Graduatin' Pics!

[Coconut Flan]

They've been having "church" in the warehouse lately so maybe the pews are usually there.

The Duggars get no tax benefit from having religious gatherings in their home. Isn't that one ready to die yet?

[0KidsAndHappy]

Unfortunately, I think Roseanne went a little crazy in her later years. I heard a couple years ago that she said she doesn't like her old show and doesn't think it was funny or something similar.

It was something about writers changing at a certain point and she didn't like where it went with the lottery storyline and everything after that. She hated it from that point on (as did I and everyone else I know). That's the only reason the series ended the way it did. (Spoiler for anyone that may not have seen it and actually want to in the future.)

She said what they had done was so horrible, there was nothing better to do than to make it all end without having it have happened at all.

I didn't like it then, but the times I've watched it since and the more I think about it, it was pretty much perfect. It was disappointing, but there was no way around that.

I never admired a television family as much as I did the Conner family. They were so similar to my own family and it was always easy to relate. I can't help but break down every time I see the finale because it's almost like seeing the chapter of my life where I was a child come to a close.

I'm just glad there are reruns.

[valsa]

It was something about writers changing at a certain point and she didn't like where it went with the lottery storyline and everything after that. She hated it from that point on (as did I and everyone else I know). That's the only reason the series ended the way it did. (Spoiler for anyone that may not have seen it and actually want to in the future.)

She said what they had done was so horrible, there was nothing better to do than to make it all end without having it have happened at all.

I didn't like it then, but the times I've watched it since and the more I think about it, it was pretty much perfect. It was disappointing, but there was no way around that.

I never admired a television family as much as I did the Conner family. They were so similar to my own family and it was always easy to relate. I can't help but break down every time I see the finale because it's almost like seeing the chapter of my life where I was a child come to a close.

I'm just glad there are reruns.

Hmm... that's weird because I pretty much heard the exact opposite. I heard that the last seasons were the ones where Roseanne had the most executive control over the storylines. I'm mostly inclined to believe it because a lot of the episodes have her particular flavor of craziness to them (iirc, wasn't there an episode in the last season where terrorists take over a train she's riding on and she proceeds to become "Roseambo" (ala Rambo) and kicks their asses? That's very much in line with her weird take on "I am woman, hear me roar") I definitely know the whole winning-the-lottery thing came from her, as a reflection of her real-life success (her show was originally based on her comedy act, which was inspired by her down-to-Earth, working-class real life family. It makes sense that her T.V. family would win the lottery after she had proverbially hit the jackpot in real life with her television fame)

I also tend to cry everytime I see the last episode. But the worst thing EVER was when Nick-at-Nite ran back-to-back episodes that ended up cycling around so that the first ever episodes of the series played right after the last one. The first episode includes a scene of Dan and Roseanne in the garage while he's working on his boat, talking about how they're going to sail it around when they retire and grow old together. Seeing that episode immediately after the episode where it's revealed that Dan is dead (and knowing that that same boat was set on fire and destroyed a few episodes before the finale) just... made my heart hurt so bad.

[donks]

My atheist friend has a pew on her front porch. I don't remember where she got it, but it's nice and sturdy.

I had 2! There was an old wood-frame church grown up in kudzu down the road from my house. I noticed people being there more often, men in trucks and then one day a bulldozer on a lowboy was sitting there. Kept an eye and caught a man there and made a deal for a couple of the pews, $20 each! They dozed the building a few days later.

Kept them both for a few years wound up painting them green, and then sold one for $50. Bingo!

[0KidsAndHappy]

I know there was something to do with her and Ab Fab, which is why Patty and Eddie ended up on the show at one point. The absurdity of the show had to do with all the infighting between her and the writers. I'm not 100% on who was responsible for what since there are so many sides to everything that has been written about it since.

The final episode was all her, though. She was tired of the writers and critics and went out in a way that left people talking.

I think the thing that tied me most to the show was the Halloween episodes. They were always so perfect. It's always been my favorite holiday and I used to get so excited to see a show with a family that loved it as much as my own.

Roseanne and Dan are going to be together again, too! She has a new show she is working on where she is the owner of a trailer park and John Goodman is the maintenance guy. All I hope for is Sharon Stone to make a guest appearance.

[Koala]

I think the thing that tied me most to the show was the Halloween episodes. They were always so perfect. It's always been my favorite holiday and I used to get so excited to see a show with a family that loved it as much as my own.

The Halloween episodes were the best! I still watch them every Halloween.

I cried when I watched the last episode. So sad to realize Dan had been gone all along. I really hated the episodes that had him having an affair and them winning the lottery.

[valsa]

Roseanne and Dan are going to be together again, too!

My heart wants this so bad. Too bad it'll probably be cancelled.

I loved the Halloween episodes too! This thread is making me want to find out when the next Nick-at-Nite Roseanne marathon is going to be.

[0KidsAndHappy]

Even when it isn't a marathon, I think it is on at least four times a day. I went through a phase where I ended up watching about six episodes a day when it was playing on a few different stations. I regret nothing...

[Koala]

My heart wants this so bad. Too bad it'll probably be cancelled.

I loved the Halloween episodes too! This thread is making me want to find out when the next Nick-at-Nite Roseanne marathon is going to be.

I want to get the box sets

[donks]

If you get OXygen Channel they do a marathon once a week. Can't remember which day, but I always flip around and manage to find it!

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh ya, Oxygen plays Roseanne in the mornings every week day. Where I live it starts in the morning ( I want to say 9am) and usually ends around 1pm so I will watch multiple episodes. Loved the early episodes when the kids were younger, the later years not so much.

[FaeT]

The show also ended because everyone was going in other directions. John Goodman was hardly in the last season because he was filming The Flintstones. And the girls were in college in real life, hence Becky's "replacement" and Darlene's college being filmed in on a stage in NY.

But I do remember hearing about the infighting. Tom Arnold was on the show bc they got married in real life. He was always just a stupid character. He also played different character, if you remember. He was Eddie, the stupid friend, but he was also some guy with a TV show in California. When they went out to LA and couldn't get tickets to the price is right, they went to his show instead. I think that may have been his first appearance. (The conners tagged along with the neighbours, the single dad with the older daughter who reminds me a J'slave and the younger daughter who was Darlene's age but manipulated her father.) I think I remember hearing that Roseanne and John just weren't getting along either.

In the first episode, isn't DJ played by a different kid? I seem to remember that.

Quick note: I love how a thread about the Duggars' pictures of the so called graduation has become a thread about the Conners. And how much more invested we are in them and how much more loved they are than the Duggars. Fucking awesome.

[E Street Fan]

In the first episode, isn't DJ played by a different kid?

Yep. I don't remember his name, but he reminded me of Eddie Munster. It's a good thing they got a new DJ--the other kid didn't click.

What strikes me about Roseanne is how relevant much of it still is, especially the Conner family's financial problems. Or the fact that none of the Conners really looked like TV characters; they looked like real people.

[emmiedahl]

DJ was played by a different kid in the pilot, I don't know when he was replaced by it was very early on.

I liked Roseanne until the last season or two. They had normal shitty furniture, parents who were struggling and sometimes did the wrong thing, kids who were not well behaved. It was refreshing to see a normal family, especially in the same era as Full House (far fetched situation, material wealth far beyond what those jobs should have brought in, strikingly photogenic children who were ill-behaved only in photogenic, easily resolved situations, etc). The Conners were normal people who stressed out about needing to take an afternoon off work to talk to a kid's teacher. It is a bit low-brow, but I sympathized and identified with them.

[Koala]

DJ was played by a different kid in the pilot, I don't know when he was replaced by it was very early on.

I liked Roseanne until the last season or two. They had normal shitty furniture, parents who were struggling and sometimes did the wrong thing, kids who were not well behaved. It was refreshing to see a normal family, especially in the same era as Full House (far fetched situation, material wealth far beyond what those jobs should have brought in, strikingly photogenic children who were ill-behaved only in photogenic, easily resolved situations, etc). The Conners were normal people who stressed out about needing to take an afternoon off work to talk to a kid's teacher. It is a bit low-brow, but I sympathized and identified with them.

Absolutely!

On a side note, I always loved their last theme song:

Another side note: Has anyone ever watched the movie Red State? John Goodman played in that as well. I watched it with my husband last weekend.

[Koala]

Quick note: I love how a thread about the Duggars' pictures of the so called graduation has become a thread about the Conners. And how much more invested we are in them and how much more loved they are than the Duggars. Fucking awesome.

Me too. :lol:

[FaeT]

I was going to comment on the Full House dichotomy. When I was younger I always found it funny that they both had a DJ.

But yes, the show is still relevant today - over twenty years later. We still have issues with families having two and three mortgages. We still deal with drugs and teen sex and parent teacher conferences. We still deal with racism. Roseanne was one of the few shows that really delved into racism. Dan asked his black friend about something and his friend was slightly offended "What so if I say it's okay then all black people say it's okay? I speak for all black people? Why is Eddie here? Does DJ have to kiss a stupid girl, too?" Find me a show today that actually gets into racism like that? (I don't have cable so there may actually be one out there.)

Then you have shows like Full House where there's always a lesson. :roll: I think that's what detracted me from the last season of Roseanne. They started doing the lesson thing, especially after Darlene had the baby. Full House was bland. And there's no way all those people would have fit in that house. No way. And why would they want to?! Jesse gets married and has kids but still decides to live there. There's no reason a grown man needs his best friends and his brother in law to move in and help him raise his daughters. No need. They rarely touched on the drunk driving, never discussed much of anything in the ways of sex and drugs. Never had money problems. Never had racism problems. Nothing. The kids did well in school. The teachers over stepped their bounds and no one cared. (Damn sure Roseanne would have put them in their place)

Hands down, when it comes to a realistic tv family, the Conners are it.

ETA: My daughter loved when the theme song came on! She would jump and dance and was so excited. I should play it again and see if she remembers it. It's been a while since we had cable.

[FaeT]

Absolutely!

On a side note, I always loved their last theme song:

Another side note: Has anyone ever watched the movie Red State? John Goodman played in that as well. I watched it with my husband last weekend.

That reminds me!! The original Becky wanted to cut her hair but the producers/directors/writes/whomever said no. So one day Roseanne just come up to her with scissors and chopped it all off.

[lilwriter85]

Yep. I don't remember his name, but he reminded me of Eddie Munster. It's a good thing they got a new DJ--the other kid didn't click.

What strikes me about Roseanne is how relevant much of it still is, especially the Conner family's financial problems. Or the fact that none of the Conners really looked like TV characters; they looked like real people.

One rumor that has circulated for years is that the original D.J. fought with Sara Gilbert and that lead to replacing him with Michael Fishman.

[Gil]

One rumor that has circulated for years is that the original D.J. fought with Sara Gilbert and that lead to replacing him with Michael Fishman.

That's what I've heard -- and that after a writer's strike, the original DJ had grown a lot. iirc it was a pretty amicable departure.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I was too old for Full House when it first aired, but it's a nice, squeaky clean show for little kids. If I'm looking after a 6-year-old and I need to plop her in front of the TV while I fix lunch, I'd rather have her watch Full House than those awful Disney Channel sitcoms.

I was going to comment on the Full House dichotomy. When I was younger I always found it funny that they both had a DJ.

But yes, the show is still relevant today - over twenty years later. We still have issues with families having two and three mortgages. We still deal with drugs and teen sex and parent teacher conferences. We still deal with racism. Roseanne was one of the few shows that really delved into racism. Dan asked his black friend about something and his friend was slightly offended "What so if I say it's okay then all black people say it's okay? I speak for all black people? Why is Eddie here? Does DJ have to kiss a stupid girl, too?" Find me a show today that actually gets into racism like that? (I don't have cable so there may actually be one out there.)

Then you have shows like Full House where there's always a lesson. :roll: I think that's what detracted me from the last season of Roseanne. They started doing the lesson thing, especially after Darlene had the baby. Full House was bland. And there's no way all those people would have fit in that house. No way. And why would they want to?! Jesse gets married and has kids but still decides to live there. There's no reason a grown man needs his best friends and his brother in law to move in and help him raise his daughters. No need. They rarely touched on the drunk driving, never discussed much of anything in the ways of sex and drugs. Never had money problems. Never had racism problems. Nothing. The kids did well in school. The teachers over stepped their bounds and no one cared. (Damn sure Roseanne would have put them in their place)

Hands down, when it comes to a realistic tv family, the Conners are it.

ETA: My daughter loved when the theme song came on! She would jump and dance and was so excited. I should play it again and see if she remembers it. It's been a while since we had cable.

[Guest Anonymous]

I never really watched Full House but I did catch part of an episode about a year ago. It was when Uncle Jesse's wife (can't remember her name) came home from the hospital after having twins and she just waltzed in the house with her cowboy boots on and a cute skirt/makeup and hair done and I thought to myself huh??? I don't know about you but I could barely walk around after giving birth to one kid let alone two. Too cheesy and unrealistic. Couldn't relate at all.

[FaeT]

I was too old for Full House when it first aired, but it's a nice, squeaky clean show for little kids. If I'm looking after a 6-year-old and I need to plop her in front of the TV while I fix lunch, I'd rather have her watch Full House than those awful Disney Channel sitcoms.

While I agree with you, I have to say that I'd rather my children make a mess by throwing all the papers from the table on the floor than watch the disney channel. There are very few shows I'm comfortable with my kids watching because of crap like that. Most of the shows on tv are crap or over sexualized and just aren't appropriate. I'm starting to sound like a fundie - yikes! - but we have DVDs. They aren't completely sheltered. I'm okay with classic disney movies and even spongebob. But right now we're really into Scooby Doo. And Spiderman.

I never really watched Full House but I did catch part of an episode about a year ago. It was when Uncle Jesse's wife (can't remember her name) came home from the hospital after having twins and she just waltzed in the house with her cowboy boots on and a cute skirt/makeup and hair done and I thought to myself huh??? I don't know about you but I could barely walk around after giving birth to one kid let alone two. Too cheesy and unrealistic. Couldn't relate at all.

Ironically enough, her name was Becky.

[FloraDoraDolly]

While I agree with you, I have to say that I'd rather my children make a mess by throwing all the papers from the table on the floor than watch the disney channel. There are very few shows I'm comfortable with my kids watching because of crap like that. Most of the shows on tv are crap or over sexualized and just aren't appropriate. I'm starting to sound like a fundie - yikes! - but we have DVDs. They aren't completely sheltered. I'm okay with classic disney movies and even spongebob. But right now we're really into Scooby Doo. And Spiderman.

The fundies aren't wrong about EVERYTHING. The oversexualization of female children in our mass culture is one area where they have very legitimate concerns. However, they draw the line in a different place compared to most of the rest of us. I don't like the way the teens on the Disney Channel dress and I don't want my 10-year-old niece to emulate them. The fundies would likely agree if they watched a few minutes of some of those shows. The difference is, they'd want the Disney girls to put on a frumper or a modest modern denim skirt while I'd be happy enough if they just changed into some jeans that weren't so tight and a regular T-shirt instead of a teeny weeny tank top. And why do all the female characters on those shows have to be teenagers? Shouldn't elementary aged kids be watching shows that feature characters their own age? Why the big push for little girls in the 3rd and 4th grades to grow up so fast?

[FaeT]

The fundies aren't wrong about EVERYTHING. The oversexualization of female children in our mass culture is one area where they have very legitimate concerns. However, they draw the line in a different place compared to most of the rest of us. I don't like the way the teens on the Disney Channel dress and I don't want my 10-year-old niece to emulate them. The fundies would likely agree if they watched a few minutes of some of those shows. The difference is, they'd want the Disney girls to put on a frumper or a modest modern denim skirt while I'd be happy enough if they just changed into some jeans that weren't so tight and a regular T-shirt instead of a teeny weeny tank top. And why do all the female characters on those shows have to be teenagers? Shouldn't elementary aged kids be watching shows that feature characters their own age? Why the big push for little girls in the 3rd and 4th grades to grow up so fast?

You bring up a very good point. Shows aimed at younger children should feature younger children. This culture of sex sex sex and insisting girls grow up faster than they should is disturbing. Years ago - before I had children - I remember walking around a Walmart and seeing this mary kate and ashley crap. (It was hideous, but so is everything they wear) It was in the 6x size clothing. And then, right there on the wall, were bras. "training" bras for fucking seven year olds!! What the hell?! Not okay.

My problem with most shows aimed at children, besides the over sexualization, is the attitude. These kids have this "I'm so awesome. I'm better than you" attitude. I don't want my daughter - or my son for that matter, but this shows are obviously aimed at girls - to emulate that. She gets enough attitude from her mother. :oops: There's also the violence factor. My parents had a grandparents day. They have cable at their house. My daughter was watching tv with my dad and they watched Kung Fu Panda. The next day I called my dad and told him they couldn't watch that anymore because she just tried to kung fu kick her brother in the stomach. That was the end of that show. It's amazing how they remember things! The other day she was asking for a "dream light". I thought she meant a night light and I was impressed at her creativity. Then I was at my parents house and a commercial for dream lites came on. She had asked me days after being at their house for this dream lite thing.

But yes, there is a problem with over sexualization of children. My parents watch a 7yo and I'm appalled at the things she watches, shows like Winx Club. It looks like anime porn. The "fairies" wear next to nothing and when they transform from human to fairie, they're completely naked with just a little sparkle cloud over their breasts and genitals that slowly goes away as some skimpy outfit appears. That's not something I want my daughter seeing. And that's not something a 7 year old should be seeing. If a woman wants to dress like that, that's her business. But not a child.