Why Are The Conners Always SO Broke?

I understand the premise of The Conners — lower middle class, struggling financially, etc. I appreciate the message and what they’re trying to do.

But tonight’s finale? Dan was behind on his mortgage and going to lose the house. HUH??? How many years have they lived in that house and why isn’t it paid off yet?

What do they spend their money on? No one’s throwing away money on gambling, no one’s buying expensive cars or clothes, no one’s renovating, no one’s going to college. Their explanation is that Dan’s business is slow. Really?

On a show that aims for realism, it all sounds so false to me.

I would imagine, like many struggling people, Dan has refinanced a few times and taken a second mortgage out.

[quote]How many years have they lived in that house and why isn’t it paid off yet?

Ask any of the million poors in this nation, simpleton.

They never turn any of the lights in their living room, kitchen, or hallway off. Their electric bills must be high.

Roseanne owned a restaurant.

[QUOTE] I would imagine, like many struggling people, Dan has refinanced a few times and taken a second mortgage out.

And he’s always making the minimum payment allowed. With the interest, he’ll never be able keep up, and that’s just the way the bank wants it.

Did Becky marry her Mexican stud?

I still do not understand why DJ is treated like an extra. He's an original cast member. He should have a major storyline of his own just like the others. Darlene's bf is essentially just a guest star and gets more to do than DJ.

They said the other day that they plan to write the pandemic into next season's storyline, so no doubt their financial problems are about to get about 10x worse than they are now.

Because Darlene spent it all on hookers and meth.

OP had parents that went college and bought him new toys all the time!

DJ is treated like an extra because he's a terrible actor.

[quote]On a show that aims for realism, it all sounds so false to me.

Clearly, OP has no idea how much working class people struggle. Including benefits and bonuses, the average wage for a full-time, hourly worker at Walmart is $14.26 an hour. Now, if we adjust for the benefits portion of that, the hourly wage that they take home is probably somewhere between $9-10 (the traditional adjustment for "all-in" employee costs is between 28%-35% on top of payroll). Assuming you are paid for working 52 weeks/year, 40hrs/week - that's $18-20K take home pay. Walmart is probably the single largest employer in the US with over 1.5 million "associates" in stores.

The mortgage hasn't been paid off because they're probably refinanced a couple times to cover expenses that arise like roof repair, hot water heater. Dan's stated that he had to get a second mortgage to help make ends meet. The mortgage itself was probably based on the income from Roseanne and Dan both working full-time jobs. However, Roseanne lost her job a few times - Wellman Plastics where the she worked when the show started went out of business and laid off everyone. It was a major employer in the area, so a lot of people were probably out of work for a long time.

Dan's been supporting his children financially on-and-off for their entire lives, even as adults.

Combine this with poor financial education and lack of understanding around basic financial matters, you have a recipe for financial disaster.

An uncle of mine died a few years ago at 87, with a mortgage. It happens.

They're all meth addicts, obviously.

Just look at them.

R7 Roseanne has said that she'd planned to feature DJ, his wife, and their daughter more in the second season of the reboot, and address race in present day America. But then she got fired, and The Conners has rarely given those three characters any airtime.

I spent it all on candy and records.

Dan probably has no business staying in that house, to be honest. He’s barely above water and a couple bad weeks away from catastrophe. If he can’t afford to save, then he’s living beyond his means and would be better off some place more affordable. He’s basically renting his house from the bank that owns the mortgage. I know quite a few suburbanites like him.

Taxes don't help in some areas either. Taxes by my house have risen 60% in 2 years. Thank all the developers selling 500k homes in areas, and home flippers raising up the taxes. It's exactly the same cost as the mortgage but for life.

Credit card debt. Medical bills.

R11, DJ is a pretty bad actor, though it's nice to see them give him some work. I do wish they would give his daughter more of a storyline.

They're always broke because they're stupid, always making bad decisions, always having babies, never learning anything from their mistakes. The Connors are trash. That's why.

He could act all he wanted to; he is stuck with the Roseanne piggy eyes that got him the role in the first place. That woman’s ego gave us a terrible actor.

I don't get it either. They're on a hit show but still poor as fuck.

Darlene is living there with her two children, is she not contributing?

They live in Illinois so their taxes are probably more than their house payment.

The persistence of the Conner's poverty and the unpaid-off mortgage are the most realistic things about this show.

So that when they do play out the current pandemic on the show they'll be right in the throes of the cycle of debt that Chumps ushered in. I actually hope that politics hits the show again but without the right wingnut at the helm.

They got a second mortgage in the original series so Dan could start the bike shop. This would be the 3rd or 4th mortgage at least.

And yes, people stuck in a poverty loop will leverage the only asset they have, treating it as an income source instead of an investment out of necessity. The problem is this new version of the show doesn't do as good a job as the original of showing the how and why they are where they are. At the end of the first season, they got some kind of money from the flooding that paid for Roseanne's surgery. Dan should be on Medicare. So show us WHY he needed another mortgage for medical bills in a way that makes sense to the audience.

I liked Michael Fishman as a child actor. He started sucking as he grew into his older teens but so did the writing in those later seasons. Then again, Sara and Lecy were better actors in their teen years too.

I’m sure he’s happy just getting a paycheck at this point.

Roseanne used a lot of the money for drugs because she was addicted to painkillers. Funeral expenses can be a drain, too.

Yikes. You can tell OP is so damn ignorant of how most people in this country live.

Dan said he refinanced and that's why he's behind. I'd guess that in the US if you don't have things like medical insurance, debts can add up quickly. I think Dan was also supposed to be slightly, shall I say, lazy? Maybe not lazy, but not overly motivated. At any rate, it's a plot point to allow Darlene and Ben complete their transition to Roseanne and Dan. Notice the story-line where a 40-something Darlene, whose kids are teenagers, is trying to get pregnant? Sound familiar? The Conners is about the kids reliving the lives of their parents. Which doesn't make total sense when you consider Darlene is educated - surely, she could at least get a job teaching or at a bank or something.

I love that this show continues to run and Roseanne seethes.

In real life, people always try to make themselves feel better by telling themselves that people are poor because of some flaw in their character.

I did not expect to see the same trait when when they discuss fictional characters.

"Which doesn't make total sense when you consider Darlene is educated - surely, she could at least get a job teaching or at a bank or something."

Yeah, what prevented the "educated" Darlene from getting a decent job and sticking with it to support her family? She turned out to be as much as loser as the rest of her family.

Roseanne needs to knock on that goddamn door, smack Darlene upside the head and tell everyone what a terrible dream she had.

They live paycheck to paycheck like many Americans. My parents lived like that. Always broke. I am much better off than they ever were. But I don't have to have beer in fridge at all times either.

I understand the "Michael Fishman is not an actor" point of view but this is a sitcom, not Shakespeare -- I'm sure if given the opportunity he could toss off a few one-liners or handle a scene going to the school to confront a teacher who said something offensive to his daughter. And you mean his father could be facing losing the family home and DJ isn't going to jump in, like Darlene did tonight, and say "Dad, let's figure this out because there's no way we're going to let them take our house" as opposed to just standing around like a statue with a laundry basket under his arm? After all, that's the roof over his daughter's head, too, not just his father's and no grown man would be that passive while watching everything he's ever known be potentially swept away, particularly on a show that wants to portray itself as being so real as "The Conners" does.

I also think they're missing an opportunity in that Fishman, though a bit weathered-looking, turned out to be a fairly attractive guy. If the writers were to make DJ a mechanic and let him slide out from under a car wearing a wife-beater and with some dirt on his chest, the frau quotient in the audience might go up a bit. Add in the fact that he's a single father with an adorable little girl to bring out his soft side and the fraus might go nuts for him.

[quote]I’m sure he’s happy just getting a paycheck at this point.

The problem is, I'd be willing to bet this statement is 100% true. Fishman probably doesn't give a shit and is just happy to be pulling down a paycheck as an actor, something he likely never thought he'd do ever again after the original series was over. And all he has to do for it is cough up two lines a week, so I doubt he's pushing for more airtime and the producers are obviously perfectly good with that.

"frau quotient" s/b "frau portion" -- I didn't go back to edit

Darlene didn't finish college because she got pregnant.

R40, she’s doing great for a writer.

I don't really watch the show, I just keep up with it through recaps. R38 Are you saying DJ and his daughter live with Dan, too? Then the real life thing would be for him to get a VA loan and purchase the house.

Why should DJ be featured more? He was an afterthought in the original show and I see no reason for that to change now.

"Roseanne has said that she'd planned to feature DJ, his wife, and their daughter more in the second season of the reboot, and address race in present day America. "

But instead she decided to "address race" in a tweet.

So clever and concise of her.

At the end of the season that still had Roseanne, there was an explanation about the detrimental effect that illegal aliens had on Dan’s business.

This is not about lower middle-class, this is just white trash. DJ can't get a VA loan to buy the dump, because Dan has refinanced so many times he's upside-down on the mortgages. Dan needs to just pack his shit, and let the bank foreclose, which is the only way he's going to get rid of the freeloading kids and their equally freeloading spouses and spawn. Once that happens, he can move into Section 8 housing with the other fat, lazy dumbasses, which is where he should already be if the the damn show is going to be at all believable, using his food stamps to fund his chocolate milk and Little Debbie addiction, and file bankruptcy, which will finally alleviate the mounds of credit card debt. Once that happens, he'll be unable to get credit cards for about 7 years, and MAYBE he will have learned that you don't spend more than you have, but considering that the collective IQ of the family seems to be about 20, I'm sure he'll apply for a "starter" card, with an APR of 54.2% and max it out at the Dollar General buying Christmas presents and taking everyone out to celebrate at the Krusty Krab. In the meantime, NOW is the time for DJ to buy the house back with a VA loan, since its REO at the Bank of Bumfuck, and is down to its appraised value of $19k. And at that point, the final episode will reveal most of the clan is living in a cardboard box just off Main Street under a faux-Banksy portrait of Roseanne. Fadeout, and CUT.

R46 I doubt the Dan owes that much more than the house is worth. Banks aren't going to refinance it for that much, considering the age of the property and the neighborhood. Lanford, Ill. isn't LA or NYC where a shack in a bad neighborhood can go for millions. But, I also doubt that the bank would even sell it for $19k. The house would probably appraise for around $100,000. The bones of the house are more than likely good, considering Dan is a construction guy. Between Dan and the kids living there, there really shouldn't be a reason that they can't make the payments.

The producers discuss the season finale episode:

Isn't the original show still on syndication everywhere? I'm sure Fishman wasn't hurting for money.

I thought they won the lottery at one time?

[quote]I thought they won the lottery at one time?

Everything that happened that season has been disregarded.

I dont watch the show, but 3 families live at the house now, but they still can't pay the mortgage for a $100k house? I come from a working class family and my mother used all available money to pay off our mortgage when I was a child. No new cars, no flat screen Tv's, no vacations, no eating at restaurants expect for special occasions. 10 years and the house was paid off and they enjoy their retirement now in a mortgage free house. It is doable even for working class families and with minimum wage. Just don't spend more money than you have, save as much as you can and don't buy unnecessary shit.

Well when your mother is a racist drug addict, that's hard to recover from.

R53 Whatever you might believe about Roseanne the real life person, Roseanne the character was NEVER racist.

How did my father/ r3 find the DL?????

Some very insightful comments here. I'll add they seem quite fond of pizza delivery, and fried chicken: that can be expensive when you're poor. I suspect they drank a lot of their money at The Lobo. It is a fictional TV series, so we ruin it by digging too deep.

[quote]It is a fictional TV series, so we ruin it by digging too deep.

In that case, DL has been ruining Golden Girls and I Love Lucy for YEARS!

Thanks for not typing Yipes, R31.

Jeepers.

R58 I don't read those threads, and never watched those shows either. I'm not sure I get the comparison really.

A bigger question is how the hell did Dan mysteriously lose so much weight when none of his bad habits subsided over time -- he's still drinking tons of sixpacks, eating copious amounts of fatty food, etc.

R55 I heard my father's voice in my head as I typed that, trust me!

At the end of the first new season, their house flooded and they didn't have flood insurance. No one has health insurance. Dan was doing drywall with illegals. They aren't even paycheck-to-paycheck people -- they aspire to be that. They couldn't even use their free points to stay in a hotel because they didn't have a working credit card to put down.

What's amazing is that they never lost the house.

R51: Everything is disregarded, which is why I refuse to watch this reboot after the two parter where they premiered. Remember, Mark married Darlene and Becky married David and she switched them. So a good chunk of the show was her book, even before Season 9. So there was timeline 1 (partial fantasy), timeline 2 (lottery, total fantasy), timeline 3 (Dan dead, the real thing until 2017), and now timeline 4, where I guess we all wait to see what is included to make it "real", my understanding is The Lunchbox is real now but Andy, Jackie's gay son, is not? Whatever.

They all just got $1200. The house can't be worth much more than that.

R15, Roseanne says a lot of things.

[quote] but Andy, Jackie's gay son, is not?

Huh?

[quote] Roseanne the character was NEVER racist.

Until 2018.

Why, oh, why didn’t they have Louise (Katey Sagal) say that she was once with a guy who played high school football and sold women’s shoes??!! People keep bringing this up. It would have been epic!

What the fuck did they spend all their lottery winnings on?

R63, no the first season of the reboot ended with them getting some kind of federal emergency money, and Dan planned to do the repairs himself and use the money instead for Roseanne's surgery. She then dies after the surgery. Also Dan must be on Medicare. Same with Roseanne, which is another example of how the show is sloppy in showing why the family is always struggling. It would take 30 seconds to demonstrate how even with good insurance, a family can fall behind due to copays and out of pocket expenses.

R63 Roseanne should have been on Medicare when she died, and Dan should be as well. DJ would have VA benefits, but more importantly if DJ actually retired from the Army, he and his family would have Tricare coverage, which is much better than the VA. Darlene went to work at the Casino specifically because they provide benefits, and her children would be covered under some sort of SCHIP.

R68 Even then she wasn't. Voting for Trump in 2016 DOES NOT make you a racist, and the more people try to make that argument the more you are helping Trump to hold onto those voters. Remember the episode with the Muslim neighbors and how she blessed out the cashier, that wasn't a speech of a racist bigot.

[quote]Remember the episode with the Muslim neighbors and how she blessed out the cashier, that wasn't a speech of a racist bigot.

She was saying that the Muslim neighbors were terrorists until they gave her their wifi password when her internet got cut off. She was plenty bigoted until they helped her broke ass out.

Most ALL people on TV sitcoms from every era talk about their lack of finances, even ones who have a live in maid.

R73 That is how people change in the real world. Realizing that other people are just like you.

I've forgotten. Why did the loose meat restaurant fail?

R76, even the Lanford townspeople realized the food was probably crap?

Apparently Darlene had to move in because she couldn't find a job. When unemployment was at a 40-year-low over the past couple of years. And she lived in Chicago and had a four-year degree. She gets no child support because the writers turned the character of David into a deadbeat dad. And now, at 43 years old, unemployed and unable to find a job, and living with her dad, she's seeing a fertility doctor to try to get pregnant. WTF

The rest of the show checks out, though. A lot of far-out suburbs offer few white-collar jobs. When I lived in the Shenandoah mountains, I knew people who drove 45 minutes each way to get to their fast food job, because they didn't want to work in the poultry factories. The malls are drying up and so are a lot of other retail stores. A lot of low-paying jobs don't offer medical insurance or paid time off. So, a medical emergency can destroy your savings.

R76 I don't think that was ever addressed. I think they still had the restaurant by the end of the show's original run, but it was never mentioned in the reboot season.

R76, also a Mexican restaurant opened up in Lanford. The townspeople had more exciting dining options than Roseanne's loose meat sandwiches.

When they "won the lottery," they gave the diner to Nancy. No word on what became of it since that was a fantasy. It simply hasn't been mentioned in the new shows, just like Jackie's son and ex-husband.

It was established in the new series that after The Lunchbox closed, Beverly still owned the building and leased it to a Chinese Restaurant, but didn't do repairs and let the building fall into disrepair. After, that business closed Jackie and Becky have been trying to reopen the restaurant as a pizza parlor. It has been the primary issue between Jackie and Becky against Darlene. It led up to the infamous slap from last year.

R82 Was the Lunchbox ever mentioned on the reboot season of Roseanne?

The whole tone of the reboot is completely off. It doesn't have the original's light heartedness and humor. Also some of the character's situations and predicaments make no sense given the characters that people were so familiar with from the original.

It's ridiculous that Darlene would want to start another family. She has no job and no money. You'd expect this sloppiness from Becky, but Darlene was the rational, level headed one who's mission was to do better. She wouldn't keep plunging herself into poverty like this.

Also, Beverly giving only one of Darlene's kids money rang false as well. The original Beverly may have been a shrew, but she was not a cold hearted bitch. And then to rat Darlene out that like in front of her kids. Just awful.

Becky is the only one they seem to really "get".

Can they give Laurie Metcalf an actual storyline?

The go to the casinos a lot.

I can't stand Darlene's kids.

They remodel too much. The stairs down to the basement used to be off the kitchen. Then they were moved to the back porch. Now they're at the end of the hallway next to the bathroom.

Balance. Land Katey Sagal for a GF, lose your home.

I don't have any real trouble buying into a storyline about Darlene wanting another child. Many women seemingly trapped in the cycle of poverty make this mistake. I also know being poor doesn't prevent people's desire for more than one child. Look at China or India, or America really.

R90 But, Darlene already has two.

R91 Yes, but the wise thing to do if you're poor, and cannot resist the desire, you have one. That was the point. I never thought it was fair to claim poor people shouldn't have children; I just thought one would be the proper compromise until things improve.

Most Americans have no idea what it means to live paycheck to paycheck or what it's like to not have any assets to leverage. But it comes down to an astronomical rise in medical care, rent, and education over the past 30 years. You can't accumulate assets or even make bad decisions when you have nothing extra. And for people like this, there's no amazing year or huge bonus that helps wipe out debt.

It's staying afloat for years , in a state of constant physical and financial stress until a circumstance knocks you down or out again. Could be a single health event or something like lack of flood insurance. And until that event happens, there's never any extra to think about starting elsewhere or even looking for a job in another city or state (and travel isn't free).

Americans also have a welfare system that is insane. Benefits are cut off as soon as you start earning money, which might be the same or less than you were getting in benefits. And right wingers think that's the reason to take the benefits away altogether. The problem is that lots of people have health issues and have no way to out earn the increases in health insurance. and Americans until now havent been interested in letting people buy into medicare.

[quote]Why Are The Conners Always SO Broke?

They’re fine! They send their love!

"You can't accumulate assets or even make bad decisions when you have nothing extra."

This is the crux of the problem. If you're poor in a country with as shitty a safety net as the US, a bad decision, an accident, or a tragic event a that for middle class or wealthier folks would be a setback instead becomes catastrophic.

"You can't accumulate assets or even make bad decisions when you have nothing extra."

This is the crux of the problem. If you're poor in a country with as shitty a safety net as the US, a bad decision, an accident, or a tragic event a that for middle class or wealthier folks would be a setback instead becomes catastrophic.

I think next season they should all be dead of 'rona.

Because they are American workers with a bunch of children.

Plenty of "American workers" have "a bunch of children" and are NOT broke. The Connors are because they're white trash, losers, clods. How could anybody not see THAT?

Roseanne got the 'rona when she was kissed by that lesbian. It was one of the first cases in the US and it went untreated.

Maybe they'll kill someone off from rona. Who's a likely candidate?

R95 and R96 I'm going to disagree with your wording because I think there's an important distinction to be made here. You both refer to an accident or tragic event that destroys a family just staying afloat financially.

I'll suggest it's far more mundane expenses than that and that over the course of a decade, nearly 100% of families will be hit with some unexpected expenses that might be less than $5k but are enough to either wipe them out or put them into credit card debt that eats away at them until the next unexpected event a few years later.

Beverly will die next season due to coronavirus.