Product Description

Roseanne, a show which comedically celebrated the ups and downs of a working class American family, was one of the most successful series of the late '80s and early '90s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2455 in DVD
• Brand: Anchor
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 505 minutes

Amazon.com
Roseanne burst onto the screen in 1988, when top-rated sitcom The Cosby Show exuded a smug Father Knows Best glossiness. In contrast, the blue-collar Conner family bickered with the offhand nastiness of real families, which didn't mean they loved each other any less. Front and center was Roseanne Barr (now known by the single name Roseanne), a former stand-up comedian who wasn't afraid to rock the boat (her fights with producers were legendary). When even the fat guys on sitcoms have svelte, hottie wives, it's hard to believe that this woman--overweight, abrasive, with a voice like a wood chipper--became top of the television heap. Roseanne spoke up for a kind of lower-class feminism; she didn't concern herself much with politics, but within the family she just as much in charge as her husband Dan (the ever-dependable John Goodman, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski)--though in the final episode of the first season, she took a stand at her factory job that was half Norma Rae, half Cool Hand Luke. But most often the show turned the ordinary rituals of domestic life (putting the kids to bed, coping with visiting parents) into sharp comic scenarios. The stories were smartly hidden in a series of scenes that felt organic and unforced. The entire cast--one of the best ensembles ever, including theater veteran Laurie Metcalf (Scream 2) as Roseanne's sister Jackie; Lecy Goranson as eldest daughter Becky; Michael Fishman as youngest child D.J.; and especially Sara Gilbert (Poison Ivy, ER) as middle daughter Darlene--swiftly cultivated the mixture of comfort and tension that marks most family relationships. The result was a portrait of American family life that rang achingly, hilariously true.

Roseanne's first season was solid from the start; few shows have had such an immediate grasp of their ideal tone and rhythm. Roseanne may have been a little stiff in the first few episodes, but she developed her chops quickly. By only the third episode, in which Roseanne and Dan run into a divorced friend at a restaurant and do some impromptu evaluating of their own married life, Roseanne was already exploring the psychology behind the wisecracks. By episode 6, set in a bowling alley, Roseanne begins to truly inhabit her character, growing more physically and emotionally expansive (she herself singles out this episode as the one where she started to have fun). Roseanne was never afraid to share the spotlight; Goodman, Metcalf, and the kids all had central roles in one episode or another, and one of the most striking episodes focused on Roseanne's coworker Crystal (the underrated Natalie West), whose husband had been embedded in concrete while working on a bridge. This black comic premise gave way to surprisingly touching grief when old secrets emerged. Guest performers like George Clooney (a semi-regular in the first season), Ned Beatty (as Dan's father), Estelle Parsons (an insidious turn as Roseanne's mother), and Fred Thompson (as a domineering supervisor) always had meaty material to work with. Simply one of the best sitcoms of all time. Caveat: the set uses the episodes as they were shortened for syndication, not the originally broadcast versions that were 2-3 minutes longer.--Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Edited Episodes=No Purchase (5 stars for the show, 1 for the DVD release)
Count me among the "Roseanne" fans who had this DVD box set pre-ordered until I heard about the edited content. (According to some of the newspaper sources I've seen, these episodes are edited down even farther than the syndicated versions shown daily on TV.)

No way, am I paying for edited content, even though I think "Roseanne" remains one of TV's finest comedies, and one of the few that holds up under repeated viewings. Yes, the final season was dreadful--though the series finale episode was redeeming, if not spectacular--and there's no denying the content slipped from 1994 on (the horrible "Gilligan's Island" take-off and endless OJ references spring to mind), but, for me, "Roseanne" remains the ultimate "comfort food" TV, no weight-related pun intended. Even though I've seen the episodes so often I know many of the lines by heart, I still laugh every time I watch an old episode--which, thanks to plentiful reruns, is almost daily. There is no other show, ever, that I can say that about.

And, as soon as they release unedited versions of the episodes on DVD, I'll buy the complete set. Until then, I'll be content with TV replays.

COMPLETE should mean COMPLETE!
I was a huge fan of Roseanne when it aired on ABC. I rolled videotape from the start of the very first show and collected every episode from beginning to end, minus commercials. I cannot understand charging upwards of thirty or forty dollars for what are NOT the complete episodes. If you watch the DVDs of "M*A*S*H" and "Friends" and then watch the same shows on TBS and Hallmark, there's quite a bit missing in those syndicated airings....some of it in the case of those "M*A*S*H" shows is quite noticeable. I agree with the folks who've gone ahead and recorded the syndicated shows from Nick at Nite or wherever. The fans of "Roseanne" deserve to have the DVDs of the complete original airings of the show they made such a huge hit, and without the annoying banners (very distracting on all those channels) and logos in the corner through the entire shows. I loved this show...but unless Carsey-Werner allows the re-release of the DVDs with truly complete episodes, I've got the shows complete and uncut on VHS tapes from beginning to end. Anyone who thinks we're whining about this and thinks we're not true fans of the show is seeling themselves short. Funny show? Absolutely! A good deal on DVD in this version? Absolutely NOT!

Beware...EDITED/CUT episodes !!!
It is getting ridiculous how often studios are released EDITED, CUT versions of TV shows instead of the full versions as seen on network TV. Why pay money for edited content? Each show is cut by 2 minutes or so, so you miss about 10% of the episode. If you think it isn't a big deal, feel free to send me 10% of your paycheck each week....AVOID this set, write a polite letter to the studio telling them why you won't buy it and maybe they'll get the message that consumers want the full version on DVD, not edited junk. If you taped these off the original ABC airing, hold on to the the tapes!

Sorry to say THE COSBY SHOW DVD is the same situation, as is the first season of THAT'S MY MAMA.