family lived in a massive house with land and horses. In Los Angeles, lol. 

Regarding Dan and Roseanne, I find it hard to believe they could afford to retire as well. They couldn't have had much in the way of savings and I can't imagine social security could keep them afloat. Darlene is jobless and broke, so it's unlikely she's paying rent.

I'm also not really feeling Jackie as a life coach. Sure, it's funny given her own history, but is it realistic in a small town where most people live hand to mouth? I can't see how she could make a living at it, especially in a town like Lanford. 

[BTBAM310]

I was looking forward to this, but turned it off less than 5 minutes in. The studio audience and the HD compared to the way it used to look just made it too difficult to watch. The actors seemed really off as well. As soon as Darlene came in is when we gave up.

[HeySandyStrange]

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

It cold be that the little girl that got cast was the best for the part, despite not “looking biracial”, as in she was the best actress. It also could very well be that DJ adopted her. Many many people look nothing like their parents (especially if their parent is of another race) but are still biologically related. The little girl could be the splitting image of her mother.

I wasn’t bothered or confused- but I’m someone who’s constantly assumed to be biracial (I’m not) and who continually sees light skinned black actors portrayed as biracial on tv so this is a welcome change. 

I do hope the girl can act. I do think it was a throw back to the episode where DJ didn’t want to kiss a black girl when he was younger.

I posted this in the Media thread, but for anyone interested, here is an article about the actress who will be playing DJ's wife:

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Who-Plays-DJ-Wife-Roseanne-Reboot-44695834

Other then her being gorgeous, I could see how Mary took after her more then her the Connors. And anyway, genetics can be all over the place. I knew a black couple who had a very fair skinned son, even though neither were biracial or fair-skinned themselves, and my parents knew a mixed race couple who had three kids who all looked different. It could be that DJ and his wife adopted Mary, or that Geena was pregnant with Mary before she met DJ and he adopted Mary as his own, or the casting directors just really liked the girl playing Mary and didn't care that she doesn't look stereotypically biracial. As long as she gels with the family, I'm okay with it.

Anyway, I just watched the first 2 episodes (which are on Hulu, for anyone who hasn't seen them). I thought the first ep was clunky and it was obvious they were trying to get back in the swing of thing will introducing all these changes, but the flow was came back rather quickly. It was a lot better by the second episode, and I am surprised at how enjoyable it was and how it was fairly close to the original series in terms of the humor and energy. Color me shocked lol.

[Mmmfloorpie]

9 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

The numbers are in and so far so BIG.

 

http://ew.com/tv/2018/03/28/roseanne-ratings/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly&utm_medium=social&__twitter_impression=true

Would like to see the drop off numbers for the second half hour.

[festivus]

3 minutes ago, HeySandyStrange said:

I posted this in the Media thread, but for anyone interested, here is an article about the actress who will be playing DJ's wife:

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Who-Plays-DJ-Wife-Roseanne-Reboot-44695834

Yay! We'll get to see DJ's wife and she's played by Tamra from The Mindy Project. I love her, she's hilarious.

[Lady Calypso]

4 minutes ago, Mmmfloorpie said:

Would like to see the drop off numbers for the second half hour.

Absolutely none. Here's some more accurate numbers for both episodes. Note that these numbers may shift, so there MAY have been a slight drop when the final ratings come out, but if there is, it wasn't by much at all.

For Canada, it was promoted as an hour long episode, instead of two half hour ones, so I wonder if that helped.

[Rap541]

"The Frioends apartment was "rent controlled", left to Monica by her grandmother. That was stated many times in the show. DOn't know how the guys afforded theirs tho. " Off topic but Chandler's career was that of a midlevel exec of some sort - he was the only one who realistically would have been making decent money for NYC. As far as Dan and Roseanne "retiring" - I think its more common than what you might think for a couple in their late sixties to be drawing SSN and doing part time or even full time work for as long as they can. Where I think things are awkward is the idea that they almost lost the house - that needs a little explanation.

[Mmmfloorpie]

One thing I REALLY missed were the "establishing shots" of the exterior of the house like they were in the original. The still photos that crossfaded with the harmonica in the background 

They had them in the new show but were a completely different style. Really close up and weird angles and no crossfades.

Would have been a small touch that would have helped capture the feel of the original.