Roseanne was one of the most popular shows on television in the 1990s. In fact, the show has been listed as one of the top 50 shows of all time. Right up until the last episode it was one of America’s favorite shows. Then, the final episode aired and people had a lot of issues with it.
When the last episode was released, fans were up in arms about the ending. In fact, the series finale actually borrowed a lot from another famous show.
Millions of people sat down to watch the final episode but were only met with disappointment. In particular, the final scene is a rip-off. During the final scene, Roseanne narrates as her family slowly disappears. The show ends with Roseanne sitting in an empty basement all alone.
Furthermore, the narration explains that she spends most of the show rewriting the bad things about her family’s life. So, viewers had to accept that Darlene was dating Mark, and Becky was dating David. More importantly, people were being forced to reconcile the fact that Dan Conner’s life was only in Roseanne’s imagination. In the end, fans had to come to terms with how weird this was for the show to end like this.
‘Roseanne’ Stealing Its Ending From Another Famous Show in the Early 1990s
As mentioned above, the show borrowed its ending. The show that Roseanne took its inspiration for the ending from was called Newhart.
Newhart‘s series finale is unmistakably similar. During its final episode, and in particular, the final scene, Newhart’s main character wakes up in bed next to a completely different wife. Consequently suggesting that Dick Loudon and his wife never existed.
Even more interesting, though, is that Newhart borrows their finale from another show as well. Neither Roseanne nor Newhart have original endings, which disappoints their fans. In particular, Newhart is a show designed to mock the storyline of Dallas.
Newhart directly stole the ending from Dallas’ season finale by explaining that the entire season was just a dream. They did this to bring a character back to the show.
So, no matter what show you love to watch, the chances are high that there will be unoriginal pieces to it. In particular, the TV show endings.
[H/T CheatSheet]
