Roseanne – The Complete Fourth Season
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B-
Roseanne went as far as it could in its Complete
Fourth Season in a way that it should not have considering how safe it was
playing it. Retaining the working class
humor helped, but the leading lady was starting to slip a bit. This new set from Anchor Bay has all 25
uncut shows, a point once again made on the box in a sticker since the error of
cut shows will haunt all future releases until the whole series has been
issued. The 4 DVDs are once again
contained in two slender cases, boxed.
A sign that the show would eventually move away from its
working class roots happens when Dan (John Goodman) and Roseanne go to Las
Vegas in a pair of shows. Goodman’s
departure would eventually have to do with this. Episodes about bingo addiction and the birth control pill are the
real highlights. The cast and its
chemistry saved the show from its limits, but this would not last, as many fans
know.
The 1.33 X 1 image is once again soft at times, being shot
on professional analog NTSC video, one of the last such hit series to ever be
produced this way. Color is as
consistent as it is going to get and all looks to be close to the source
tapes. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has
no surrounds, but is of the expected fidelity for a series from the late 1980s
produced like this. The result is once
again playback as good as you will ever see the show in the DVD format. Extras include more trailers for other TV
series from Anchor Bay on the first DVD and new interviews with Roseanne,
“grown-up sit down interview with “an adult” Becky & DJ and video
commentaries on two shows.
- Nicholas Sheffo
