AlthoughRoseanne’s saddest episode was also one of the show’s finest hours, the series ruined this iconic outing with the revival’s lowest moment.The large cast ofThe Connersmeant the show often struggled to replicate the emotional intensity ofRoseanne’s original run. Even though the series dealt with many heavy topics,The Connersoften missedRoseanne’s sharper focus.
Throughout its seven seasons,The Connerstouched on unemployment, poverty, miscarriage, mass shootings, addiction, deportation, alcoholism, parental abuse, generational trauma, and a whole host of other issues.EvenThe Connersseries finalecentered on Dan’s testimony to the pharmaceutical company that sold the painkillers that caused his wife Roseanne’s fatal overdose.
As such, it might seem strange to claim thatRoseannewas the heavier of the two shows. However, sinceThe Connersnever really replaced Roseanne, the show had no individual protagonist to anchor all these plots. The series touched on plenty of intense topics, but didn’t have an emotional core.
This was best exemplified in the comparison between one classic episode ofRoseanne, widely considered a masterpiece of sitcom writing, and a later outing from the show’s 2017 revival. Even though the second episode came before Roseanne’s off-screen death, the outing still highlights what went wrong with the show’s writing style as a whole.
Roseanne Season 6 Episode 11 “The Driver’s Seat” Addressed Corporal Punishment
Roseanne Regretted Beating DJ And Opened Up About Her Childhood
As noted by YouTube creatorJose,Roseanne’s original run included a subplot about corporal punishment in season 6, episode 11, “The Driver’s Seat.” In this outing, DJ took Roseanne’s car for a joyride, and Roseanne beat him upon learning of this. Overcome with rage, Roseanne resorted to corporal punishment without thinking, thus setting up arguably the show’s strongest scene.
Roseanne tearfully apologized to her son DJ after hitting him, admitting that her abusive father had a negative influence on her flawed parenting. This was addressed again much later in the series, long after Roseanne’s death. InThe Connersseason 6, Bev’s faltering memory led her to tell Jackie that she often shielded her daughters from their father’s violent outbursts.
The episode was moving, daring, and still appropriately funny and bittersweet for a sitcom.
Thus, “The Driver’s Seat” depicted corporal punishment not as a parental choice, but as a mechanism of familial abuse comparable to wife-beating. The episode was moving, daring, and still appropriately funny and bittersweet for a sitcom. WhileThe Connershad some great stories, the original show’s run had a masterfully skilled balance of humor and real-life societal issues.
Much like the famous storyline wherein Jackie became a victim of domestic violence, this episode walked a tonal tightrope. It would have been easy for the show to dismiss Roseanne’s actions or focus entirely on her guilt and not on DJ’s experience, but this would have only contributed to the same toxic cycle she witnessed with her father.
“The Driver’s Seat” Proved Roseanne Could Take Barr’s Heroine Seriously
Roseanne Was Often A Sardonic Wisecracking Presence In the Sitcom
The reason that “The Driver’s Seat” works is that the episode takes Roseanne’s character seriously. Despite her flaws, the show’s title character is a working-class mother who is trying her best to provide her children with a better future than the one she received. Oftentimes, Roseanne was reduced to a punchline delivery system, and Barr’s performance was always funny but regrettable glib.
However, in “The Driver’s Seat,” the show’s star proved she could take her character seriously when it was necessary.Roseanne’s heartbreak over her treatment of DJ is central to “The Driver’s Seat,”as no one blames her for her conduct with her child, so she alone has to hold herself responsible for her actions.
Roseanne’s own horror at her treatment of her son is something that reflects her father’s treatment of her, so it is appropriate that she apologizes to DJ alone.
WhileJohn Goodman’sRoseannecharacter Danwas always a more stoic presence, he isn’t a major player in this episode, and the story is stronger for it. Roseanne’s own horror at her treatment of her son is something that reflects her father’s treatment of her, so it is appropriate that she apologizes to DJ alone.
Sadly, Roseanne didn’t always treat its title character like a complex, multi-faceted human being. On the contrary, the infamousRoseanneseason 9 was a wacky, cartoonish affair that saw her save then-First Lady Hillary Clinton from terrorists on a train before another episode dropped her into a Satanic cult whose members included the stars of Absolutely Fabulous.
Ames McNamara
Mark Conner-Healy
While season 9 was hated for its absurd tone, the show’s lowest moment was yet to come. WhenRoseannewas revived in 2017, Barr’s character boasted a whole new attitude, and her treatment of her granddaughter managed to undo all the good of “The Driver’s Seat” with a few tasteless jokes.
Roseanne Season 10 Undermined “The Driver’s Seat” With Harris’s Story
Roseanne Accused Darlene of Being Too Soft On Her Daughter
WhileThe Connersincluded many callbacks toRoseanne, the show’s 2017 revival forgot some of the most important details of its main character’s backstory. Namely, Roseanne’s treatment of Darlene’s daughter Harris proved that her aversion to corporal punishment was evidently only skin deep, despite her impassioned apology to DJ.
Roseanne’s season 10 revival introduced Darlene’s daughter Harris as a spoiled, entitled brat, a one-note character whose plots revolved around her ungrateful attitude. Harris’s personality hinged on her personifying the worst stereotypes about Gen Z, even though Harris’s mother was the bitter, sardonic Darlene, who was one ofRoseanne’s most uncompromising characters.
Although she was tough as nails in every other facet of life, Darlene was seemingly incapable of reining in Harris.
Everything about Darlene’s character in the original show implied that she would be a strict but understanding parent, so it was an unwelcome shock when she turned out to be a passive, permissive pushover in the revival. Although she was tough as nails in every other facet of life, Darlene was seemingly incapable of reining in Harris.
Meanwhile, Harris was incredibly annoying, meaning the show almost seemed eager to find an excuse to justify Roseanne mistreating her. This culminated in a comedic scene of Roseanne gleefully dunking her granddaughter’s head in a sink full of dirty dishes in season 10, episode 3, “Roseanne Gets the Chair,” to the studio audience’s delight.
The Connersis available to stream on Hulu.
This sequence pretty fundamentally undermined “The Driver’s Seat,” to the extent that a cynical viewer might even think the entire character of Harris was designed to give viewers an excuse to enjoy watching comedic depictions of her mistreatment. AlthoughHarris’sThe Connersstorylinesimproved her plot somewhat, the show’s version of Roseanne never recovered.
It was hard not to see Roseanne as a hypocrite after the same character who cried over hitting her son wrestled with her granddaughter to the delight of a braying studio audience. Thus,Roseanne’s revival proved that even one of the original show’s best episodes wasn’t safe from being ruined by its disappointing follow-up.
Jose viaYoutube
