The SmarK DVD Rant for Roseanne: The Halloween Edition
– Simple concept here, as we have all the Halloween episodes from the show collected onto one DVD. Yeah, it’s a cheap cash-in, but for those who want the best of each season, it’s actually a good idea.
The Show
Much like “Friends” would have the Thanksgiving episodes later on and most other shows had annual Christmas shows, the writers of “Roseanne” loved to celebrate Halloween by thinking up the most evil and devious pranks they could get away with on network TV. Generally these episodes represent the best of the season, although by the end of the show’s run there wasn’t much to work with anyway.
– “BOO!” The first official Halloween episode, from the second season, sees Dan and Roseanne tormenting the kids with scary stories, and of course it turns into a competition between them to see who can do the worst. Scariest of all, Becky is being a whiny teenaged bitch. Luckily she recovers and plays along, as the house gets decorated in over-the-top fashion. Roseanne wins the battle, but to reveal any more would be spoiling the fun. Awesomely funny stuff, and the beginning of a grand tradition for this show.
– “Trick or Treat” From the third season. Roseanne is mystified by male behavior, which DJ is apparently curious about female behavior and dresses like a witch. Dan of course insists that he’s a WARLOCK, but the kid wants a broom. Too bad Harry Potter wasn’t around back then to bail him out. Dan as the Three Stooges is great, but Roseanne steals the show as “Bob,” actually looking totally convincing as a lumberjack. And while hanging out at the bar and shooting pool with the guys, she learns about urinals and what guys really talk about when women aren’t around. Another great one as the show was really hitting its stride at this point.
– “Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down.” From the fourth season. After pulling an all-time great prank on Cathy at the beginning of the annual Halloween episode, Roseanne spends the rest of it paranoid about Cathy’s possible revenge, even though she’s obviously (to everyone but Roseanne) too uptight to resort to that. Dan and Roseanne’s “undead ventriloquism” act is wonderfully bad stuff. Another great Halloween ep.
– Halloween IV. From the fifth season. Becky’s departure (which I’ll cover when we get to the fifth season of the show later this month) has sapped Roseanne’s Halloween spirit, and even repulsive pranks can’t cheer her up. DJ’s Hannibal Lecter costume is a pretty dated reference, a rarity for this show. This one is another concept show, as Roseanne falls asleep and gets visited by the ghosts of Halloween past, present and future, showing us that Roseanne was a MEAN kid and everyone in the present likes to bust on her when she’s not around. The future version of Roseanne is a funnier payoff than the “real” payoff of her big prank on everyone at the lodge, but this is still a fine example of the spirit of the season for the show.
– Halloween V. Off to season six now, as Roseanne now runs the Lunch Box with Nancy, Leon and Jackie, and Becky & Darlene have pretty much been replaced by David & Mark. Two major storylines here see Darlene and David cheating on each other and Roseanne in desperate need to meddle, as well as Nancy being paranoid about Dan not liking her and Roseanne in desperate need to meddle. A double swerve with a robbery prank is a great moment, but the rest really shows how the quality was declining once she didn’t have the bratty kids to play off of anymore.
– Skeleton In The Closet. Into the seventh season now, as the characters grow less interesting and Jackie is married to Fred and has a baby. Leon decides to prove that Halloween is actually a gay holiday, by throwing a big gay party at the Lunch Box to out-do Roseanne. He also thinks Fred is gay, which becomes a thread that Roseanne of course has to pull at throughout the episode. As well, Bev may be bald, so Roseanne is on that case as well. Mark & David trying to explain homosexuality to DJ is one long awkward and funny moment. Roseanne’s costume this year: Prince. Martin Mull is of course up for anything, and goes as Hilary Clinton. Both storylines pay off with the joke being on Roseanne, just like the year before, in conclusions you could see coming from a mile away. Still, the “Fred is gay” gag makes for some funny stuff along the way.
– Halloween: The Final Chapter. From the eighth season, as the final one didn’t have a Halloween episode worth including. This is less of an episode than an experiment gone horribly wrong, as Roseanne directs and the result is a huge mess. The first act is just a bunch of skits that go nowhere, like Roseanne and Jackie dueling with flashlights and a series of bloopers with a kid who can’t remember his lines. And then things get stupider, as she goes into labor as the result of a Ouija board and hallucinates being at a hospital full of costumed doctors who deliver bad one-liners. And then it gets WORSE, as it turns into a CLIP SHOW of all things, which is especially pointless when all the Halloween clips here are on episodes we’ve just watched. The end result is her naming her kid Jerry Garcia Conner, despite an ultrasound earlier in the show which said the baby would be a girl. In fact, this show is SO bad, Roseanne actually has to add on a bit afterwards where she defends the show to the studio audience! Much of the 8th season was filled with this kind of stuff, where the show would be breaking the fourth wall and trying to be experimental instead of just being funny.
The Video
Pretty much standard TV fare, as it doesn’t look like Anchor Bay made any great effort in remastering this for DVD. Colors are pretty washed out and there’s lots of obvious noise issues with the transfer. Given the age of the show it’s tough to expect much more, but I’ve definitely seen better.
The Audio
Just plain old stereo, although it’s rarely actually used. Dialogue is clear, however, so it serves the purpose needed.
The Extras
They include the “video commentary” version of “Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down” from the fourth season collection, with a bored Roseanne forgetting names of actors and spewing vitriol against the writers who dared to question her brilliance, but other than that, nothing.
The Ratings
The Show: *****
The Video: **1/2
The Audio: **
The Extras: *
