What about Roseanne & Ill. Lottery? An unanswered question about re-boot

I was never a big fan of “Roseanne” back when it was in its first run on television, although I have managed to see several episodes as the show continues to live on in reruns.

Meaning I’m fully aware of the fact that the story line over its nine seasons on the air included a sequence in which the fictional Conner family wins the Illinois Lottery. Supposedly $108 million, and there was a year’s worth of episodes in which the newly-wealthy Roseanne and her family try to adjust to life amidst old-money types and their “strange” ways of doing things.

SO AS THE program is in a re-boot and we’re supposedly seeing what has become of all the characters some 20 years later, I can’t help but wonder. What happened to the big bucks of their Lottery prize?

Much has been made of the fact that the pater familias of Dan Conner (played then, and now, by actor John Goodman) is still alive – even though the series ended back in 1998 with hints that Goodman’s character had died of a heart attack.

But what about the money?

Should we now presume that Roseanne and her whacky sister Jackie (who supposedly was once a cop in their fictional suburb located on the fringes of the Chicago area when she wasn't being a truck driver) never had the prize?

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OR SHOULD WE presume that the Conner clan had those big bucks and somehow managed to waste it away? Blew it all on trivialities to the point where there’s nothing left and their lifestyle is back to the same ol’ blue collar, lower-middle-class standards of the past.

Not that I’m losing much sleep over this “burning” question. If I really want to see the wealthy Roseanne, all I have to do is watch the re-runs on any of the many channels that air them.

But considering how some people are trying to make a big deal out of this particular reboot of an old television program (whose ratings for the Tuesday night rebirth were 18.2 million viewers and more people than watched the record-high viewership that the show’s farewell generated in ’98), I can’t help but expend a little bit of brainpower on it.

Because if it turns out that the show being touted and praised by those who are in full support of this Age of Trump that we’re now in is really about people who had a chance, and blew it big time, I’d say that doesn’t say much about us as a society.

The 'queen' of over-reaction -- Becky, ...

OF COURSE, IF it (the lottery winnings) didn’t happen, it would still be sad if we’re talking about people whose fantasies focus around a once-in-a-lifetime prize and they do nothing to try to make it a reality.

For what it’s worth, the news reports told of how President Donald Trump himself felt compelled to place a telephone call to Roseanne Barr on Wednesday to congratulate her on a television success story – managing to draw all those viewers back to the character for which her life will forever be remembered while also giving the Trump presidency a plug or two!

Which, to my mind, means Trump (himself once the character of a television program The Apprentice) probably thinks this is a priority – and that the “real” issues he’s confronted with are all the “boring” details that overly-serious people think are important.

Personally, I find it amusing the way some people are getting so worked up over this reboot; largely because I think it sad that some people want to make careers out of broadcasting the same ol’ stuff over and over again. Coming up with new characters and stories is just too much work, it seems.

I EVEN FIND it pathetic the way many people feel compelled to go on various Internet sites to post anonymous comments bad-mouthing Barr & Co. If the show dulls your sensibilities that much, just change the channel. There are so many others to pick from in the modern-day programming environment.

... or Marcia Brady?

As for me, my own thoughts about Roseanne were cemented the one time I actually watched an episode back in the show’s first-run days.

It was the episode where daughter Becky (played by Evanston native Lecy Goranson) was convinced her life was forever ruined because she farted in the middle of giving a speech to the student council. Similar to that old Brady Bunch episode where Marcia got hit right on the nose with a football, causing it to swell up. In the end, Roseanne/Mike Brady gave their daughters a lecture making them realize how the humiliating moment wasn’t that big a deal.

I might be the first person to make a comparison between Roseanne and The Brady Bunch. Except that I can’t help but think that Maureen McCormick (the ultimate teenaged television cutie) played out her scenes with more sophistication.

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