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Roseanne

"Roseanne" is the story of a working-class family struggling with life's essential problems - marriage, children, money, and parents-in-law. A now-classic sitcom, the story circles around the Connor family, a family of five that includes the parents, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Dan (John Goodman), and the children, Becky (Alicia Goranson), Darlene (Sara Gilbert), and D.J. (Michael Fishman). Roseanne is helped in her challenge to keep the family moving along by her single sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), and various friends.

Season 1 Episode Guide

23 Episodes 1988 - 1989

Episode 1

Life and Stuff

Tue, Oct 18, 1988 22 mins

In the series pilot, Roseanne is summoned to a parent/teacher conference after Darlene has been barking in class.

Episode 2

We're in the Money

Tue, Oct 25, 1988 22 mins

When Dan receives a $500 advance on a drywall job, everyone hopes there will be money left over for something extra for themselves. When it turns out that, after the bills are paid, there will barely be enough left to buy one thing, Dan and Roseanne each buy themselves a luxury item on the sly. Darlene is scolded for lying, but they each ask her to hide the truth about something.

Episode 3

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Tue, Nov 1, 1988 22 mins

Roseanne and Dan plan a romantic dinner date out, and run into an old friend that they were unaware had been divorced. When they learn that her divorce was because her husband refused to allow her to follow a dream, that Roseanne inspired, Dan wonders if Roseanne will grow to feel the same way. When Jackie is late for baby-sitting, Becky is allowed to cover, much to the delight of the kids.

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Episode 4

Language Lessons

Tue, Nov 22, 1988 30 mins

While making his famous chili, Dan awaits a phone call about a badly-needed construction job, and has to run Jackie off the phone. Dan expresses his annoyance with Jackie always being over at their house to Roseanne, but while Dan and Roseanne are taking a relationship test in the back of a teen magazine for fun, his annoyances about Jackie come to the surface in front of her. When she comments that he wouldn't even notice so much if he had a job, Dan is pushed too far. Darlene is making a castle for extra credit because she is flunking History, but D.J. accidentally destroys it, causing a fight between the two.

Episode 5

Radio Days

Tue, Nov 29, 1988 22 mins

Roseanne wants Dan to enter a country music song-writing contest sponsored by the local radio station. Dan is reluctant to do so until he finds out that the grand prize is a hundred dollars. Unable to come up with a new idea, and not pleased with anything he wrote in the past, Dan chooses one of Roseanne's old poems to put to music. Sexual tension between Jackie and Booker heat up in the workplace. Becky and Darlene are at each other's throats.

Episode 6

Lovers' Lane

Tue, Dec 6, 1988 22 mins

Roseanne talks Booker and the women from work into going bowling. Becky gets dolled up for the night out, because she has a first crush on a boy from her school that works at the bowling alley, but is mortified at the thought of being embarrassed by her parents. Jackie and Booker make a "friendly" wager involving a sleepover vs. toilet bowl scrubbing.

Episode 7

The Memory Game

Tue, Dec 13, 1988 22 mins

Dan hires a photographer to take a family portrait at the house for an upcoming high school reunion. Everyone is dressed up and posed when Jackie lets the cat out of the bag about a fling Dan had back in high school with Roseanne's nemesis.

Episode 8

Here's to Good Friends

Tue, Dec 20, 1988 22 mins

Upset because she got dumped again, and certain she will never find a good man, Crystal turns to Roseanne and Jackie for support and advice. Booker turns down a date with Jackie because his "Mother" is in town, and turns up at the Lobo Lounge with another woman. Jackie decides not to turn the other cheek. Praying for a snow day, Darlene procrastinates doing a book report she has to turn in the next day.

Episode 9

Dan's Birthday Bash

Tue, Jan 3, 1989 22 mins

The kids plan a birthday breakfast for their Dad. Roseanne plans a birthday bash for Dan at the Lobo Lounge. What starts out as a great party, soon turn sour, when a drunken bar patron picks a fight with Dan over use of the pool table. A furious Roseanne prevents Dan from brawling with the bruiser, leaving Dan humiliated and angry. Becky is nervous about meeting and having diner with her boyfriend's parents.

Episode 10

Saturday

Tue, Jan 10, 1989 22 mins

Dan plans to spend another Saturday working on his truck in which more drinking with friends gets done than any actual work. Roseanne is fed up and bets Dan he can't get the truck fixed by the end of the afternoon. If she's right, he has to take over all oven-cleaning duties; if Roseanne's wrong, she has to take over all snow-shoveling duties. Meanwhile, Dan's drinking buddy Dwight tries his hardest to impress a disinterested Jackie.

Episode 11

Canoga Time

Tue, Jan 17, 1989 22 mins

Roseanne and Dan clash over what will be donated to a charity drive. Dan has trouble letting go of his stuff, so he plots ways to keep it. Darlene is worried about a bad grade on her report card getting her into trouble, so she plots to conceal the truth from her parents. Jackie is upset with Booker for nearly standing her up... again.

Episode 12

The Monday Thru Friday Show

Tue, Jan 24, 1989 22 mins

Darlene is discovering that her job delivering newspapers is not the easy way to make money she thought it would be. Roseanne and Dan each try to plan a second honeymoon, and disagree on which one they should take, leaving Jackie to step in and save the day. Becky is stuck with a moral dilemma at school.

Episode 13

Bridge Over Troubled Sonny

Tue, Jan 31, 1989 22 mins

Dan and Roseanne contend with a miserable Crystal who can't get over her husband's death years earlier.

Episode 14

Father's Day

Tue, Feb 7, 1989 22 mins

When Dan's father comes for a visit, old resentments and hostilities are dredged up. The first of Ned Beatty's appearances as Ed Conner.

Episode 15

Nightmare on Oak Street

Tue, Feb 14, 1989 30 mins

After Dan and the kids stay up late watching a horror movie, Roseanne must contend with a terrified Darlene keeping her up all night but soon learns there's more going on with her growing daughter than simple night terrors.

Episode 16

Mall Story

Tue, Feb 21, 1989 22 mins

The Conner's, Jackie, and Crystal enjoy a Saturday trip to the Mall for the annual Spring-a-Thon sale. Becky tries to talk Roseanne into buying her an expensive dress, while Dan tries to talk Rosanne out of making him buy expensive shoes. Only one will be victorious. Darlene learns her sugar limit, and D.J. learns the meaning of the word "wait". While Jackie becomes depressed about her life, Crystal is having the time of her life.

Episode 17

Becky's Choice

Tue, Feb 28, 1989 22 mins

Dan and Roseanne discover a difficult new side to Becky when they invite Chip and his parents over for a dinner party.

Episode 18

The Slice of Life

Tue, Mar 7, 1989 22 mins

Roseanne takes a guilt trip when Darlene faces a sudden, emergency appendectomy and the two have been at each other's throats for weeks.

Episode 19

Workin' Overtime

Tue, Mar 14, 1989 22 mins

While Roseanne has to work overtime at the factory, Dan struggles to keep the house and family running with mixed results.

Episode 20

Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore

Tue, Mar 28, 1989 30 mins

As a tornado blows through Lanford, Roseanne & co. work to keep their cool amidst potential disaster.

Episode 21

Death and Stuff

Tue, Apr 11, 1989 22 mins

Roseanne's hospitality bites her in the ass when a door-to-door salesman she lets into the house dies in the kitchen and the family must deal with the corpse all day until the coroner can arrive.

Episode 22

Dear Mom and Dad

Tue, Apr 18, 1989 30 mins

The Conner household is thrown into chaos with the arrival of Roseanne's parents who do nothing but criticize their daughters behind their backs.

Episode 23

Let's Call It Quits

Tue, May 2, 1989 22 mins

A firm, no-nonsense supervisor takes charge at Wellman's, demanding a quota of 8,000 units. Roseanne, Jackie and all the women feel it's a tough load to handle. However, the boss will come down on his demands if Roseanne can swallow her pride and be humane.

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