Working Mom

Season One -- pic courtesy of ABC
by blogSpotter

The late 1980’s gave Americans some television that told it like it is, with over-the-top satire. The Bundies on Married With Children gave us Peg the housewife and Al the put-upon shoe salesman. Their teen kids were dull (but cute) slackers before slacker was the word du jour. The Simpsons was a cartoon series giving us insight into the loud, buffoonish Homer, long-suffering wife Marge, brat Bart (a deliberate anagram?), nerd Lisa and infant Maggie. Both of these shows steered miles away from the saccharine, dumbed-down formula ‘80’s shows like Charles in Charge or Mr. Belvedere.

Clever as these new shows were, they didn’t have the heart and earnest passion of Roseanne, another new show of the era which sought to give us a similar family dysfunction in a style that was pragmatic and realistic – not especially campy or silly. Roseanne centered on the working class Conner family in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. The show gave us Roseanne and Dan Conner – stout, working parents raising two teenage girls and a little boy. The show leveraged off the feminist, in-your-face stand-up comedy Roseanne had already made her trademark. Many women liked the show because it showed women (most notably Roseanne and her sister Jackie) matching male bravado with their own brand of female bravado. The message was welcomed and empowering at the time.

Overall, in the first three seasons, Roseanne dealt with some fairly common issues – coming of age, economic need, aging and other typical family topics. The personalities portrayed were at turns sweet, believable, feisty and honest. I watched the show regularly myself and could understand its high ranking in the Nielson top 10. I especially enjoyed watching the tomboyish Darlene evolve into a hilariously witty, Goth-looking young adult.

But (you saw it coming), Roseanne became a victim of its own success midway thru the series. Roseanne the actress began a relationship with actor-comedian Tom Arnold, and started reshaping her face with plastic surgery. Our pleasant, jocular Lanford Mom started to more resemble a pouty lipped Elvira with blue-black hair. The show became a “cool” venue for established actor cameos and so we had strangely convoluted plotlines to accommodate the likes of Joan Collins, Tim Curry and Shelley Winters.

Worst of all, the show seemed to become Roseanne’s chosen venue for exploring and working out her personal issues – the kind of issues others might take to a private analysis session. The actress in real life was “recovering” memories of parent-child abuse, a concept which I find as questionable now as then. She let those types of topics and attitudes seep into the show; her TV mom played by Estelle Parsons was vilified as a witch from beyond the pale. Every male on the show was a castrati, recipient to Roseanne’s withering put-downs. Where the first seasons had nuance and thoughtfulness, the later seasons became a battle of the sexes enlarged into a paranoid battle of Roseanne versus the world.

Her relationship with Tom Arnold started to deteriorate at which point the show itself imploded. Tabloids regularly ran stories about the terrors of the Roseanne set. In its 8th and 9th seasons, the show “jumped the shark” so spectacularly that you might not even recognize the characters or the backdrop from the 1st couple of seasons. My overall impression, as I wind down on this “forensic review” is that TV projects do better as a cooperative venture and not as a bully pulpit for egomaniacal stars. Many other TV shows have taken strange turns or run out gas – Roseanne would’ve been well served to run out of gas a lot sooner than it did.

© 2012 blogSpotter

Mustang Ranch

The new wheels -- pic by blogSpotter

by blogSpotter

For today’s blog, we’ll take a trip to the Mustang Ranch… Mind out of the gutter! I refer not to the infamous Nevada bordello but rather my own garage.   I’ve recently purchased a new "race red" Mustang and it resides there now as part of my two car collection.   I’ve kept the Toyota RAV4 for my more adult moments.  So far, both vehicles fit (and get along) nicely in my garage.

My car is the basic V6 model (no Cobra or Shelby going on here).  The V6 is plenty nice, comes very well equipped.  It has “Microsoft Sync” and also a semi-Standard shift if I choose to use it.  One might ask why a man in his mid-50’s needs such a car, and I have some trouble answering that myself.  There are 1,000 practical reasons not to buy it. 

I began my trek looking for a new SUV to replace the 2001 RAV4.  Must elaborate, the RAV4 has done nothing wrong, it’s just a little worn.   As I made the rounds at various dealerships I found myself getting a terrible case of the yawns looking at the boxy, bland offerings there are.  My RAV4 looks better than the new one to be honest.  I found myself humming “Is That All There Is?”….  Then the new breed of domestic muscle cars (Mustang, Camaro, Challenger) caught my eye.  My 16 year-old alter ego said "buy, buy, buy" but the bean counter inside me quickly produced a mile-long list of reasons not to buy my pony dream car.

Reasons not to buy the Mustang:

1. I could remodel my kitchen and put in a sprinkler system for the same price.
2. It’s a lot more car insurance (but not double the amount) 
3. There will be twice as many inspections and oil changes.
4. My previously spacious, empty garage has to be reorganized to make room.
5. The Mustang cannot comfortably seat anything more than two adults.
6. It's too beautiful to park anywhere
7. etc etc

I’m so practical, I’ll practical myself to death .. the above reasons will always be obstacles to the teenager inside me.  Back in 1979, I was denied a new, blue Mustang due to a funds deficiency – I was $500 short and the parental units wouldn’t kick in.  At 54, I’m now my own parental unit and I say, “Yes, you may buy that car”.

To the first group of nay-sayers who tell me it’s a mid-life crisis car, I have to say it's more of a mid-life enhancement.  I'm not experiencing a crisis, I'm just deferring my grown-up years a little bit more.  I never acted my age and this is no time to start.  To a second group who think of me as extravagant, I must say the car was less expensive than the RAV4 was 11 years ago; it’s the basic, entry-level V6 model.   

Last of all, let me approach car songs of pop culture: Pink Cadillac, Little Red Corvette, Mustang Sally.   Notice that these songs evoke American wheels in bright colors.  It’s not:  Beige Lexus,  Little Silver Mazda or Mitsubishi Sally.  Those songs wouldn’t play on the radio.  And neither will they play in my driveway.   If you’ve finished judging the impracticality of my purchase, then maybe you’re ready for me to “take you for a ride in my coupe”.  Minus the sexual double entendre of course.  

© 2012 blogSpotter