Info:
DVD Release Date: August 30, 2005 (Anchor Bay Home Entertainment)
Color
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 23
Running Time: approx. 505 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English; No
subtitles; Closed Captioned
Special Features: Bloopers, Roseanne on "Roseanne": A
New Candid Interview, Season 1 Highlights, Wisdom from
the Domestic Goddess, and Interview: John Goodman
Takes a Look Back (total approximate run time: 38
minutes)
Introduction:
In what TV Guide calls "One of the greatest shows of
all time," Roseanne has finally come to DVD. Roseanne
was full of blunt honesty, attitude and hilarity. In
1988, no other series before it had even come close to
what Roseanne did to impact television. In this
ground-breaking debut season, we get to meet the
working-class, blue-collar Conners of Llanford,
Illinois. Roseanne Barr stars as Roseanne Conner, a
bluntly honest, wife, mother and even domestic
goddess, she's surrounded by her husband Dan (played
by seven-time Emmy nominee, John Goodman), her
outrageous sister, Jackie (three-time Emmy winner,
Laurie Metcalf) and her three kids, straight-laced
Becky (Lecy Goranson), darkly dramatic Darlene
(two-time Emmy nominee - Sara Gilbert) and young D.J.
(Michael Fishman). All 23 episodes are included on
this set as well as hours worth of bonus material that
is sure to leave you laughing.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The first season of "Roseanne" included many memorable
episodes that go down as many viewers’ favorites. The
first one that started it all, "Life and Stuff" deals
with Roseanne confronting the complaints from teachers
that Darlene barks in school. "We're In the Money" in
which Dan and Roseanne agree not to spend any of Dan's
$500 advance on them, neither can resist the
temptation. "Lover's Lane" was about a night at the
bowling alley has Roseanne checking out Becky's new
boyfriend Chip and Booker making a high-stakes bet
with Jackie. "The Memory Game” is where Roseanne
discovers that Dan had a one-night stand with her
high-school nemesis years ago. "Dan's Birthday Bash"
in which an unruly bar patron gets into a fight with
Dan. "Bridge over Troubled Sonny" in which family
friend Crystal struggles to cope with the death of her
husband, while Darlene decides to take up smoking.
"Father's Day" is where Roseanne referees a battling
Dan and his father. "Mall Story” is the one Roseanne
takes her family to the mall. "Becky's Choice" in
which Becky wishes her dinner party with Chip and his
parents would end. "Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore"
in which a tornado spins through Llanford and Jackie
goes missing. And finally, "Death and Stuff" is about
a door-to-door salesman drops in and drops dead in the
Conner kitchen. Of course, there are many more
memorable episodes.
Some special guest-stars throughout the first season
were George Clooney, who played the recurring "Booker"
and Fred Dalton Thomas.
Packaging:
The packaging has a yellow striped background (like
rays from a sun) and features a large cutout of
Roseanne and Dan, with the logo, and then screen shots
from the series underneath the logo. There are two
individual cases in the box that include the FOUR
discs available for this set. The individual cases are
different than the cover (but the background stays the
same). The first case has a picture of the Roseanne
from season 1 in a box along with two cast shots (one
of the whole family, minus Jackie and one with just
Roseanne and Jackie). On the second case, it's the
same design but has different pictures and the main
picture is Dan as well as one of the three kids in a
promo shot for the series. The back of each case has
episode descriptions, titles and air-dates. Now for
the discs themselves, all four discs are red in color
and has a single picture shot of the cast members and
the episodes on that disc (Disc 1 has Roseanne, Disc 2
has Dan, Disc 3 has Roseanne and Dan hugging and disc
4 has the kids plus Jackie). The first case holds
discs one and two and Disc One has episodes 1-7 while
Disc Two has episodes 8-14. The second case holds disc
three and four, and Disc 3 has episodes 15-21 on it
while Disc 4 has episodes 22-23 as well as all of the
bonus features available on the set.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu looks exactly like the main cover art, it's
just animated. The picture of Roseanne and Dan is
there, the background is the same and the logo is now
on top and has a scrolling set of pictures (looks like
the main box art). The season one theme music plays in
the background and when it's done, it loops. On each
disc there is an "Episodes" selection and a "Play All"
selection. I can't find anything for languages or
subtitles. The "Episodes" selection takes you to
another screen that lists the episodes on that disc.
It looks exactly like the actual disc (same red
background and same picture of whoever is on that
disc). What's nice about when you select an episode to
watch, it takes you to yet another screen and displays
a longer description of the episode than what the box
offers. You can then play the episode. It's a nice
feature but to me, there are a lot of menus to have to
go through. It's nice though. Disc One has several
previews for upcoming (or already out) DVD releases,
such as "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Grounded for
Life".
Video and Audio Quality:
The video can be grainy at times, but overall, the
colors are nice and for episodes from 1988, the
quality is really good. The audio is crisp and loud
and clear, so no problems there. I would say that the
biggest problem would have to be the edited episodes.
Each episode runs 21-22 minutes in length (see the
episode run-time list below). I'm not sure what the
exact run-time for unedited sitcoms was back in 1988,
but I would think each episode would last longer than
21 minutes. They should be more like 23-24. Anchor
Bay has confirmed that these indeed are edited
episodes. Carsey-Werner has some explaining to do
because they are the one supplying these episodes.
First The Cosby Show, now this is edited. And there
is a chance 3rd Rock was edited, too, but I can’t
confirm that. At least the James Earl Jones intros
were chopped off for that set. Other than that, for
this set, I would say the episodes are problem free.
As I said, this set has great (although grainy at
times) video and great audio, a good job in that
respect. Each episode has a chapter skip, as do the
special features. There are no subtitles or languages,
but there is closed captioning available.
EPISODE RUN-DOWN
01 - Life and Stuff (approx. 21:49 minutes)
02 - We're In The Money (approx. 21:46 minutes)
03 - D-I-V-O-R-C-E (approx. 21:50 minutes)
04 - Language Lessons (approx. 21:48 minutes)
05 - Radio Days (approx. 21:49 minutes)
06 - Lovers' Lane (approx. 22:14 minutes)
07 - The Memory Game (approx. 21:50 minutes)
08 - Here's To Good Friends (approx. 21:50 minutes)
09 - Dan's Birthday Bash (approx. 21:48 minutes)
10 - Saturday (approx. 22:30 minutes)
11 - Canoga Time (approx. 21:50 minutes)
12 - The Monday Thru Friday Show (approx. 21:48
minutes)
13 - Bridge Over Troubled Sonny (approx. 21:48
minutes)
14 - Father's Day (approx. 21:49 minutes)
15 - Nightmare On Oak Street (approx. 21:50 minutes)
16 - Becky's Choice (approx. 21:49 minutes)
17 - Mall Story (approx. 21:51 minutes)
18 - Slice of Life (approx. 21:49 minutes)
19 - Workin' Overtime (approx. 21:52 minutes)
20 - Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore (approx. 22:24
minutes)
21 - Death and Stuff (approx. 22:20 minutes)
22 - Dear Mom and Dad (approx. 21 minutes)
23 - Let's Call It Quits (approx. 22 minutes)
Special Features:
- Introductions by Roseanne:
The episode "Lovers' Lane" starts off with an
introduction from Roseanne, where she discusses how
this episode was the first time she really started
having fun, and it wasn't just about "delivering a
line." Episode 10, "Saturday" also starts out with an
introduction from Roseanne, who says it was one of her
favorite episodes from the first season because her
first ex-husband Bill plays Dan's buddy who whacks his
head on the hood of Dan's truck. Roseanne comments
that Bill was famous for always hitting his head.
Episode 21, "Toto, We're Not In Kansas Anymore" has a
Roseanne introduction where she says it was the
cornball special effects show and how it took forever
to set up the shots, such as the mailbox flying
through the window. Roseanne also says this is the
first and only episode where DJ's full name (David
Jacob) was revealed. Episode 21, "Death and Stuff" has
another introduction by Roseanne and she says it was
written by her ex-husband Bill.
- Roseanne On "Roseanne": A New Candid Interview (approx. 9 minutes)
A brand new interview that has Roseanne discussing
things such as how much fun she had working with John
and Laurie; how she mothered the kids; how she made
demands on the producers to get the show to be what it
was today. How she grew as an actress over the first
season and how the show would touch on spots no other
sitcom would go. It was a really brief, but good
interview with Roseanne.
- John Goodman Takes A Look Back (approx. 7 minutes)
Basically the same format as the Roseanne interview.
It has John talking about the scripts, how they were
real, how no one in America expected such a "real"
couple. He loved the episode where he worked pretty
much solo with Laurie Metcalfe (I believe the episode
from the final season where Dan's affair is coming to
light and it comes out that there was an attraction
between Jackie and Dan). It was another good
interview.
- Wisdom From The Domestic Goddess (approx. 5 minutes)
A clip fest--it is clip after clip of some of
Roseanne's finest and hilarious quotes throughout the
years. At the end, there is a list of the "Top Five
Pearls of Wisdom from the Domestic Goddess". Are you
curious to know what they are? Head out and buy the
set!
- Bloopers (approx. 11 minutes)
Just what it says it is, bloopers. Probably every
blooper or outtake from the first season (although,
looking at it again, it seems other seasons are
included, too) is all right here for your viewing
pleasure. Bloopers are always fun to watch, so enjoy.
- Season One Highlights (approx. 6 minutes)
Basically what it says. This clip fest highlights some
of the funniest moments from the first season. Not
much else can be said about it.
Final Comments:
I do have to start off with, that yes, the episodes
are edited. I reiterate, each episode runs around
21-22 minutes in length, when I would assume it would
be around 23-24 minutes. There has to be stop to all
these edited sets. Carsey-Werner should be ashamed
they treated a show like Roseanne like this. Other
concerns have the discs themselves starting off
problematic. It could just be my player, but the disc
freezes for a few seconds before the Anchor Bay
opening logo appears. It's like this on all four
discs. Now, to the good parts -- the bonus features
are all really nice and help make up for the edited
episodes. I'm a big fan of including bloopers in any
release and I loved seeing all the bloopers from
Roseanne. I'm sure there's even more where that came
from. The menu is really nice and flows well with the
box art but it can be kind of a pain to go through
several menus just to play an episode. A solution to
that is to just "Play All." Overall, I would say
Anchor Bay did a really good job with this release.
It's a shame the episodes are edited, but overall,
it's a good release and I do recommend purchasing it,
when it becomes available because the bonus materials
are high class.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 5/5
Special Features: 5/5
Menu Navigation/Design: 4.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
-- Reviewed by TVJunkie101 on 08/05/2005.
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