Critic Reviews

Roseanne remains endlessly watchable: startling, funny, and complicated.

It talks to real life, the way "Cosby" talks to family fantasies. It deals with alcohol's temptations for teenagers. It speaks to the frustration of being forced to take a menial job just because it puts food on the table. It looks at growing up and growing together and growing apart, with all the pain and laughter that come along for the ride. And it does it all with... class, plus great creativity. [14 May 1990]

As with the original, the new Roseanne is most enjoyable when it focuses on the everyday life of the Conners. ... Gilbert’s delivery of Darlene’s brutal zingers remains deadpan perfection (“The only reason you look younger than me is because you’re embalmed in Mike’s Hard Lemonade,” she tells Becky); Metcalf balances her character’s exaggerated intensity with superb comic timing; and the old-married-couple chemistry between Barr and Goodman is still relaxed and believable.

Roseanne’s ability to pivot from silly to somber and back again without ever missing a beat made it unique in prime time. The revival looks to be just as authentic.

This is the likely big hit of the '88-'89 strike-delayed season, the show everyone will copy next year. [17 Oct 1988]

No doubt ABC has a hit here. The show's funny, and this is something you rarely get to say about a sitcom. [16 Oct 1988]

"Roseanne" is without a doubt one of the brightest new entries of the season, one of the most unusual of any season, and one of the most welcome. [18 Oct 1988]

Has the potential to be the best new sitcom in at least a couple of seasons. [15 Oct 1988]

'Roseanne' is off to a terrifically hilarious start.

The fact that Barr's show seems cut so authentically out of middle-class experience gives it a solid familiarity from first encounter. ... "Roseanne" is really different and really funny. [18 Oct 1988]