When Roseanne Jumped the Shark

I think the show was strong and funny in its first two seasons, but really hit its stride in seasons 3-5.

Season 6 was the start of the downturn, for me. That was when everyone got meaner and stupider. There was still some good writing, but the backstage shenanigans really took a toll on the show. They should have ended after six seasons.

I think it was great through Season 7. Season 8 is when they starting doing too many homages special episodes. And the revolving door of Beckys in Season 8 didn't help matters. I can't even get into Season 9. It pains me to even think about it!

Interesting, I am also 38, how about that. But I didnt watch the show when it was on. I got into it when I saw it in syndication and I definetly like the early seasons a lot better than the later ones. I didn't necessarily mind the "two Beckys" thing but I felt that the show kept adding new characters for no real good reason and like many have said, Roseanne the character (as well as most everyone else) got a lot meaner and nastier as the series went on and the plots got more ridiculous and unrealistic as well. Probably because Roseanne the actress and executive producer had starting losing her mind in a major way, and it reflected on the show big time. She became a cruel, vindictive, man-hating bitch. Both her character and her real-life selves. She started referring to the writers and crew members by numbers and not their names. And she had absolutely no filter, what was in her heart was on her tongue, just like the late Marge Schott (and we all know what she was like). And that utter and absolute abomination of a last season that ended up all just being "a dream"? And that retcon they basically pulled out of thin air that Dan really had died and that they never really won the lottery and that it was all made up by Rosie as a way for her to cope with Dan's death? I know why they did that. It was damage control, plain and simple. Roseanne and the show's producers finally realised that they had screwed up by having the show stray completely away from it's original premise of a working-class family struggling to get by and at the end they were basically just throwing story and episode ideas at the wall to see which ones would stick. And as a magazine article in 1998 said about Seinfeld: "This is no Roseanne, limping away as a shell of it's former self". And they were right, because that's exactly what happened. As for when the show itself jumped the shark, I think that in this case it is irrelevant. I just watch the parts of it that I do like and I avoid the parts I dont like. Simple as that, really. That's just how I feel. One other thing. The RL Roseanne made that whole "my father sexually abused me and my mother did nothing about it" thing up, you know. She claimed just that back in 1991, and 20 years later she took it all back and said that she had made it all up and that it was all because of her "drug-fueled freakouts". Wow. Like her or not, it's safe to say that Roseanne is truly in a class all of her own. I guess that's pretty much it!

I agree with others that the show really tanked in Season 9.

But there were some seriously big red flags before that, such as when Darlene stopped being witty & cruel and just became cruel. Roseanne also started letting her get away with being this way.
DJ became a seriously crude doofus, unfunny & annoying.

Even Roseanne herself stopped being humorous & just became nasty.

One of the toppers was when Roseanne declared 'war' on every male on the show.
Every single male, from her dad to her neighbor, had to become a bastard in her eyes.
Dan began making comments that he never would have made, like telling Roseanne (out of nowhere!) that he wouldn't even have married her if not drunk on tequila!
His cheating was ridiculous, Dan would never have done that. If they'd showed him just kissing a neighbor or other woman, I might buy that and it could have worked storywise.

But Roseanne ruined her entire show for no discernible reason, and every person there evidently let her do it.



I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

For me, it was the first episode where Roseanne became weird-looking with the smudgy tan, smart and mean, i.e., the one where she learned Becky eloped. It was just all downhill on a slippery slope from there. The other death knell was when Jackie became a doofus, rather than just a 30-something who didn't always make the best choices, shortly after that.

when the show started getting all preachy with the liberal, man-hating stuff.

The first four seasons are the best. They stay true to the original outline of the show. A working class family trying to get by. All of the characters are at their best in the first four seasons. The cast has great chemistry and feel like a real family.

Season five is when things start to change. Becky leaves, they open up the restaurant, Nancy starts to take over Crystal's role as Roseanne's best friend. Once they open up the restaurant the whole blue collar family struggling financially pretty much goes out the window. Even the tone and humor changes and gets a bit darker and more biting. There is no longer this kind of cozy feel to the show. This season is still pretty good and I would probably consider it the last really good season.

Then season 6 happens and Roseanne's character takes a turn for the worst. She goes from the snarky, but loveable mama bear to this raging, man-hating bitch on wheels who is constantly screaming and ranting and raving at everyone. Similarly Darlene becomes more and more obnoxious and nasty. And they recast Becky and pretty much completely change her character. And the show becomes so preachy. And Jackie goes more and more off the rails. Season 7 is just kind of there.

Season 8 is when the show officially jumps the shark imo. All the characters are parodies of their former selves. All the jokes about Becky being played by a different actress every other episode. All the themed and extra special episodes. And the less said about season 9 the better.

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