Don't worry, it wasn't over anything serious. It was because I was watching Roseanne. Well, maybe that is a reason for worry.
Being the domestic goddess that I am, I spent the early morning hours cleaning up the apartment and doing a few loads of laundry, and when I was done I sat down to eat the lovely egg white omelette with grilled peppers,sauted spinach, queso and habanero salsa I had made. Normally I don't watch TV during the day, but today I decided to click it on and plant myself on the couch while eating my breakfast. While flipping through the guide, I noticed my all-time favorite show about The Domestic Goddess was on, so I figured how apropos, perhaps I'll catch a few minutes and have a laugh or two.
Well, the particular episode that was airing was from the last season (the one where they won the lottery - not my favorite), but the scene that was playing was in the NICU at the hospital where Darlene's premature and seriously ill baby was being kept. All the women of the Connor family were passing this tiny baby around and telling her how much they loved her and how much they wanted her to hang on and fight. Jackie (Laurie Metcalfe, a terrifically talented actress) was telling the little baby about how she had almost fallen out of the car when she was 5, but how her mother had grabbed her by the hair at the last moment and saved her, and that if she (the little baby) felt like she was about the fall away that they would be there to grab her and let me tell you I LOST IT. The baby gets passed around to everyone, more stories, everyone's crying, they keep cutting back to a shot of real, tiny baby, and I am on the couch, fork in hand, BLUBBERING. I had to put my omelette down and go to the other room to grab a few tissues to wipe off the snot running down my face.
Now, there are lots of people out there, I'm sure, who don't understand how I can watch TV, let alone Roseanne, for three minutes and turn into a puddle of goo. But that show - that show has always been able to reach out, grab right around my heart and give it a good squeeze. It's the kind of show that makes me proud to be in show business. I know there are lots of stories about how working with Roseanne and being on that show was difficult, but you never see that on the screen. They all look and act like they really care about each other and the stories they are telling. All I see is a real human story, with regular kinds of working-class people who have strong and complicated relationships with one another. I feel like I'm watching my own life when I watch that show. Whether it's funny or sad or ridiculous, I come away feeling, well, a little more connected to the world. Like we're all having different variations of the same life experience. Plus John Goodman really reminds me of my dad, so that certainly doesn't hurt.
I know, I know, it's just a TV show. But it's a damn good TV show.
Okay, time to the do the dishes.
Go Happy!
Amy
I remember that episode and those words. I got choked up reading it just now and had to take a minute to compose myself. I think it resonates with me because they seemed like any family living on your block. Especially since we come from the Midwest. My personal favorite episode, though, is when they find the "ganja" and smoke it in the bathroom. That's hysterical.
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