Move Over, ‘Murphy,’ Here Comes ‘Roseanne’ : Television: Top-rated sitcom will show the Conners struggling to keep their heads above water in a sea of economic hardship.

While the media wait for Monday’s season opener of “Murphy Brown” to respond to Vice President Dan Quayle’s recent swipes against single motherhood, the nation’s top-rated comedy tonight launches a sneak attack on the Bush Administration that cuts to the heart of the presidential campaign--the economy.

The fifth season opener of “Roseanne” on ABC at 9 p.m. finds the fictional blue-collar Conner family struggling to keep their heads above water in the sea of national economic hardship.

In the episode, the bills are piling up and the family is barely hanging on to its Midwestern tract home. Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Arnold), who lost her job last season at a luncheonette, competes with hundreds of others for menial work. Dan Conner (John Goodman) is so behind on the mortgage payments that he is forced to sell the motorcycle shop where he worked with Mark (Glenn Quinn), the boyfriend of the couple’s oldest daughter, Becky (Lecy Goranson).

Becky becomes distraught and angry as she realizes that her parents can no longer afford to send her to college. When Mark gets a job offer in Minneapolis, she elopes, sending her parents reeling.

Roseanne Arnold, the star and co-executive producer of “Roseanne,” and husband Tom Arnold, who is also co-executive producer, contended in an interview that the comedy’s more serious, political edge has been constantly overlooked by a “cultural elitist” media that are more comfortable dealing with the couple’s off-screen behavior, as well as the more obvious political barbs of “Murphy Brown.”

“It’s funny that people are waiting for ‘Murphy Brown,’ saying, ‘Oh, we can’t wait to see what jokes she’s going to do about Dan Quayle,’ ” said Tom Arnold. “That’s great, but Jay Leno does them every night.”

“Everyone does,” interjected Roseanne. “It’s so boring.”

Tom Arnold continued: “I don’t want to criticize their show because it’s a real good show. But it’s funny that people consider that the show to watch about politics. That just shows what they don’t know, and we don’t have any power over that.

“This whole show is talking about what’s been happening under the George Bush and Ronald Reagan tenure,” he said. “What’s happening to the Conners is happening to millions of other families. They’re struggling, they can’t afford to send their kids to college. It’s very ugly.”

He added, “We don’t do jokes about Dan Quayle. He won’t watch our show because it would be too painful, because it’s reality.”

As the season progresses, matters will get worse for the Conners before they get better. The series will reflect Roseanne and Dan trying to keep their family together during hard times.

“Roseanne” was television’s top-rated series last season. It attracts between 24 million and 25 million viewers a week. Besides the Arnolds, its executive producers are Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Jay Daniel and Bruce Helford.

In an interview at their Brentwood home, the Arnolds said that they believe their show is the true reflection of the nation’s discontent.

Roseanne said her series is making a political statement, “but we do it. We don’t talk it.”

“Roseanne” avoids any direct political references, although there is one joke tonight where Dan tells Roseanne that he asked the bank to delay foreclosure on the house until after the election.

“I never wanted to preach anything because I don’t like preaching. It makes me sick, especially when it happens in Hollywood,” said Roseanne. “But we can hold a mirror up to things.”

It remains to be seen what effect, if any, “Roseanne” or “Murphy Brown” will have on national politics or the November elections. But they could very well add fuel to the escalating war between Washington and the television industry that erupted last spring when Quayle criticized “Murphy Brown” because the title character had a child out of wedlock.

The comments propelled the term “family values” into the presidential campaign.

The battle grew even more heated a few weeks ago when “Murphy Brown” creator Diane English and several other celebrities slammed Quayle and other Republicans during the Emmy Awards.

Although they had not yet seen the “Roseanne” season opener, political experts and consultants were already pondering the effect the show might have on voters as the presidential election draws closer.

Shanto Iyengar, a professor of political science and communications at UCLA, said that viewers may identify closely with the Conners, which could stir up animosity against Bush and the Republican Party.

“Shows like this just reaffirm the notion that politicians are out there talking about family values that really have no relevance to real people or characters like those on ‘Roseanne,’ ” Iyengar said. “It could prove to be problematic for right-wing rhetoric.”

Pollster Mervyn Field, who is director of the California Poll, said that “Roseanne” and other entertainment shows criticizing the Administration can make an impact not only on viewers but also on the national debate between supporters of the two presidential candidates.

“It reinforces the concerns and apprehension and pain that people are feeling,” Field said. “When a half-hour comedy talks about problems that are affecting families, that’s a real breakthrough for the whole political process in terms of promoting dialogue.

“Also, if the treatment is substantive, people can be sympathetic. But it can’t be entirely heavy. There has to be an upbeat comic aspect.”

Other political observers doubted that the show could have a noticeable impact on the election.

Bob Stiens, campaign director for Cerrell Associates Inc., a political and public-affairs consulting firm, said, “I seriously doubt whether anyone devoted to Bush would watch ‘Roseanne’ and say, ‘Well, we better vote for Clinton.’

“But it might put a different view on family values,” he added. “The economy says a lot about the current Administration’s philosophy of family values. It shows that what people really need is a government that cares about jobs. That will take care of the family.”

Edwin Guthman, a USC journalism professor specializing in politics and the media, said, “When people tune into a comedy, they know they are watching a show, not a documentary or news report. It might coincide with their own views but it won’t be the basis on which they’ll make a political judgment.”

Spokesmen for Bush and Quayle did not return phone calls.

The Arnolds said they don’t believe voters will be swayed one way or the other by their show.

“It’s not up to us to persuade anybody,” said Roseanne. “That kind of stuff is disgusting. People already have their ideas. We’re not going to talk about who the Conners are going to vote for. I think people would turn us off real quick.”

She added that the Conners are not a politically oriented family: “I think they’re anti-government. They don’t like right-wing people, but they probably wouldn’t trust left-wing people either. They’re somewhere in the middle of it all, not knowing what anything stands for anymore. So really what they do is go to work and come home to be with their family, and try to make do.”