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I wanted to know what ppl really felt about The Cosby show vs Roseanne and came across this thread. I'm on team Roseanne all the way and I never looked back. Now I grew up on the Cosby show all the way and probably watched most of their episodes, while Roseanne I remember changing the channel as soon as it came on. However as I grew up now 23, now looking back, as iconic as Cosby is, nothing on that show looked realistic. I came attached to Roseanne and wished I never took her show for granted. I feel Cosby is way to perfect, and crystal clean. Everything is by the books. That show displays an perfect example of what a family especially a black family should be. The show to me is like a lifetime goal pamphlet of being goal minded, never give up, and do the right thing, and you will live the life like the Huxtables. That is not a bad thing but at the sametime we are not all "Perfect". They lived in Brooklyn. Most likely Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights. I live in Brooklyn, I've been in both areas and I haven't came across not one black, white, hispanic, who ever that resemble the Huxtables.
Now the Conners, thy've went through every real life middle to low class family obstacle you can name. The Kids were not perfect, they hardly liked school, yet they all had chores & responsibilities and had to deal with it. The family was living from paycheck to paycheck, multiple jobs, faced financial problems, yet still managed to have dinner each and every night together at the dinner table. Now the kids can be harsh towards their parents at times but hello what teenagers you know don't rebel. I do have to agree though, I think by the last season the whole show kinda got nuts and off track. It started to go down hill way before the last season to me when the boyfriends came into the picture and actually lived in the house; idk who family does that, while the sister got pregnant and actually didn't want the baby father around until he actually stop trying and she begged for him back, lol. Also when Rossane didn't want Darlene to go to school for her Art dreams because she wanted her to stay home so she can torment her. Now that's not the Huxtable way! lol.. The last season actually explains itself in the very last episode which come to find out everything was a lie and they really did not win the lotto, Dan did not cheated, her sis was really gay, not mom, DJ was really a nerd and Becky & Darlene boyfriends were switched around. It was just her way to relieve her pain of Dan's passing by writing in her Diary in which her husband and kids gave her as a gift during the 1st-2nd season. So in all, the Conners and The Huxtable's both had there ups and downsides however the one that comes relatable to families is the Conners. It's Reality vs perfect Image.
I love them both but in different ways. The Huxtables are the family you want to be in, the Conners are the family you probably are in. Cosby is escapism. It's nice to visit a happy, charming family where every problem is solved in less than 22 minutes with plenty of jokes and musical numbers. Roseanne is great because it hits closer to home for most people. It tackles real issues with humor and you have to admire the family's perseverance. You know that if they can get through their problems then you can too.
There is one thing that bothers me about Roseanne. In the Conner house, the living room opens right up into the kitchen with a big entryway, so the two rooms are basically open to each other. But all the time characters will drag one another into the kitchen to talk about people in the living room. Like- Roseanne and Dan might be talking to one of Becky's boyfriends in the living room and they'll both go into the kitchen to talk about him behind his back. So they go into the kitchen and scream at each other about whoever is in the living room yet they're only about 15 feet away from the couch and there's no door or privacy so you can obviously hear them from the living room. it's just one of those staging things that annoys me.
I loved both shows but I wouldn't call Roseanne a family show though, unless everyone in your family is at least a teenager. So if guess Cosby wins by default, for me.
Both were funny to me. I agree Cosby was much more role model-y which was a deliberate choice on Mr. Cosby's part, and Rosanne was trying to be grittier. Ironically I think both shows lost some mojo towards the end. The Cosby Show started making the kids into plain idiots at whom the all knowing parents would smugly roll their eyes, and added obvious attempts to recreate the past with Olivia and Pam. Rosanne started losing its blue collar charm and getting downright unrealistic with plot twists that didn't feel organic at all (Jackie being so mean to the father of her child, the mom being a lesbian, the whole lottery mess) plus Rosanne Barr's plastic surgeries just made her look like a whole new person was playing the mom. But when both shows were in their prime they were fantastic. IMO.
My family was much more working class but I related to the Cosbys way more because my parents were like them. There was no talking back, church every Sunday, and big expectations for grades. There was no major teen drama in my house because we were all way too scared of our parents. LOL. All that said, my personality was closest to Darlene's as a teen so she was my fav character on both shows with Denise and Rosanne running neck and neck for second place. I am African American, from Brooklyn, and had more than one Cosby type couples at my church and as friends of the family so I never found that part unrealistic. If anything, they just would not have lived in Brooklyn Heights. It would have been Queens, in Jamaica Estates or Laurelton LOL. Or Fort Greene pre-gentrification if we were gonna stay in downtown Brooklyn. That was the only unrealistic part in my teenaged mind!
I just started getting into the show Roseanne and I have become so addicted because of the topics on the show. There were a lot more real life topics on Roseanne than the Cosby Show that you would never think you would see on a sitcom. Topics that the Cosby Show was never even attempted to feature such as unemployment, teen sex, erections, and domestic violence. I like both shows but if I had to chose one I think Roseanne gets the slight edge since it was the All in the Family of the 90's.
Any other TV fans prefer Roseanne over the Cosby Show?
Roseanne was much better, Cosby was so 1950s.
I agree. The "All in the Family" of the 90s. Edgy and issue oriented with imperfect people.
I loved the Cosby Show, couldn't stand Roseanne. Cosby is class. Roseanne is classless IMO. Never watched her show.
Both were funny but Roseanne just had more shocking moments which made it unpredictable. While the cosby show was funny and had class the episodes were usually predictable
I liked both shows (don't watch either anymore) but I think Roseanne was much more realistic than Cosby.
I agree!
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