Does anyone else find this scene to be incredibly sad? Not only are Roseanne and Bonnie out of a job, but the closing of the restaurant marks what appears to be the end of their friendship. The way the scene ends too - the way the camera slowly pans across the room as the somber music plays - makes you realize how much leaving a job, particularly a job you liked, can feel like a death.
shareIt was probably more effective because the series had not yet resorted to improbable outcomes to solve the Conner's problems such as winning the lottery or Dan getting the city job.
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To start out at the top was improbable. And while Dan knew people we never saw him associate himself with a person of power in Lanford. On top of that he would have to take the civil service test for that position plus grade out at the top or second best. Further, people can be vindictive turds so plenty of guys at the garage would dog it to make Dan look bad. Mark being there would be another strike yet. Now if we were talking about an elected position then it would have been much more believable such as running for highway supervisor and this what the show should have done. Lastly, Dan working on a belt sander or his 20 year old truck is far from being qualified to make assessments on payloaders and backhoes.
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Dan ran an auto shop. He knew how to fix engines. That was well established throughout the series. As far as I know though, he never had any certifications. He was a hobbyist and failed entreprenuer.
I agree you don't necessarily have to take a civil service test to work for the city (you don't where I live, at least not for all of them), but claiming his being unqualified is irrelevant doesn't make much sense. You've always had to be qualified for a job, especially technical ones. Plus, you cite social circles and group memberships that were never mentioned when he took this position, so I don't think it's fair for the audience to make that assumption. He was hired on what seemed like a whim. Yes, it's a government job, but it's not like he was working in the mayor's office.
Nepotism is how he got contact work. But it was never even suggested that's how he fell into this position.
An auto shop is a different matter than what would be called a fleet shop where the equipment under the shop's care varies a great deal. A boss would be expected to make snap decisions that are in the best interests of the municipality and its taxpayers. An acquaintance went to a technical school (college) for two years to earn a degree to be qualified to work in a shop similar to the one on the show and this also predated the show. There was an issue locally of a guy hired who did not have the educational certificate for his position but did score 100 percent on the civil service test and he needed one of the top five heavy hitters in the local business community to pave his way to that job.
In terms of Dan it seems a bit much that nobody else was competing for that job. That Dan could walk right in uncontested. Incidentally, in New York State there are quite a few non-state jobs that require a civil service test as I have applied for a few over the years. Yeah, some Gomer that mows the city park does not need one but to do water treatment and quite a few other "menial" jobs it does.
Season 4 was definitely the end of an era as far as Roseanne was concerned.
Goodbye Bonnie, goodbye real Becky, goodbye diner, goodbye Crystal as a regular, and goodbye to the quality of the show.
Season 5 and forward seemed like a completely different show and the character of Roseanne was never the same as well.
I totally agree alanjobe !
shareThis. I don't care for the later seasons. I don't hate them, but just seems like a different and more off putting show.
I always hate that Roseanne was so mean to Bonnie. Especially at the end. Like when she basically agreed Bonnie should be her supervisor and then became a raging jerk. Also, how she terrorized her family and forbade them from using the phone. This was the point imo when Roseanne went from being a downer to a real psycho.
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It's true how leaving a job often means leaving friends, aw this is making me sad. Anyway, I wish they would have kept Bonnie around, Crystal too for that matter or Ann Marie. I always thought it was interesting how by the end of the series none of Roseanne's friends really came around anymore.
shareIt would not be hard to believe that late seasons Roseanne drove them all away. The Roseanne of the first couple of seasons seemed to prize friends.
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