The Good

These Halloween episodes capture the feeling of being young and only caring about one thing: Trick or Treating

The Bad

I just wish there was more stuff in general.

Normally, I don't go for these DVD sets that only put out a few episodes from various seasons of a show that had a long run. My thinking is what's the point of buying it if you can just buy the whole season? Well, what I also don't think I have mentioned is that I don't like the randomness of it. And it is that randomness that never peeks it's ugly head in the Roseanne: Halloween Edition.

We are treated to the following seven episodes: "Boo," "Trick or Treat," "Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down," "Halloween IV," "Halloween V,"Skeleton In the Closet" and "Halloween: The Final Chapter." Whether we are seeing Dan and Roseanne one another, or DJ dressing up as a witch, or A Christmas Carol ala Halloween, Roseanne: Halloween Edition is a lot of fun to watch. In fact, I think one could have this playing on repeat as part of a haunted house and I don't think it would ruin the scares one bit.

Features

Audio Commentary Tracks

I am a true believer that if you are not going to include a lot of good stuff on a DVD, than you should probably have at least one or two solid bonus features. This DVD has one in that we get commentary tracks from Roseanne! She discusses the various episodes that make up this disc, giving us her classic wit, without revealing too much and taking away the mystery that is this show. While at times I wish she was a bit peppier, I did enjoy listening to her recall making these episodes that are so special to so many people.

Video

Full Screen. The image quality on these episodes was pretty good. What I found most interesting was getting to see the evolution of the Conner family over the course of this show's nine season run. There is just something comforting about having these characters frozen in time. It is as if they are a part of ourselves, and the looks and styles they had document who we were or where we were as a country when they were created. Anchor Bay has done a very fine job of bringing these episodes out.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. I didn't find the audio quality of these discs to be any better or any worse than what I hear when these shows play on Nick and Nite. I feel that there is an easy rhythm to this show that makes it work no matter how many times I see these episodes. I think the fact that these Halloween shows employed more effects and other kinds of noises, makes everything stand a bit more in a somewhat heightened state.

Package

Roseanne's face on the front cover graces this DVD. The cut out inside the pumpkin comes from one of the Halloween episodes credit sequence. There is also a lot of black and orange utilized to really give this disc the Halloween feel. The back cover has some more images from this show, a description of what is contained on this disc, a Special Features listing, and some technical specs. This one disc set is succinct enough to really make this DVD something special in it's own right.

Final Word

Truthfully, if you are collecting the show you probably don't need to own this. I say that because eventually you will get it anyway, and that would make Roseanne: Halloween Edition redundant within the confines of your collection. However, if you don't plan on collecting this show or you're very particular about what DVDs you want to add to your collection, then I would say this is all that you need as far as Roseanne is concerned. I found all these episodes to be enjoyable, and they also brought back the joyous feelings of Halloween Night that I experienced in my youth.

While I wish there were a lot more features on this DVD, I am certainly willing to take what Anchor Bay has given me here with the Roseanne: Halloween Edition.