JClabaugh@aol.com
05-27-2006, 12:52 PM
I know the final season of the show/the series finale is a hot topic for most people and depending on who you ask depends on what explanation you will get! Thanks to the help of Wikipedia we finally have a clear and what I consider concise version surrounding the mystery of the final season/finale.
Final Season (1996-1997)
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The final season marked a complete departure from the rest of the series - the formerly working-class Conner family wins the lottery and begins living an extravagant lifestyle. Additionally, the series became quite surreal, with an abundance of fantasy sequences and celebrity guests. This change in tone fared poorly with critics and viewers, but has been staunchly defended by Barr. She felt that Roseanne Conner winning the lottery was similar to her landing a sitcom deal, and thus helped the series to parallel her life. [[1] Also, the season's detachment from reality was somewhat explained in the last moments of the series finale.
For the first time in the history of the series, the introductory music for the final season featured lyrics, sung by John Popper of Blues Traveler.
Series finale
The final episode ended on an unusual note, with a 15-minute closing monologue by Roseanne revealing that after she was given a writing room (referencing a story thread from a few seasons beforehand), the entire series was merely a fictional story written by the character of Roseanne Conner and based on her family life and experiences. She also revealed that whatever she hadn't liked about her real life, she'd changed in the story; for instance, it was her sister Jackie - not her mother - that had come out as a lesbian.
Becky and Darlene actually ended up with the opposite Healy brother (Becky with David and Darlene with Mark). And following his massive heart-attack at the end of season eight, Dan had actually died.
Also, it was revealed that Arnie was not abducted by aliens, but just rather disappeared.
The surrealism of season nine was explained as the "real" Roseanne Conner's way of dealing with the tragedy, which she snapped out of as a result of Darlene giving birth. The Conners living room then returns to the way it was for the first eight seasons of the show (as they had never won any lottery), and Roseanne embarks on a career as a writer. The episode ends with a wide aerial shot of Roseanne sitting on the living room sofa, and text is displayed on the screen:
"Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."
T.E. Lawrence
(Lawrence of Arabia)
Roseanne's trademark laugh is then heard, in a manner similar to the opening of nearly every episode, and the scene fades to black.
It is actually said by Roseanne in the finale that the entire series was just part of her book. What's meant is that many parts of the series from seasons 3-9 were just fantasy and a part of her book that she had started to write in the end of season 2. You can tell this because Mark makes his first appearance in season 3. The last season and the last episode of season 8 was entirely fantasy based and none of it happened.
Much of this is because the series was supposedly going to be cancelled after the eighth season due to falling drastically in the ratings that eighth year, but ABC decided to renew the show based on Roseanne's wish of having a ninth season but having major pay roll cuts, however nothing could disguise the sinking quality of the once great series, which had simply run on too long.
Dan's heart attack was supposed to be the finale (the second to last season 8 episode) but after the show was picked up for one last season they introduced a plot revolving around Dan not taking the hospital's orders after the heart attack and Roseanne and Dan having their worst fight yet, the second part to the episode being the first episode of the ninth season.
This episode was never intended to be part of the series, nor was the ninth season. This episode was set half in the eighth season and half in the ninth, in the hope of carrying viewers into the final season.
In fact, the last season stayed around #35 in the ratings the entire year. The series finale came in around #9, helping the season stay in the #30's and not the #40's.
Storyline of the season/ Roseanne Conner's "real life"
Dan Conner survived his heart attack/ Dan Conner died after his heart attack at Darlene's wedding
Darlene married David/ Darlene married Mark
Becky married Mark Becky/ married David
Roseanne's mother, Bev, was a lesbian/ Roseanne's sister, Jackie, was a lesbian
The Conner family won the lottery/ The Conner family did not win the lottery
Arnie was abducted by aliens Arnie mysteriously disappeared
I hope this clears up ANY AND ALL remaining mystery for the die hard Roseanne fan and also I hope that this gives you new appriciation for the final season/finale although each are entitled to their own!
Final Season (1996-1997)
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The final season marked a complete departure from the rest of the series - the formerly working-class Conner family wins the lottery and begins living an extravagant lifestyle. Additionally, the series became quite surreal, with an abundance of fantasy sequences and celebrity guests. This change in tone fared poorly with critics and viewers, but has been staunchly defended by Barr. She felt that Roseanne Conner winning the lottery was similar to her landing a sitcom deal, and thus helped the series to parallel her life. [[1] Also, the season's detachment from reality was somewhat explained in the last moments of the series finale.
For the first time in the history of the series, the introductory music for the final season featured lyrics, sung by John Popper of Blues Traveler.
Series finale
The final episode ended on an unusual note, with a 15-minute closing monologue by Roseanne revealing that after she was given a writing room (referencing a story thread from a few seasons beforehand), the entire series was merely a fictional story written by the character of Roseanne Conner and based on her family life and experiences. She also revealed that whatever she hadn't liked about her real life, she'd changed in the story; for instance, it was her sister Jackie - not her mother - that had come out as a lesbian.
Becky and Darlene actually ended up with the opposite Healy brother (Becky with David and Darlene with Mark). And following his massive heart-attack at the end of season eight, Dan had actually died.
Also, it was revealed that Arnie was not abducted by aliens, but just rather disappeared.
The surrealism of season nine was explained as the "real" Roseanne Conner's way of dealing with the tragedy, which she snapped out of as a result of Darlene giving birth. The Conners living room then returns to the way it was for the first eight seasons of the show (as they had never won any lottery), and Roseanne embarks on a career as a writer. The episode ends with a wide aerial shot of Roseanne sitting on the living room sofa, and text is displayed on the screen:
"Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."
T.E. Lawrence
(Lawrence of Arabia)
Roseanne's trademark laugh is then heard, in a manner similar to the opening of nearly every episode, and the scene fades to black.
It is actually said by Roseanne in the finale that the entire series was just part of her book. What's meant is that many parts of the series from seasons 3-9 were just fantasy and a part of her book that she had started to write in the end of season 2. You can tell this because Mark makes his first appearance in season 3. The last season and the last episode of season 8 was entirely fantasy based and none of it happened.
Much of this is because the series was supposedly going to be cancelled after the eighth season due to falling drastically in the ratings that eighth year, but ABC decided to renew the show based on Roseanne's wish of having a ninth season but having major pay roll cuts, however nothing could disguise the sinking quality of the once great series, which had simply run on too long.
Dan's heart attack was supposed to be the finale (the second to last season 8 episode) but after the show was picked up for one last season they introduced a plot revolving around Dan not taking the hospital's orders after the heart attack and Roseanne and Dan having their worst fight yet, the second part to the episode being the first episode of the ninth season.
This episode was never intended to be part of the series, nor was the ninth season. This episode was set half in the eighth season and half in the ninth, in the hope of carrying viewers into the final season.
In fact, the last season stayed around #35 in the ratings the entire year. The series finale came in around #9, helping the season stay in the #30's and not the #40's.
Storyline of the season/ Roseanne Conner's "real life"
Dan Conner survived his heart attack/ Dan Conner died after his heart attack at Darlene's wedding
Darlene married David/ Darlene married Mark
Becky married Mark Becky/ married David
Roseanne's mother, Bev, was a lesbian/ Roseanne's sister, Jackie, was a lesbian
The Conner family won the lottery/ The Conner family did not win the lottery
Arnie was abducted by aliens Arnie mysteriously disappeared
I hope this clears up ANY AND ALL remaining mystery for the die hard Roseanne fan and also I hope that this gives you new appriciation for the final season/finale although each are entitled to their own!