DVD Giveaway - Good Hair
Ends Feb 14, 2010
Chris Rock visits beauty salons and hairstying battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the black community.
CD Giveaway - Rebecca Rippy, "Telling Stories"
Ends Feb 14, 2010
This North Carolina based Americana singer/songwriter has assembled a collection of what she considers to be her most personal material to date. Enter our contest for your chance to hear Rebecca Rippy Telling Stories!
ARTICLE
DVD Review: Roseanne - The Complete Fourth Season
by R.J. Carter Published: June 23, 2006
Country: USA Release Date: June 27, 2006 Distributor: Anchor Bay Cast: · Roseanne · John Goodman · Lecy Goranson · Sara Gilbert · Michael Fishman · Laurie Metcalf Related Sites: ·IMDb: Roseanne, Season 4
Grade: A-
The fourth season of Roseanne opens up with a bang -- and a bit of a whimper from Roseanne, as seventeen-year-old Becky asks for the thing no mother wants to hear from her little girl: birth control pills. Yes, Becky (Lecy Goranson) has reached that point in her relationship with her boyfriend Mark (Angel's Glenn Quinn) where they're having sex. A touchy subject for prime time sitcoms -- even All in the Family had Mike and Gloria married from the pilot episode. Later in the series they break up, only to be reunited when Roseanne interferes and has her words backfire on her.
This is also the season where younger daughter Darlene (Sara Gilbert) starts her slide into depression with the episode "Darlene Fades to Black" -- although she doesn't really get into the all-black clothing until a few episodes down the line. She also forms a relationship with David (Johnny Galecki), who just happens to be Mark's younger brother (and who, oddly enough, is first introduced as Kevin.) He's just as sullen as she is, but they combine her writing talent with his art skills and begin putting together a comic book. The book eventually gets Darlene into trouble when she and David skip school to go into Chicago, alone, to a comic book convention to pitch their portfolio.
Jackie and Roseanne reminesce about the not-so-good old
days in the house where they grew up.
Roseanne's relationship with her dysfunctional parents is explored in greater depth when her mother, Bev (played by Estelle Parsons), announces at Thanksgiving that Roseanne's father is spending the holiday with his mistress. This sends Roseanne and Jackie on a quest to meet this mystery woman and, later, to visit the house where they grew up with screaming parents and the threat of beatings. The underlying plot thread running through the entire season is the stress and difficulty brought on the household as Dan (John Goodman) and Roseanne try to make the bike shop into a profitable small business.
Highlights of the season include the Halloween episode that became a tradition for the show (and featuring the final return appearance of George Clooney as Booker); a two-part Vegas vacation where Roseanne finally gets to meet her idol, Wayne Newton; and a commercial shoot for the Rodbell's diner where Roseanne works that casts all the members of the family -- except Roseanne. Watch for cameos by Bob Hope, David Crosby as Bonnie's boyfriend Duke, an ultra-early appearance by Jena Malone as a little girl on Santa's lap, and Neil Patrick Harris playing (what else?) a doctor when Roseanne goes in for breast reduction surgery.
"I go, 'That guy is gorgeous, get him
back.' I kept fighting and pushing, and
they were all resisting it, the writers,
and finally they relented and said they'd
have George back because they didn't
really think he was anything all that special."
-- Roseanne, "Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down"
commentary on George Clooney's departure
from the series
Two of the episodes have split-screen video commentary with Roseanne (assisted by an occassional pop-up trivia bubble). These are interesting for a couple of reasons -- most obviously because they provide the usual behind-the-scenes odd facts, but also in that they provide a contrast between Roseanne then and now. Perhaps she's tired of having to do all the DVD boxed set commentaries, but she seemed drained, and at least on two occassions couldn't remember the names of people who had been in the episode being viewed. The video commentary episodes are listed on the Episode Select menu as separate entities from the same episodes without the commentary, so they don't require the user to go into the setup or special features of the disc to access.
There are two featurettes on the fourth and final disc of the set: a five-minute segment with Roseanne in which she relates how elements from her real life were influencing events on the television series; and a nearly ten-minute segment with Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson reflecting back. Both featurettes have several clips from the season.
Previews on this disc include episode collections for 3rd Rock From the Sun and Grounded for Life.
Roseanne The Complete Fourth Season
Disc 1
Disc 2
01. A Bitter Pill to Swallow
02. Take My Bike, Please
03. Why Jackie Becomes a Trucker
04. Darlene Fades to Black
05. Tolerate Thy Neighbor
06. Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down (optional video commentary with Roseanne)
07. Vegas
08. Vegas, Vegas
09. Stressed to Kill
10. Thanksgiving 1991 (optional video commentary with Roseanne)
11. Kansas City Here We Come
12. Santa Claus
Disc 3
Disc 4
13. Bingo
14. Bowling
15. The Back Story
16. Less is More
17. Breaking Up is Hard to Do
18. This Old House
19. The Commercial Show
20. Therapy
21. Lies
22. Deliverance
23. Secrets
24. Don't Make Me Over
25. Aliens
Bonus Features:
- New Roseanne Interview: Life Imitating Art, Imitating Roseanne (5:33)
- A Grown-Up Sit-Down with "An Adult" Becky and DJ (9:48)
