Never try to bring things to life again, you just can't do it. That's my take after watching the first episode of the tenth season of Roseanne, the popular American television situation comedy.
Now I'll be honest, I didn't watch all of the first episode. I couldn't, simply because it was the old jokes rehashed a little and regurgitated. It was not fresh at all and did not reflect life in the US as it is now or in the modern world at large for that matter.
The actors are now older and better at their craft, that was obvious, apart from Roseanne herself who appears a little desperate to stay relevant. The new faces are okay as far they go, they did not stand out, perhaps because they're not meant to, this is a vehicle for Roseanne Barr after all.
Where I think they misfired completely is in imagining what the Conner family would look like today. Here is where I think they'd be at:
Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) would be divorced from her husband and working at Walmart. She wouldn't be struggling that much because her house has been paid off and she'd won a minor prize in a state lottery. She sometimes takes Dan in from down the road when things get too noisy there.
Dan Conner (John Goodman) would be living two doors down with a biker chick twenty years his junior. She has two children to different fathers (neither of them Dan Conner) and is more interested in great sex and her next tattoo. The two get along but John has to deal with her 'friends' which are also business associates of hers and he decamps from time to time to be taken in by Roseanne.
Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert) would be pretty much as she is portrayed but would work as a laboratory assistant after completing a diploma at the Community College.
Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf) would have become a lawyer, working now as a public defender. There would be a question over her role in defending a police officer accused of shooting a black suspect.
As it is, the jokes are set to be lame, more Trump vs Hillary vs Jill Stein stuff. Why does everyone stay working class forever in these shows? That's not real life, there is such a thing as upward mobility you know. While the old Roseanne was somewhat relevant and at times funny, it did pall from the middle of its run. It traded on its past success for quite some time. This effort is just more cashing in on the same.
And as an aside, don't start me on this Archie Bunker ground-breaking stuff. Archie Bunker wasn't even original; it is based off Till Death Us Do Part and the great Alf Garnett character. Have a look at the very first episode of it below. That's the real Archie Bunker, transmission began in 1965 !! Come on, Archie Bunker and Roseanne originates from there.
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