S10.E06: No Country for Old Women

[Fiero425]

57 minutes ago, Oosala said:

I don't like Darlene's kids either and I particularly don't like Bev.  For anyone who was introduced to Estelle Parsons in the movie Bonnie and Clyde, this will come as no surprise.  She was just an excruciatingly HORRIBLE character in that movie with THAT VOICE, and she was always whining and screaming and getting in the way and being a total pill.  Seems to me she's playing the same role on Roseanne.

Me too! I remember seeing her for the 1st time when I was a kid in that movie and she's been typecast as a crank who can't be satisfied ever since! She even looks the same after 50+ years! ;-)

Edited May 3, 2018 by Fiero425

[bigskygirl]

I would have love to see Jackie working at a desk job until her back was healed well enough for her to go back to patrol, and Roseanne getting a secretary job with the police department. Heck Dan could have gotten a job as a correction officer too. I started hating the original show when Jackie left the force, Roseanne got the waitress job, Dan brought the bike shop, and Becky started dating Mark.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Quote

For people who don't need to drive very often, Uber might be a more affordable option than keeping a car. 

Supposedly Uber is way cheaper than a cab (at least that's what people tell me that Uber all the time). Plus they don't have to worry about driving drunk. Uber benefits the drivers as well. My neighbor is an Uber/ Lyft driver and her old hoopty had no A/C, so she rents a car every week. She gets a special deal through Uber so she had the ability to drive around in a brand new car and the rental is much cheaper than a car note - plus she doesn't get charged for mileage. Right after she started, she took her kids on vacation to Georgia from South Florida and was gone a week - didn't have to pay for the mileage. 

[msrachelj]

On 5/1/2018 at 10:40 PM, Keywestclubkid said:

I love some Christopher Lloyd he will always be Doc Brown to a huge generation of people :) 

i was taken aback about how old he looked. was he playing older because estelle parsons looked better. 

[msrachelj]

On 5/2/2018 at 8:38 PM, Miss Ruth said:

Jackie needs a new hairdo or , at least, some bangs.

i agree but she probably won't have bangs. i noticed on her previous show about the nursing home that her  hair has thinned with age and unfortunately she probably can't do bangs. which sucks for those of us with forehead wrinkles! the last taboo for over 40 women, the issue of thinning hair!

[msrachelj]

18 hours ago, BitterApple said:

With all the retconning they're doing I'd be perfectly fine if both kids got Chuck Cunningham'd next season. If Andy can disappear, so can Mark and Harris. I actually don't mind Mark's character quite as much, but the way Darlene allows her kids to continually disrespect Dan and Roseanne makes me want to pack their suitcases and toss all their ungrateful asses out of 714 Delaware Street. 

i think the casting of harris is terrible. i like the actress on her showtime show ( brain's not working, sorry) but she is terrible here. looks nothing like she could be the child of the parents she has. 

[Keywestclubkid]

1 hour ago, msrachelj said:

i think the casting of harris is terrible. i like the actress on her showtime show ( brain's not working, sorry) but she is terrible here. looks nothing like she could be the child of the parents she has. 

Shameless is her show on showtime :)

[bigskygirl]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i agree but she probably won't have bangs. i noticed on her previous show about the nursing home that her  hair has thinned with age and unfortunately she probably can't do bangs. which sucks for those of us with forehead wrinkles! the last taboo for over 40 women, the issue of thinning hair!

They probably could give her bangs with the right type of cut and style because the hair she has now is not doing her any favors.

[Nordly Beaumont]

I kind of love that Laurie displays her high forehead proudly! Bangs with thinning hair won't even stay over your forehead unless you hammer them with hairspray and then they look stiff and dumb. Also, Laurie is very much a "face actor" and she either knows to keep the hair off her face so it's bare and fully visible, or someone advised her to keep her hair back.

[femmefan1946]

Another question, what exactly does Dan do for a job? Is he still drywalling or does he just take on odd jobs as a handyman? I'm curious as to how they make ends meet when neither of them appears to have steady work and the house still isn't paid off.

Dan is still drywalling- which is a very physically punishing job, even with nail guns and the right support/scaffolding. And he's a good15 years older than most guys doing the work. If he is working for a contractor, he might be site foreman, which takes a lot of physical stress off him.

He is the kind of guy who would take on odd jobs as they came available, even if he has steady work.

Roseanne is an Uber driver. With those kinds of gigs, you set your own hours. I can see her working 40-50 hours a week if she has the opportunity.

Many years ago (like in the 1970s) I heard a  radio program about  finances in which the caller was told that, in her suburban neighbourhood, with poor bus service, if she was spending less than $200(Cdn) on taxis, that would be cheaper than owning a car.  Now cars were not as well made then, and were more expensive compared to incomes (I earned $13,000 a year at the time)  but most people don't realize how expensive car ownership is, allowing for purchase, maintenance, insurance and gas. (We are paying $1.52 a litre here on Vancouver Island-- around $5 a US gallon.)

 

If Jackie is 60, then Roseanne is 63-64? And Dan is a year or so older?

Do neither of them get the Old Age Pension yet? We get OAP for being old.

Or whatever you Americans get as your national pension from years of working ? We call it the  Canada Pension Plan- based on our highest five years income from the workforce. Since Bev never really worked, she would not get that.
And then there is some sort of health insurance called Medicaid? Are they old enough for that yet? Do you guys have subsidized pharmacare for seniors?

 

Or is part of the background that the Connors are too proud to take 'welfare'?

[Sile]

11 minutes ago, femmefan1946 said:

If Jackie is 60, then Roseanne is 63-64? And Dan is a year or so older?

 

I just happened to see the rerun of Dan's birthday on Paramount today (wasn't even trying, it was just the channel the tv was already set to when I turned it on).  The show ran in 1990 and he turned 39 in November, which would make him 66 right now.  I looked up JG to see how old he actually was then and he was born in 1952, so it was pretty right on.

I thought they might have totally retconned Fred and Andy out of existence because that looked like Jackie's old apartment.  I guess it wasn't, because there are people here way more encyclopaedic than I am and would have noticed it, but I could swear she had the stained glass piece in the window of her old apartment.

The detail I liked best this week was that Becky had a restaurant double burner and two coffee pots, one of which had the orange decaf neck.  Which means she swiped them from either her current or a previous restaurant job.  Shades of Roseanne bringing home giant jars of mayo and pickles when she worked at Rodbell's (just like Leon!).

I have to disagree about EP looking the same as 20 years ago.  Somehow she looks younger!  I really wished they hadn't spoiled Christopher Lloyd in the ads.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Sile

[Mmmfloorpie]

On 5/3/2018 at 4:48 PM, bigskygirl said:

I would have love to see Jackie working at a desk job until her back was healed well enough for her to go back to patrol, and Roseanne getting a secretary job with the police department. Heck Dan could have gotten a job as a correction officer too. I started hating the original show when Jackie left the force, Roseanne got the waitress job, Dan brought the bike shop, and Becky started dating Mark.

I don't think they really want to deal with the "work lives" of the characters in the revival. Roseanne does uber because it's sporadic. If they need a scene where she's working, they can do it. If they need an entire episode where she's not working, they can do it. Same with Jackie as a life coach. Her professional life is off camera as it's not a 9-5 job.

We still don't really know for sure what Dan does but in this ep he says he was fixing up a neighbour's house. Again, something he can/can't be doing if the script requires it.

Darlene is unemployed.

The only workplace we see is Becky's and it's so cliche and tacky and stupid. Does it have to be a Mexican restaurant? Somehow that's innately funny? Just a regular restaurant or diner isn't funny enough? I think Rodbell's and the Lunchbox were funny enough without the gimmick.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Mmmfloorpie

[Colorado David]

Darlene is unemployed AND telling her dad how it's ok for her son to not do what his boss wishes - yeah that's the younger set now, entitled and my way is right and dammit I get to work for you and do it my way because otherwise I'll scream discrimination. oh and i teach so get to strike for the good of your kids.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Colorado David

[FairyDusted]

On 5/1/2018 at 8:50 PM, SparklesBitch said:

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 resonated with me because my Father and his wife actually live with us now. We are not newbies to the concept as my husband and me we also raised in multigenerational homes. 

I totally always got Jackie Vs Bev, especially in the old episode about Bev taking such good care of Andy and not child Jackie. Still makes me cry when I see it. My own Mother is pissed as hell that THEY are here and not her and her husband. I told her to hit up one of golden boys. Sorry back to topic.....

I was glad Jackie took her in and maybe this time will make Jackie at least get some love she never thought she would ever get in her life.

Still enjoying the show.  

Edited May 6, 2018 by FairyDusted
Words for no reason

[femmefan1946]

required all the person's assets be turned over to them, including any Social Security or pension(s) payments.

Surely that would only be while Bev lived in the facility? Of course, correcting the paperwork would take some time, but it could mean that Bev would get a back payment of a few months from the Home when it was corrected.

Is Social Security what you guys call Old Age Pension?

What would be the situation for a man of 65, who had been working since high school (and earlier). Do Americans in that situation get a monthly cheque? Would Dan be the kind of guy who would refuse Social Security (and Medicaid- I don't understand the prescription thing in the first episode either) as welfare?

[Rap541]

Social Security is somewhat comparable to Old Age Pension. The problem is that it was never intended to fully cover one's retirement and... it doesn't. 

Yes, if the retirement home was no longer allowing Bev to stay there, they would have to stop taking her SSN checks. Even though Bev didn't work, her husband did. 

If Dan is 65 he is eligible for SSN. It's just not necessarily a lot. He's also possibly waiting to file for it because he can still work and one's SSN benefits are higher if you delay filing for them. If for example, you know the family tends to drop dead at 70-75, there's little advantage in waiting but if your parents lived to their 90s, you are better off waiting on filing. A man of Dan's education and socio-economic level would rarely refuse to file for SSN once eligible - all paychecks are taxed for Social Security. A lot of people of the Connor family background see the SSN taxes they pay as going into a special account for them, its "just their money saved" and "it belongs to me". (This isn't true, btw, the money that comes in from SSN taxes goes out almost immediately to people receiving SSN checks, but it's a common belief)

Dan isn't the sort of guy to refuse the money he paid into the system and neither is Roseanne. 

Now Medicare/Medicaid (I know its one or the other) are also rarely turned down but they don't cover everything and prescription medicine is a particular bitch point. Before my father passed, my mom was complaining about a prescription his doctor was giving him that was going to help his lung problem but was really expensive and Medicaid didn't cover it. I asked how much it was, thinking that I work a reasonable, middle class job and could help out my parents....

It cost 5000.00 US dollars a month. I make a good income and that prescription WAS my yearly income in cost.  (In case you're wondering, my dad got on a special program to subsidize the medication and then went into hospice two months later so the medication costs were not a huge factor)

[FairyDusted]

@Rap541 SHIT! 50000.00 AMERICAN DOLLARS A MONTH?! That's awful. Criminal IMO!

[Rap541]

One of the few amusing aspects to Dad dying was the lawyer telling us "The medical bills were in his name so just put them in a box because you never agreed to pay them".

Yes, it was obscene. It's one of the reasons I didn't find the pill scene in the first episode funny at all. I'm coming to the conclusion this revival is showcasing the dystopia that is the remains of the American lower middle class. 

[BookThief]

32 minutes ago, Rap541 said:

It cost 5000.00 US dollars a month. I make a good income and that prescription WAS my yearly income in cost.  (In case you're wondering, my dad got on a special program to subsidize the medication and then went into hospice two months later so the medication costs were not a huge factor)

Do you by chance remember the name of that special program?! My mom's drugs (for pulmonary hypertension) cost her, AFTER INSURANCE, $9000 dollars. A month. She "makes too much" for most of the assistance programs. She is retired. She's not on Medicare yet, but may switch because they will cover 80%. The catch? They have a cap and $9000/month is going to add up fast. Then add in a hospital stay or two or doctor care and she'd be back to paying God knows how much again. I don't think she's switched yet--I think she's still hoping there is a assistance program out there that can actually help but so far no. Oddly, this may be one of the cases where if this was the Conners, they may actually be in better shape regarding prescriptions since their income is less (my parents aren't rich, but definitely middle class.)

I have a feeling Dan and Roseanne would have applied for social security as early as possible, even if it meant they didn't get the full benefits (or maybe Dan did and they are waiting for Roseanne so she could get full benefits--hers would likely be higher through the Lunch Box I assume. Getting old isn't for sissies.

Edited May 6, 2018 by BookThief

[Rap541]

I don't but I will ask my mom for you. To be honest, my parents probably fell into the "not making enough" category.  They also were on Medicare. There's  a whole lot of fuckery in the system. At one point, my dad, who had some dementia and depression, was asked by a doctor while my mom wasn't in the room if he would consider a nursing home. He said yes, and apparently my mom and a neighbor and a social worker had to make the point that if he can't be trusted to drive or take his medication, why was his casual yes to a doctor suddenly holy writ? 

I think they were trying to get him to say yes to fill a bed in a nursing home with someone who had a house that could be liquidated. I'm increasingly convinced that a lot of his rapid decline was due to his stress over where the money was coming from for his care and whether or not he could afford to be alive anymore.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Rap541

[mythoughtis]

There are different types of medicate health plans. You have to be 65 or have a major major health issue. A (free) covers hospitals, B covers doctors. B comes out of your monthly Social Security check  once you claim it, otherwise you pay the government if you aren’t getting a check yet.  There are plans you can get for prescriptions - that’s offered by private insurers. D, F, J are those letters.  Different levels of coverage,  it’s very confusing. Some people have other insurance thru their old employer to pay for what Medicare won’t. 

Dan and Roseanne are probably being portrayed as people who aren’t actually 65 yet, and don’t have good insurance. They probably have the lowest level of Obamacare- which covers about 60% of the cost. Becky is 43- so I would say they are between 62- 64. They might be getting Social Security but wouldn’t be eligible for Medicare yet. 

 

ETA/ checked wiki - they are supppsedly over 65. So maybe they are on the donut hole. You hit some magic threshold of prescription cost and then you have  pay a lot yourself until you hit some other magic number. Google it in that case - they probably didn’t buy additional coverage. 

Edited May 6, 2018 by mythoughtis

[peacheslatour]

Quote

If Dan is 65 he is eligible for SSN. It's just not necessarily a lot. He's also possibly waiting to file for it because he can still work and one's SSN benefits are higher if you delay filing for them.

I wonder if Dan even paid into FICA when he was self employed. There is another reason he was a fool to quit his city job. His SS payments would be a lot higher now and he could possibly have had a 401K and a pension.

[tessaray]

Please take the personal Social Security and retirement home discussions to either Small Talk or the Kitchen Table/Social Issues topics. 

Thanks!

[cheewhiz]

On 5/3/2018 at 12:09 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Roseanne as Uber driver..priceless :)

and her "fare" was Ethan Coen! It was nice to see him, 

[Ottis]

On 5/1/2018 at 6:45 PM, chocolatine said:

I loved Dan and little Mark together, and I think Dan taught Mark a valuable lesson that when you're working for someone, you have to do the work to their specifications. Darlene shouldn't have challenged Dan, but instead told Mark that he could be creative on his own time/dime.

This subplot ignited a debate at our house. Some people thought what Dan did was perfectly fine and that Darlene's reaction is creating a monster w/Mark.  Others thought Dan was too harsh, and should have been more aware of Mark's perspective and more supportive, as Darlene said. I knew this would be a debate in these threads.

While I am enjoying this reboot, I have issues with how this show misses middle ground. Dan doesn't have to be so blunt and unaware that he is talking to a kid, much less one with possible gender identity questions. Bev doesn't have to be a complete tool 5 seconds after moving in, after being kicked out of the home.  Becky doesn't have to be a tool 100 percent of the time. Roseanne doesn't have to live her entire life, at home and apparently at work, by only her own rules, with no respect for what anyone else values.

I don't think every ep should end with a make up hug. I just don't know who acts this ungrateful and unaware all the time. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

She got money after the divorce from the sale of their old house more than 20 years ago, and she never worked a day in her life before the Lunchbox.  It's not hard to believe she's outlived her retirement.

I get that, but this episode made it sound like she got kicked out of her retirement community because she ran out of money. But in the last episode, she said she got kicked out because she gave a couple of guys an STD. There was no mention of her being out of money. That's something new invented for this episode. It just speaks to the lack of continuity a lot of us have complained about.

[Pallas]

6 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

But in the last episode, she said she got kicked out because she gave a couple of guys an STD. There was no mention of her being out of money. That's something new invented for this episode. It just speaks to the lack of continuity a lot of us have complained about.

Or Bev lied at first -- to ease the shock to her daughters -- and this is how we realize she lied. By the end of her first episode she had already backed up over her statement that the nursing home would allow her back. And if she did have funds left, would she have needed to live with either Roseanne or Jackie?

[chocolatine]

Didn't Bev buy into the retirement community? I seem to remember from the OG show that Roseanne wasn't happy that the ownership of Bev's condo would revert to the community when she dies, even if it's only a few years after she bought it.

[peacheslatour]

Yes, Roseanne says "This is the last place she will ever live, Jackie. That'd be where we'd go to get her stuff after she died."

[Zoe]

2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Didn't Bev buy into the retirement community? I seem to remember from the OG show that Roseanne wasn't happy that the ownership of Bev's condo would revert to the community when she dies, even if it's only a few years after she bought it.

These kinds of places are always going to have ongoing maintenance fees that can make you lose everything if you don't keep up with them.

[CelticBlackCat]

5 hours ago, Pallas said:

Or Bev lied at first -- to ease the shock to her daughters -- and this is how we realize she lied. By the end of her first episode she had already backed up over her statement that the nursing home would allow her back. And if she did have funds left, would she have needed to live with either Roseanne or Jackie?

Oh goodie!  This way I can fanwank that Bev did not contract Gonorrhea and pass it on.