Sometimes I do things, regarding television, that just seem stupid to other people. I like to watch a series from the beginning to the end regardless of whether I’m enjoying it or not. For example, Seinfeld.

The past couple of months I’ve spent watching all nine seasons of Roseanne. I’ve learned a few things while being entertained.

First, a show needs time to prove itself. The characters need to be developed by the actors and vice versa. The story won’t be clear from the beginning but it will show up over time.

Second, comedians aren’t always the best choice for actors. Just because they can stand up on stage and crack jokes and tell stories, it doesn’t mean they’ll work well-being on camera.

Third, when the story finally finds itself, it needs to be guarded otherwise it will disappear. The best parts of Roseanne are the middle seasons. The beginning was shaky and the end just had me wishing for the real end.

Season eight had the best title credits and season nine had the best version of the theme song.

Finally, for me the best part of a television show is the last episodes. I like to see how the writers choose to tie up loose ends. I like to see how they change our notions about people and events and places in the show. In Seinfeld, the characters remained the same as they always did–being assholes. In The Wonder Years, we learn what happens to Kevin and Winnie after that fateful summer, and our hearts break. In both Friends and Boy Meets World, the gangs break up and go in their separate directions. In Roseanne, she writes off the last season as what would have been, not what was. We learn the truth about things that have been false the entire time. It hurts a little to know we’ve been deceived.

I’m both happy and sad that I’m done watching Roseanne because it was a good show and a bad show at the same time. I felt like I could relate to it because it was working class being working class. But the end took stabs at both working and upper classes and I didn’t like it one bit. In the end, it ruined the view we were given of a family just trying to barely get by.

If you’ve got nine seasons of television time to spare, I suggest watching Roseanne.