When “Jerry Garcia’s Ghost” Made A Cameo On Roseanne

Roseanne Barr has recently been back in the news after sporting cornrows and “rapping” pro-Trump / anti-trans rhetoric in a sub-mediocre video by white supremacist Canadian wrestler-turned-“MAGA rapper,” Tom MacDonald. I won’t be posting any links to it here, because it’s a complete shitshow of ignorance and appropriation that doesn’t deserve the attention. Completely devoid of any musical or creative substance, this is the type of lazy garbage created with no other aim than appealing to the corny belligerent right-wing “Let’s Go Brandon!” set. Unfortunately, Barr‘s involvement is just a continuation of the angry, paranoid, and bigoted characteristics she’s increasingly displayed since being killed off the reboot of her own program due to racist tweets back in 2018.

Ironically, one of Roseanne‘s original controversies was another cringe-worthy music-related performance that enraged right-wing Americans. In 1990, the comedian grabbed her crotch and spat while singing the National Anthem off-key before a Padres game. That stunt outraged the self-proclaimed “patriots” and the wholesome parenting crowd alike with the pearl-clutching reaching as high as then-president George Bush Sr., who referred to her antics as “disgraceful.”

Those who don’t remember Roseanne doing cool shit back in the day might be shocked to learn how her show was lauded for its strong feminist elements and unapologetically showcasing the life of a struggling working-class family on prime-time TV. Shows like Good Times had done similar things before, while other sitcoms like Alice and One Day At A Time even made working-class mothers central figures, but Roseanne, which expanded the “domestic goddess” persona of Barr‘s standup, was a little more raw, in your face, and unapologetic about all of it. Episodes even go on to address major social issues like domestic violence, racism, and homophobia. 

The initial run of the sitcom lasted 9 seasons, the last of which involved the family, who we loved for their reliability, winning the lottery and becoming disgustingly rich. The show had already jumped the shark the season prior, when Dan and Roseanne had a baby in their 40s. Although it allowed the program to address such complex subject matter as abortion, introducing a baby is a well-established tactic used by producers to inject a spark into a dying institution.

The TV baby was born on Halloween in 1995 and named Jerome “Jerry” Garcia Conner in tribute to the Grateful Dead frontman who died of a heart attack only a couple of months earlier on August 9. As you can see in this clip, Jerry‘s “ghost” visits her through the hospital monitor before a swarm of tie-dyed goofs rolls in performing cartwheels. It’s ridiculously hacky and might have been lost to time if it wasn’t for this state-of-the-art fiasco/technological wonder known as the internet. Garcia‘s message about the human race needing “spiritual connection to each other” feels even more out of place knowing what Roseanne‘s social views have devolved into 30 years later.

Watch this awkward, misguided, and forgettable piece of television history below.