Roseanne: "Boo!"

Premiered October 31, 1989

Roseanne:"Halloween is the one night of the entire year
where the veil is lifted between the living and the dead.
And the dead return from Hell to walk the Earth.
And we have to dress up like ghosts and goblins and stuff.
To fake out the evil spirits. Or else they might carry us back to Hell with them!"

Becky:So why do the dead people come back?

Roseanne:For the candy! There's no chocolate in Hell, that's WHY it's Hell!

In the Connor family's kitchen, Roseanne and her sister Jackie are making caramel apples for their upcoming Halloween party. DJ says he's dressing up as a Ninja, his sisters Becky & Darlene act like they're too "mature" for costumes. Roseanne gives them a hard time about that, but Becky says she'll be attending her friend Marcy Michaelson's Halloween party. Dan enters the scene. Roseanne claims to be "the champ" of scaring, Dan claims he's the best in the family.


Breakfast of Halloween morning is eventful: Roseanne pretends she is being shocked by the toaster, Darlene pretends her tongue is cut out and "bleeds" into Becky's cereal. Dan comes inside covered with blood, he says he's cut himself on a jigsaw. Roseanne freaks out...but it's fake blood! Dan says this proves he is "the Master" of scares.

On Halloween night, Dan is awaiting an important call from a man named Jeff, who might be interested in giving Dan a construction job. Becky is in a bad mood, insulting Darlene (more than usual) and yelling at her mother. It turns out Becky wasn't invited to Marcy Michaelson's party. Her parents try to cheer her up by saying she'll have a good time at their party, Becky isn't interested and says she hates Halloween. Roseanne gives Becky a speech about the meaning of Halloween (see the pull quote at the top of this review). Becky's mood improves, she's decided to dress up and participate in the Conner's Halloween party.

Dan has a "splitting headache"!

The festivities begin:trick or treaters arrive. The Conners have turned their living room into a haunted house, they call it "The Tunnel Of Terror". Roseanne and Dan keep attempting to scare each other through various means. But only one can be "The Master" of Halloween scares! Who will be the scariest? Watch the show and find out!

J.A. Morris says:
A very good episode, fans of the series will remember that 'Roseanne' always went all out for Halloween. This episode is over 20 years old, but it still holds up pretty well. Roseanne and Dan's methods of scaring one another are all very funny, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers. I This entire cast plays off each other so well, it feels like there was a lot of improvisational stuff that made it into the final script. I appreciated the daughters' attitudes about Halloween too. Teens and adolescents like Becky and Darlene still struggle over wearing costumes(it was a tough decision for me when I stopped) as they're torn between growing up and holding on to childhood activities. All in all, a great episode of a great series, and you don't need to be a 'Roseanne' aficionado to enjoy 'Boo!'.

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns


RigbyMel says:

I didn't watch "Roseanne" regularly when it was first airing, but have enjoyed the odd episode in re-runs and on DVD. This Halloween show is quite a lot of fun. I like the way it captures the funny, but true to life sibling dynamics (as the oldest of 4 children, I can relate) and I Roseanne and Dan's attempts to out-scare each other perhaps a little mean-spirited but also believable in a funny way. This episode is well worth adding to your Halloween viewing, although I am not 100% convinced it is a "classic."

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns