I Missed My Mom. So I Rewatched All Nine Seasons of 'Roseanne.'

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Flytrap Fridays will run here on the blog, free for everyone to read, until Election Day. Think of it as a little ~ amuse bouche ~ for the Flytrap-curious. In our first edition, Flytrap co-founder s.e. smith brought us spooky-season goodness with “The Pumpkins of Fir Street.” In upcoming editions, we’ll be getting naughty with female villains, appreciating the freaky feminism of CBS’ “Evil,” and unpacking why evangelicals love to hate Halloween. Today, we’re pleased to bring you a reconsideration of “Roseanne” from Flytrap co-founder Tina Vásquez.

When Roseanne debuted on ABC on October 18, 1988, I was 3, my mom was 27, and we had just 22 more years together. When you love your mom and she dies, this is how you measure time. 

When my mom and I watched Roseanne, we would cuddle up on the couch or sprawl out on her giant bed. We were both prone to bouts of silence in the face of my dad’s angry outbursts, which is why I’ve come to believe so much of our unspoken obsession with the sitcom was really our mutual fascination with the show’s fearless, loudmouth lead, Roseanne Conner. 

Played perfectly by comedian Roseanne Barr, Roseanne Conner was brash, opinionated, and sarcastic. As a fat, working-class woman and a young mother who never left her small hometown, Rosenne was often treated poorly by more affluent bosses, mean customers, and sometimes even random men at The Lobo, the local dive bar where she and her friends periodically drank away their sorrows. But at home, Roseanne is the Queen Mother and ruler of the roost, equally loved and feared by her husband, Dan, and their three young children Becky, Darlene, and D.J. Sure, Roseanne often yelled at her family, but she was also attentive, affectionate, and understanding. Roseanne was everything my grandmother failed to be for my mom, and everything my mom struggled to be for me. 

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