S10.E03: Roseanne Gets the Chair

[tessaray]

Quote

Roseanne's clash with Darlene over her parenting reaches a breaking point; Dan tries to help Roseanne with her bad knee by getting her an elevator chair.

[Sai]

Aw man, that was some great grandparenting!  I laughed my ass off!

[katie9918]

I sympathized with both Darlene and (to a far lesser extent) Harris, but Roseanne and Dan were awesome in their responses.

 

I’m going to have to remember that hose trick, and the password takeover. I have to admit, I was shocked Darlene went quite that far.

 

I had some feels when Dan and Roseanne told Darlene to not be so hard on herself after Roseanne was nagging on her about Harris earlier.

 

That was over way too soon.

[Lady Calypso]

I really did enjoy this episode. Roseanne got on my nerves at times, but Darlene was great, as was Harris. Yes, Harris is a brat, but the actress is pretty talented. She has Sara's knack for comedic timing. 

I did think Roseanne and Dan both had some good points about Darlene wanting to play good cop. And I was happy for them supporting Darlene in the end. I agree with Roseanne; she stepped up when it counted. 

I did laugh at the chair gag, as well as Dan still having a flip phone. My own grandparents recently got new modern cellphones, so I won't be surprised if that ends up being a future plot. 

[chocolatine]

So Roseanne actually does work as an Uber driver, it wasn't a joke.

Harris is such a spoiled brat, even Darlene wasn't that bad. I loved Roseanne taking away the muffin and sticking Harris's head under the faucet.

It was strange that Harris talked about missing Chicago and her friends but never once mentioned her dad. I really need to know what happened between Darlene and David.

[Sherilea43]

Roseanne's acting seems off to me. She was so natural at the peak of the original series. Can't pinpoint what it is. It's as if she ennunciates too often. Missed Little Mark this time...love him.

[Mu Shu]

This was good.  And yes, the best way to raise a kid is in a cage.

It can only get better.  If the cast is on board, season three is probably being ordered now.  

[Balboa]

Enjoyed the shower scene at the end. So happy these first episodes have been high quality.

Would love to know what happened between David and Darlene.

[festivus]

This one hit a little too close to home for me. A good friend of mine is in this same situation with an adult daughter moved home with her two kids. One is a teenage girl and she is horrible. I'm sorry but you do not get to disrespect your grandmother like that. It is not your house. 

[Juliannah]

10 minutes ago, Sherilea43 said:

Roseanne's acting seems off to me. She was so natural at the peak of the original series. Can't pinpoint what it is. It's as if she ennunciates too often. Missed Little Mark this time...love him.

I thought Roseanne was on her game tonight.  She is settling back in to the old Roseanne I remember.  Great episode.  I found myself laughing out loud more than once and I watched by myself.  

[callie lee 29]

I am not liking Harris at all.  Beyond the brattiness, I just don't think the actress is very good. She comes across as very flat to me. 

I agree with the weirdness in Roseanne's voice, definitely it seems more clipped to me - much more enunciated this time around. I still find her very funny, but every once in a while the voice throws me. Same with Lecy. I don't know what it is. 

[Chicken Wing]

Just the thought of speaking to my grandmother the way Harris talked to Roseanne gives me the shakes. Roseanne handled her but good, and she was great in giving Darlene what-for about reining in her kid.

[GHScorpiosRule]

“Ohhh what? You’re too good to shower with your grandma?” Had me ????????????????

I can’t stand Harris, so I ??? when Roseanne pushed her head under the sink!

[WhitneyWhit]

Harris got off easy because if I spoke to my grandmother that way at any age, I would need search and rescue to help me locate my teeth.

 

Yeah, Darlene is right, Roseanne isn't Harris' parent, but she's her grandparent and Roseanne has every right to tell her to calm her shit and to not disrespect her, especially since she's living in Roseanne's home.

[sab85]

It seems to me that Roseanne is playing to the cheap seats which is why her acting seems a bit off. Everything's a tad overexaggerated and over-annunciated

[JAYJAY1979]

3 minutes ago, sab85 said:

It seems to me that Roseanne is playing to the cheap seats which is why her acting seems a bit off. Everything's a tad overexaggerated and over-annunciated

I wonder if doing stand-up has affected how she delivers some of the lines because I recall in the first season of the original show, Roseanne acted more like she was doing stand up then a sitcom.. but over time she became a pretty strong sitcom actress and Roseanne in real life is doing stand up again.

 

With that said, Roseanne is boss.. and I like that Darlene did finally parent but did it in a way Darlene could do.

[Sherilea43]

3 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

11 minutes ago, sab85 said:

 

I wonder if doing stand-up has affected how she delivers some of the lines because I recall in the first season of the original show, Roseanne acted more like she was doing stand up then a sitcom.. but over time she became a pretty strong sitcom actress and Roseanne in real life is doing stand up again.

 

 

Ohhh....good point! She did improve dramatically after season one.

[StaceyNotStacie]

44 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

So Roseanne actually does work as an Uber driver, it wasn't a joke.

Harris is such a spoiled brat, even Darlene wasn't that bad. I loved Roseanne taking away the muffin and sticking Harris's head under the faucet.

It was strange that Harris talked about missing Chicago and her friends but never once mentioned her dad. I really need to know what happened between Darlene and David.

I was surprised that David wasn’t mentioned when Harris talked about moving back to Chicago. 

I am really loving the pictures in the living room. I wish we could see them a bit more close up to see who was included. I did notice a picture of original Mark behind the couch and i saw David in a few pictures. 

Also, even though he wasn’t mentioned by name, it was nice to hear Dan talk about his father. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Stacey1014

[Colorado David]

I loved the Kiss poster in the background in Darlene's room, man that poster takes me back!

Good episode, they're getting better. I like see the family dynamic between 3 generations.

I wonder if David will have Disney syndrome and never get mentioned (like all the Disney animated movies, dads are ALWAYS absent.)

Seems weird Harris would have a hard time making friends since she's so smart (unless they are conceding she's a snob to people she deems not as smart as her.) I would've thought Darlene would've taught her about that, as it seems Darlene went thru the same deal.

GAH I'm still having a hard time adapting to Becky's deeper voice, it just throws me. And where's our DJ this epi?

[JakeyJokes]

John Goodman was MVP this week for me. From the Kentucky Derby play-by-play with Roseanne and the chair to the "Scoot over, girls" at the end when they were all on Harris's computer.

I know 22 minutes is a short span of time, but I noticed there was no B plot in this episode. I know not every character can be highlighted, but we still know nothing about DJ and Mary.

[break21]

1 hour ago, Sherilea43 said:

Roseanne's acting seems off to me. She was so natural at the peak of the original series. Can't pinpoint what it is. It's as if she ennunciates too often. Missed Little Mark this time...love him.

I agree - she seems off, like she just kind of yells out one-liners,  but the episodes have been so good it really doesn't matter.  Loved the episode.

16 minutes ago, JakeyJokes said:

John Goodman was MVP this week for me. From the Kentucky Derby play-by-play with Roseanne and the chair to the "Scoot over, girls" at the end when they were all on Harris's computer.

I know 22 minutes is a short span of time, but I noticed there was no B plot in this episode. I know not every character can be highlighted, but we still know nothing about DJ and Mary.

Jackie didn't have much to do either.   I think they might highlight a different character for each episode.  It's such a large cast and they are trying to introduce new characters I don't know how else they'd do it.

[Chaos Theory]

Emma Kenney really does play "bratty teenager" exceptionally well.  I could see Harris having a hard time transitioning from city life to poor towny life.  

I thought the whole parenting fight between Roseanne and Darlene was well done.  Darlene wanted to give Harris the benefit of the doubt but when Harris crossed the line she stepped up.   Then again Roseanne crossed a very substantial line as well (which I am not sure she would have crossed with her family's history of abuse).  Still still I really liked that the show is going with crazy backwood Roseanne and Dan but you still gotta respect them because they are your elders and they earned it.  

 

Best line was by Darlene "I'm sorry your henchman are stupid, Riddler."  

[mtlchick]

John Goodman is a national treasure.  

As much as I get easily annoyed by Roseanne, I had a good laugh over the Hillbilly Day Spa. 

3 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Best line was by Darlene "I'm sorry your henchman are stupid, Riddler."  

Someone has been watching "Gotham."

[methodwriter85]

2 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Best line was by Darlene "I'm sorry your henchman are stupid, Riddler."  

That was an awesome line!

[TaraS1]

It kills me that I’m still not loving this show like I want to, but the acting and the writing are just so....off. 

Roseanne advocating spanking?? Since when? When she flipped out and spanked DJ for stealing her car, it tormented her and she promised never to do it again because she used to get hit as a kid. 

And I guess we got confirmation that Andy doesn’t exist in this reboot universe, since Jackie said “aunt” was the only title she has. So disappointing. 

[AM1418]

I liked the first 2 episodes better but this one doesn’t fall far behind for me. Although, my expectations have gone up considering how well done the first 2 episodes were. 

Dan calling the chair race was hysterical. He had me rolling when Harris came back in and called her “Death Wish.”  I think I am most excited to have him back on my screen. He was classic Dan in this episode. 

I am having a really hard time wrapping my head around Roseanne joking about spanking (considering her huge PSA episode on abuse and her history with her dad) and wanting to laugh because, damn it, it was a funny line. The same goes for The Hillbilly Day Spa (so funny!) Part of me wanted to high give her for shutting Harris up and the other part is still confused on how the Roseanne of old would have handled it. I can fanwank a lot of things, and don’t tend to read too much into continuity, but this one does bug me a bit.

I still can’t form an opinion on Harris. I definitely want her to be more like Darlene because Darlene having to raise Darlene is awesome, but even Darlene had some redeemable qualities. I can’t seem to find them in Harris yet. 

I want to see Roseanne interact with her Uber customers.

You can definitely tell that this was the original 2nd episode. They are still clunky in some places but the 2nd half was much better. Hopefully the 4th episode smoothes the rest of the wrinkles out. 

I don’t remember hearing that Ed was a vet in the past.

It is so weird to see Darlene be a push over,  it was nice to see her step up when she needed to. 

I missed little Mark in this one!

[AM1418]

9 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

And I guess we got confirmation that Andy doesn’t exist in this reboot universe, since Jackie said “aunt” was the only title she has. So disappointing. 

 

I don’t necessairly see it that way. I think at this point they just didn’t have time to explore Andy as a character. To me, that line leaves open a subplot about Andy and Jackie not getting along (we saw what a hover mom she was in the original series, they could be estranged if that never changed) in the next season when they have more time to flesh him out. 

[jewel21]

I loved the picture of Glenn Quinn in the background. My brother and I noticed it right away and paused for a few minutes and discussed the actor and the character of Mark. I notice the first two episodes didn't have his picture so I'm glad they fixed it.

I'm beyond ecstatic this show is on the air all these years later.

Roseanne spraying Harris with the water had be dying with laughter and the end scene with Roseanne getting in the shower with her was hilarious, hehe. I can't wait for next week!

[Sakura12]

It's weird seeing Darlene so soft with her daughter.  I loved the "I'm sorry your henchmen are stupid Riddler" line. Harris is a brat. I would never have spoken like that to my grandmother. She does need to learn she's not better than everyone. I also kind of think Darlene and David have been separated for awhile now, instead of being it recent thing since Harris never mentioned her father. I guess he doesn't live in Chicago either. 

It's interesting to know Rosanne is actually an Uber driver showing that both her and Dan still have to work to pay for their house. Her getting in the shower with Harris was also great, that's is probably the best way to get her turn with the shower. 

[Chaos Theory]

The white trashiest family in all the land is most definitely an old joke from Roseanne and I am glad they are keeping with it.  I still remember the joke about  Darlene and David getting married.  Something like their daughter Darlene marrying the boy they thought of as their son.  They had officially become the white trashiest people in all the land. 

What didn't work was Roseanne spraying Harris with water.  It was supposed to be funny but it came off as more abusive which with Roseanne's history with her parents just seemed very off.  However she definetly would get into the shower with you if you were taking too damn long.    That scene with Harris worked.  

[BitterApple]

42 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

It kills me that I’m still not loving this show like I want to, but the acting and the writing are just so....off. 

 

It's weird because I'm not hating it, but I'm not loving it either. I thought some of the jokes were funny, but Roseanne's timing is way too slow and it leaves them falling flat. Lecy is always screaming her lines. They should've taken a refresher course in acting prior to filming, lol.

I also don't understand how Harris was tying up the washer for an entire day. If she's too lazy to finish her laundry, take that shit out and toss it on the counter. To me, that's not even something that should've blown up into such a huge issue.

Edited April 4, 2018 by BitterApple

[sab85]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Best line was by Darlene "I'm sorry your henchman are stupid, Riddler."  

That line made me actually laugh out loud. That and John Goodman squealing at the end. He is a treasure.

It did feel odd not to have Harris mention David at all, a bratty "I want to live with Dad!" or something. Especially since we know Johnny G is eventually showing up. 

[WhitneyWhit]

I forgot to add that, even though I knew it was coming, when Roseanne reversed her chair as Harris came back down the stairs, I had to pause to compose myself, I don't know why I laughed so hard at that.

[chocolatine]

6 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I also don't understand how Harris was tying up the washer for an entire day. If she's too lazy to finish her laundry, take that shit out and toss it on the counter. To me, that's not even something that should've blown up into such a huge issue.

She was washing and drying the clothes she was selling on Etsy (or as Roseanne likes to call it, Betsy).

[GoldenGirl90]

2 hours ago, Sherilea43 said:

Roseanne's acting seems off to me. She was so natural at the peak of the original series. Can't pinpoint what it is. It's as if she ennunciates too often. Missed Little Mark this time...love him.

I agree. I enjoyed this episode but her acting comes off as so obvious that she is, well, acting. 

52 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

 

It kills me that I’m still not loving this show like I want to, but the acting and the writing are just so....off. 

 

I agree. Everyone else is great but it’s so obvious that Roseanne herself has not done any actual acting gigs in a very long time.

[BitterApple]

I actually think Harris got off easy with the water spray. My grandmother would've knocked me out. 

I agree John Goodman is the best part of the show.

[GoldenGirl90]

I’m watching old Roseanne episodes now and man, it’s so obvious how off Roseanne Barr is when it comes to playing the character of Roseanne Conner. It was much more natural in the 90s. 

[Blissfool]

47 minutes ago, AM1418 said:

 

It is so weird to see Darlene be a push over,  it was nice to see her step up when she needed to. 

I think they're making Darlene too much like Sara Gilbert.

[UYI]

58 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

 

Roseanne advocating spanking?? Since when? When she flipped out and spanked DJ for stealing her car, it tormented her and she promised never to do it again because she used to get hit as a kid. 

And I guess we got confirmation that Andy doesn’t exist in this reboot universe, since Jackie said “aunt” was the only title she has. So disappointing. 

THANK YOU. That was the FIRST thing I thought of, which made that line fucking GLARING. There was an ENTIRE episode about the guilt Roseanne felt about spanking DJ after all the abuse she got from her dad (and the touching ending: "I'm sorry you got hit." "I'm sorry you got hit, too."). Drove me nuts.

And I really expected an "What about Andy?" line after Jackie said that line about only being an aunt. I did NOT expect that line to just sit there like that. But he's apparently supposed to be mentioned/show up in the future, according to info I've seen about the second season, so I'll wait and see on that. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by UYI

[Bastet]

I can see why they switched two and three for last week’s second episode.  They were still working out kinks in this one; even John Goodman was awkward in the first half.  But it was still enjoyable.

With one GLARING exception:  As others have noted, WTF with Roseanne suddenly being in favor of spanking, since there was an entire episode about her horror at losing control and hitting D.J., which existed in the longstanding (not back to the beginning of the series, but longstanding) context of the abuse she and Jackie suffered (which also informed them taking David in to begin with, upon seeing the environment in which he was being raised)?!  She can also miss me with saying bitch instead of brat when she was telling off Harris.

I really liked Darlene tonight; she’s learning how to replicate the good aspects of the parenting she was raised with, and skip the bad, and, like everyone, having some struggles with that.  And she’s dealing with a Mini-Darlene, which makes it all the better, since we saw Roseanne dealing with Darlene – we don’t have to rely on exposition to know how Mom Darlene was as a teen, like in most shows, we saw it.

Roseanne’s “No, no I got this” about the dirty bathroom reminded me of her “No, I’ll get it” when the doorbell would ring and no one would move.  (Was that the hallway bathroom we never saw, but heard referred to once in the original series?  I was getting the cats fed, so I didn’t get a clear look.)

The foreplay joke was also reminiscent of the original series.  As was Dan pretending to be doing color commentary.

“You’re smart for a kid, but you’re still dumb for a person.”  Now that was on point.

[BitterApple]

The whole Andy thing gives me a headache if I think about it too long. Maybe Jackie's line about "aunt being the only title I have" was a nod to being an empty nester and Andy living far away, but it's playing out very awkwardly. There's been several instances where a mention of him would be warranted but they just let it hang in the air.

[VCRTracking]

30 minutes ago, sab85 said:

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Best line was by Darlene "I'm sorry your henchman are stupid, Riddler."  

That line made me actually laugh out loud. That and John Goodman squealing at the end. He is a treasure.

I loved that Riddler line too! Darlene being a mom but still having that great wit is the number one thing about the reboot.

Also agree that Goodman is a treasure. He and Laurie Metcalf bring the most joy on the show for me.

Edited April 4, 2018 by VCRTracking

[chocolatine]

20 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I actually think Harris got off easy with the water spray. My grandmother would've knocked me out. 

Agreed. My parents and grandparents never hit me, but I did get doused with cold water a couple of times for much smaller infractions. I never thought it was humiliating or traumatizing, like a spanking wold have been, it just reminded me where the boundaries were.

Edited April 4, 2018 by chocolatine

[readster]

25 minutes ago, UYI said:

THANK YOU. That was the FIRST thing I thought of, which made that line fucking GLARING. There was an ENTIRE episode about the guilt Roseanne felt about spanking DJ after all the abuse she got from her dad (and the touching ending: "I'm sorry you got hit." "I'm sorry you got hit, too."). Drove me nuts.

And I really expected an "What about Andy?" line after Jackie said that line about only being an aunt. I did NOT expect that line to just sit there like that. But he's apparently supposed to be mentioned/show up in the future, according to info I've seen about the second season, so I'll wait and see on that. 

That really, really bothered me. Forget the politics or "It's the only title I have" from Jackie. Even's Dan: "I wrote a poem for my dad and he hit me with a broom." That didn't come off as funny or anything. Now, granted being an educator and seeing how some kids are because really, their parents do tell them to: "Go think about it." or "Just course by in life, we did ok." Gives kids the wrong message, but after we were hit over the head on Roseanne and Jackie's home life and how it even tied in with Mark and David home life. To see Roseanne say those things just didn't work. Though I agree, if I would have said the things Harris said to my grandparents, and I do mean any of them, I would be hiding under the stairs with my toys. Because my grandparents didn't hit me and neither did my parents. However, my grandmother was notorious for taking a favorite toy when one of us grand kids got out of line and destroying it in front of us. I still have horrible memories of an old Lehand Drugs mini ball I kept bouncing and was told to stop. She told me to stop or she get a knife and slice the ball apart. I didn't because I was 4 and didn't think she do that and guess what? She did. After that I took those threats serious, but my grandparents realized destroying a favorite toy was much more en forceful than hitting a kid. 

[mbaywife123]

This episode has reminded me of how technology forward our society has become but how far backward we have fallen as far as common sense and social decency for everyone.

[Miss Ruth]

Why didn't Roseanne use the master bath?

[Maharincess]

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

The whole Andy thing gives me a headache if I think about it too long. Maybe Jackie's line about "aunt being the only title I have" was a nod to being an empty nester and Andy living far away, but it's playing out very awkwardly. There's been several instances where a mention of him would be warranted but they just let it hang in the air.

So sorry. Don't know how this happened. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Maharincess

[Sile]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Roseanne’s “No, no I got this” about the dirty bathroom reminded me of her “No, I’ll get it” when the doorbell would ring and no one would move.  (Was that the hallway bathroom we never saw, but heard referred to once in the original series?  I was getting the cats fed, so I didn’t get a clear look.)

 

As I recall, it was a Jack and Jill bathroom between the two bedrooms.  The only specific scene I remember in there was when Darlene was dying her hair; excuse me, doing interpretive dance and the sink was on the left, so Roseanne came in the other door.

I'm really glad they explained how they managed to afford the chair lift.  Those things are WAY expensive, like up to five figures expensive, and it's tough to get insurance to pay anything.  An elderly friend of my mother's was looking into one and was floored by the prices and the insurance company basically laughed when she inquired about coverage.

High point of the episode for me was the Lebowski reference Dan made in Darlene's bedroom.  John Goodman really was flawless in that movie.  I read or saw an interview with him a few years ago where he said he can't watch any of his work because there's always at least one thing he wishes he'd done differently.  Except for Lebowski.  

Edited April 4, 2018 by Sile

[Bastet]

Just now, Sile said:

As I recall, it was a Jack and Jill bathroom between the two bedrooms.  The only specific scene I remember in there was when Darlene was dying her hair; excuse me, doing interpretive dance and the sink was on the left, so Roseanne came in the other door.

No, that was Molly coming in, and she entered through the bedroom as did every other character we saw go in there.  We never saw another entrance to that bathroom connected to Becky and Darlene's room, and D.J.'s room was across the hall, so a Jack and Jill doesn't make sense.

\While the girls' bathroom was the only one we ever saw upstairs (in addition to the downstairs bathroom accessible via both the little hallway off the living room/kitchen and the master bedroom), we saw Darlene enter a bathroom off D.J.'s room (during the reveal of Fisher as an abuser) and we heard reference to a hall bathroom (during the D.J. masturbation episode), but both those one-off bathrooms seem to have been concocted solely for the storyline they facilitated.  But if tonight's episode showed a stand-alone bathroom upstairs, then it supports the upstairs hallway bathroom scenario.

[Hellohappylife]

I loved Roseanne’s line to Harris about how she is treating the house as if it’s hers & Roseanne says  “we don’t even own it!” Such a throw back to the earlier episodes where they would struggle just to pay the mortgage & still is a very real issue for people today all over who still don’t fully own their homes despite living in them & raising a family. 

About Jackie- Is there a chance they might reveal that maybe Andy is dead? I mean it’s a shitty way to go about things but it seems so far they have no interests at all including Andy or Jerry in the reboot.

I can’t wait to find out more about The david situation,he never seemed like the type who would abandon his children. 

Cant wait for next weeks episode! 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Hellohappylife