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Who did the worst job playing a "villain" on "Roseanne"?

posted 8 years ago by wrs6565
17 replies | jump to latest

There is almost always an old episode of this show playing in the break room where I work. I've had a chance to revisit some of my *least* favorite episodes, which were usually the most emotionally ugly of the bunch.
What I disliked about them (and still do) is that oftentimes, the show had to sort of stack the deck in order to make the Conner family look good by comparison, and that's where the show's short-lived "villain" characters often come in. I don't know how much the writing or the actors are to blame--but it's occurred to me that the performances often come out terrible:

1)Brian, the "17-year old" (but looking about 24, this being Hollywood) manager of the chicken joint. I hate almost everything about this episode, particularly the way it botches its conveyance of something that actually exists--bad or inconsiderate "bottom-line" thinking bosses--so it can build up to the "firing Roseanne in her own home" bit, the most unfair and villainous thing you could possibly imagine, and we can all root and cheer when the entire Conner family chips in to throw Brian out of the damned house. I can't even think of the actor's name--but he sucked completely. Wooden and awkward and seemed to be doing his first ever acting gig with a minimum of training.

2)Fisher, everyone's favorite beating victim. I'm sorry, I've never seen anything else Matt Roth was ever in, but did Laurie Metcalf get him this gig or something? He's AWFUL, especially when he's trying to get all "worked up" at the card game. "Hey, go to hell!" Similar to Brian, actually. Oh and his delivery of the lines "I hate myself for this" or whatever he says. Maybe they should have made HIM 17.

3)Barbara Healy, played by Sally Kirkland, a quite successful actress actually. Well, she couldn't play a white trash b*tch to save her life, raving and snarling cartoonishly, and we get another one of those scenes where someone mouths off to the Conners (she inexplicably calls Roseanne's daughters "whores"), the audience can go "ooooooh!" and then Roseanne can roll up her sleeves and get ready to fight. It's like there'd be no SHOW without this sort of thing!

4)The girl Danielle Harris played. Actually, I don't know that Harris played her wrong (and her early '90s "slutty girl" clothes are HILARIOUS) but one wonders if this show was written just so we could get the big screaming scene where Roseanne chews her out at the end and makes her do dishes. Yeah, it probably was. The idea of her being attracted to David is an even bigger laugh riot.

5)The big blonde Thor looking guy whom Dan fights with at the pool hall, punching him out at the end. What was this goon, a stuntman turned actor?

6)Danny Masterson's poorly written replacement-for-David boyfriend character, replete with the same frizzy 90s hair. I felt horrible for Masterson watching this, especially the stupid scene where he orders Roseanne out of his house and she laughs.

[–] wrs6565 8 years ago

Two more:

7)Becky's principal in the "Bird Is The Word" episode. Again, talk about stacking the deck, which they HAVE to do in order to make you think Becky doesn't deserve to be in trouble. I've always cracked up at Hollywood's failed attempts at villainous teacher/coach characters, like Jon Voight in "Varsity Blues."

8)Becky's boss whom Mark beats up. Not just a crappy actor ("are you going to hit me too?") but badly written too--yeah, sure he wouldn't just call the cops. Not to mention that I'd like to call the ever-loathsome Becky some awful things too, so I'm partially sympathetic to the guy!!

I also apologize for not identifying Eric Allen Kramer as the guy Dan beat up in "Dan's Birthday Bash," #5. His performance still sucked, but I will admit Kramer did some good work later in stuff like "American Wedding," "True Romance" and "Robin Hood: Men In Tights." Sorry Eric, uh, if you're uh reading this.

[–] alanjobe 8 years ago

Sally Kirkland for sure. Her performance was painful to watch.

[–] jname967 8 years ago

No offense, but I think you're being waaaay too critical lol.

The only one I can truly agree w/ you on is Brian... he was a bit underdeveloped, and seemed shoehorned in to the show—not to mention, unrealistic: how could a HIGH SCHOOL kid rise up in the ranks to that level, even in fast food, and still manage to be a full-time student?

The other "villains" weren't bad... I actually like Sally Kirkland's portrayal of white trash. I grew up with women like that, from observance—I mean.

[–] justinohearn 8 years ago

I agree Brian makes no sense really. He is in high school but is the manager of a fast food restaurant. And all the other employees at the restaurant, aside from Roseanne, seem to be high school students as well. One of the kids even says he has a test early in the morning but Brian tells him to open the restaurant up.

And I also agree about Sally Kirkland. I have seen many "white trash" women act very similar to her in real life.

"Notice how I ride side saddle, it proves I'm a lady of quality." Witch Hazel

[–] jname967 8 years ago

And all the other employees at the restaurant, aside from Roseanne, seem to be high school students as well. One of the kids even says he has a test early in the morning but Brian tells him to open the restaurant up.

I brought this up before too: how the heck could a high school kid "open up" the restaurant???! When does it open? 3 pm? LOL. I realize some businesses do open later in the day, but I doubt a fast food chicken place would be one of those.

[–] justinohearn 8 years ago

Haha I know really bizarre. I worked at McDonald's for a year in high school and I usually started work at 4 or 5 in the afternoon on the weekdays during the school year. And as I said there seemed to be no other adults working there aside from Roseanne. So how could a fast food restaurant be successfully run by a bunch of high school kids.

Just a weird episode overall.

"Notice how I ride side saddle, it proves I'm a lady of quality." Witch Hazel

[–] rebeccak-71980 8 years ago

I am another one that thinks the actress that played Davids mom was great. Loved her scenes.

Roseanne's Dad.

[–] banjo-peppers 8 years ago

That whole restaurant thing made absolutely no sense. Okay, I can maybe buy that a 17 year old made it to manager of this restaurant. But he has Roseanne work weekends even though she specifically requested not to, and has the high school kids... working weekdays? Nobody in the entire episode says "Hey Brian, wouldn't it make more sense to have the adult working at the store during the weekdays considering all the other employees have school, and you have the high school kids work weekends instead since they don't have school then?" Just a crazy illogical situation there.

I don't see what was so unrealistic about Mrs. Healy either. Like you, I've seen people act like that in real life. And the comment about her inexplicably calling Becky and Darlene whores...? The woman is clearly mean and probably kind of drunk, and she called Becky a whore because she eloped with Mark, and called Darlene a whore because she hates Becky for taking away her precious son.

[–] tambourine_man36 8 years ago

That whole restaurant thing made absolutely no sense. Okay, I can maybe buy that a 17 year old made it to manager of this restaurant. But he has Roseanne work weekends even though she specifically requested not to, and has the high school kids... working weekdays? Nobody in the entire episode says "Hey Brian, wouldn't it make more sense to have the adult working at the store during the weekdays considering all the other employees have school, and you have the high school kids work weekends instead since they don't have school then?" Just a crazy illogical situation there.

Hahahahaha! For some reason, I never actually thought about that. Yes, he indeed has it backwards. Probably deserved to get the boot.

[–] wrs6565 8 years ago

Brian is pretty unrealistic overall, and this is a show where damn near every criticism you could throw at it could be deflected by "...but that's how things actually ARE!"

[–] banjo-peppers 8 years ago

I disagree with you about pretty much everything. Except for Fisher. His angry self wasn't all that convincing. They did do a good buildup to him being kind of controlling, but his domestic violence self wasn't super convincing.

You've never seen any women in real life like Barbara Healy before? Unreasonably angry and insulting? Pretty realistic in my experience.

I don't know why you hate Jimmy so much, either. He's only in like two episodes, and the "stupid scene" you're referencing I'm certain was supposed to come off embarrassing for him. It's just like in a later episode when they're trying to toughen David up and get him to say "no" and he says "No~" really weakly and unconvincingly. Jimmy in that scene is trying to be firm but isn't great at it.

Also I can't help by laugh at "an old episode of this show". Makes it sound like there's new episodes.

[–] jname967 8 years ago

Right? People like Barbara Healey are sadly common—when someone is living under dire circumstances and can't handle it healthily, they often lash out at others. On a broader scale, this is one cause of bigotry: angry people look for a scapegoat for their frustrations (ahem, the nazi's).

I also don't think the portrayal of Jimmy was off. He didn't have that much screen time, but what we saw was a typical Gen-X college guy lol—without stepping into caricature territory. He was perfectly believable in my book.

[–] Brainlock2 8 years ago

1. Brian - what always bugged me was that he was supposed to be STORE manager at 17?? LOL go to any fast food place, and 16-18 year olds are restricted in what they are allowed to do by law. I was working fast food at this time and the manager took a shine to my 17yo classmate, trying to make her asst manager. Only when I found out she was one of the few n our class YOUNGER than me, did I protest. She never made it past "Supervisor" (notch below "Asst Manager" before she quit.
(btw, the manager was a woman, who didn't much care for men...despite her mustache. and husband. we got a few over on her, tho.)

2. Fisher aka Matt Roth was Laurie's real life bf/husband and the father of her child she had during the show. I hear he's mostly stage actor, but he has a credit list on here beyond the show.

3. seriously?

4. was she Molly? the trashy girl next door? meh. I wasn't sorry to see them come back from the California trip. oh wait.... LOL

5. Eric Allen Kramer. He actually DID play Thor in the "Hulk vs Thor" 90s TV movie. He's on some Nick family show now? My friend's grandkids were into it when I visited them right before the holidays.
(She had a crush on Mr Thunderman. I'm friends with him on FB, from a former hobby group before I knew who he was on Reno911. Sorry 'Renny, he's married with kids your age! LOL)

6. both Mastersons seem to have had their careers solely because of the Co$. I never cared for Hyde on 70s Show, and the other one was thankfully kept to a minimum on Malcolm, even despite all the gay subtext jokes at his expense.

You left off:
Leon - the obvious foil of Roseanne for a large portion of the show.
Farber - the s1 finale boss who she led a walk out against.

Roger - counting him because he left them in the lurch after conning them into some house flip scheme. (Sorry, my sexy liege, Darkness!)

Jerry's wife - I forget her name, but Roseanne said the character actress was essentially playing executive producer Marcy Carsey, and Marcy never realized she was being lampooned.

=-=
#HowardWasRight

[–] BiffGG 8 years ago

By the looks of this thread it seems people are drifting off from answering about the worst portrayal by an actor and instead talking about most hated character. I thought Fred Thompson who played Faber did a great job as a dickhead boss as I have had a few myself. I was in a job that was too grueling but otherwise a decent job and when I went to the interview for what was my next job something told me that boss would stab me in the back which he ultimately did. Jerry's wife. That actress I thought did a good job as a freezer queen. Does Leon count because fairly soon he became a "frenemy" in buying Bev's share of the Lunchbox? I did not care for Sally Kirkland (Mrs Healy) as her portrayal seemed a little Joan Crawford/ Mommy Dearest to me. The Chicken Hearts episode never made much sense to me for the reasons cited already but I thought the actor was decent as a turd privileged teen. I wish the poster would come back who thought having kids working any amount of hours on a school day was standard operating procedure here in the US. There is no way that the small group of teens could legally work the hours Brian was looking for in the US. Eric Allen Kramer cracked me up on Cheers when he was one of Norm's workers in the episode where Norm runs his painting business from the Cheer's barstool.

[–] tambourine_man36 8 years ago

Danielle Harris' Molly wasn't really a villain in my eyes. I actually really liked Molly and the dynamic she added to the show, always getting under Darlene's skin. I'm not exactly sure how you arrived at your conclusion that the entire character was written simply for Rosanne to blow up at her the one time.

Gotta agree with everyone else about Barbara Healy. She wasn't really "white trash". Just a woman with a lot of mental issues. I thought Sally nailed it. In fact, she kind of scared me! That's a time Roseanne called someone out who would have kicked the crap out of her due to sheer insanity.

Also, what do you mean when you say Fisher was "everyone's favorite beating victim"?

As far as badly acted villains go, I thought Sharon Stone gave a completely embarrassing performance when she played Bekcy's bitchy trailer neighbor.

Oh, and as much as I hate to say it right now, but Debbie Reynold's portrayol of Dan's mom. So bad. On all counts.

[–] wrs6565 8 years ago

>Danielle Harris' Molly wasn't really a villain in my eyes. I actually really liked Molly and the dynamic she added to the show, always getting under Darlene's >skin. I'm not exactly sure how you arrived at your conclusion that the entire >character was written simply for Rosanne to blow up at her the one time.

Maybe not written for *simply* that reason--obviously, there is also the matter of putting Darlene up against a really trashy, slutty girl--but Roseanne telling Molly off is obviously meant as a big anthemic CLAP NOW moment. YOU TELL HER, ROSEANNE!!!!

>Gotta agree with everyone else about Barbara Healy. She wasn't really "white trash". Just a woman with a lot of mental issues. I thought Sally nailed it. In fact, she kind of scared me! That's a time Roseanne called someone out who would >have kicked the crap out of her due to sheer insanity.

I hated her line readings, basically. Everyone who says there really are women like Barbara Healy are completely correct.

>Also, what do you mean when you say Fisher was "everyone's favorite beating victim"?

Every character on the show, even Jackie to an extent, was glad that Dan pounded Fisher. Darlene's proud, Roseanne goaded him into doing it, Dan himself is probably barely sorry, all of Dan's friends think he's a badass. The audience eats it up too, you can hear them clap when Dan picks up his jacket. All the viewer comments for the Youtube clip are the same way. Go get 'im, Dan! Kick his ass!!

That's one of the most beloved episodes of the show and the bit where Dan is trying to give an anti-violence screed to DJ in part 2 of it, strikes me as almost completely heinous and false. I'm sorry, even if Dan wouldn't want his son to grow up to become violent--which is as completely realistic as Dan going to beat Fisher up--it's BS for the show to throw it in there as some sort of disclaimer against vigilante violence when we all know that everyone present is in favor of it.

>As far as badly acted villains go, I thought Sharon Stone gave a completely embarrassing performance when she played Bekcy's bitchy trailer neighbor.

I....don't even remember that episode. Was that a season 9 thing? I haven't seen all of this show, so...

>Oh, and as much as I hate to say it right now, but Debbie Reynold's portrayol of Dan's mom. So bad. On all counts.

Speak of the dead.

I read Danny Masterson's defense of $cientology. What an embarrassing load of crap. He must be really dumb IRL.

[–] rpressley 8 years ago

Jackie and fisher were married in real life