Last fall, I was Roseanne-ed out — sick of all the hype, of all the stories about Barr's personal life and professional obnoxiousness. But then I started watching, and soon realized once again that the millions of people who've kept Roseanne a top 10 show aren't wrong: This remains one of the most intriguing series on television.
Even more than last season, Roseanne was consumed with the topic that rarely surfaces in sitcom land: money, the economics of supporting a family in lower-middle-class America these days. The way Roseanne and her TV family scrimp and save and still inspire laughs was one of the season's more distinctive achievements.
Roseanne also accommodates television's broadest range of acting styles, from Barr's increasingly subtle monotone to John Goodman's delicate shadings of emotion; from Laurie Metcalf's stage-trained double takes as Roseanne's policewoman sister to Sara Gilbert's skillful deadpan as middle child Darlene. B+
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