Is the Bloom Off ‘Roseanne’?

After almost a decade of financial desperation, breakups, heartaches and tearful smiles, everything finally seems to be coming up roses for Roseanne Conner and her struggling family.

The blue-collar clan from ABC’s hit comedy “Roseanne” has won $108 million in the lottery and has dived headlong into the lifestyles of the rich and not-so-famous. The Conners have traveled in private planes to New York, been wined and dined by royalty, played touch football with the jet set in Martha’s Vineyard, and been poked and prodded in snooty spas.

And despite the departure from its typical realistic story lines, Roseanne, the star and creative powerhouse behind the show, said she is as excited as she has ever been about the comedy, even while she grapples with bittersweet emotions about this being its final season: “It’s sad. The reality of it is really staring at me.”

But while the Conners seem to be winning, some critics, industry insiders and even longtime fans of “Roseanne” fear that the series may be losing ground creatively and with viewers.

Reviewers at major newspapers and magazines have accused Roseanne and “Roseanne,” one of ABC’s most dependable hits, of abandoning the show’s working-class roots this season. They said the show has become a present-day “Beverly Hillbillies,” with the Conners romping with the rich instead of engaging in their usual family strife.

Others said the show, which has regularly featured offbeat guest casting, has become top-heavy with cameos by Tammy Faye Messner, Marlo Thomas, Moon Unit Zappa and the stars of “Absolutely Fabulous.” And they suggested that Roseanne has become self-indulgent with fantasy sequences in which she imagines she’s Jeannie from “I Dream of Jeannie” or the title characters from “Xena: The Warrior Princess” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

Tonight’s episode is a parody of “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory,” with Roseanne taking on the Steven Seagal role, and includes an appearance by Seagal.

The critical buzz about “Roseanne” grew louder last week when the show scored its lowest rating ever for an original episode. “Roseanne” was trounced by a heavily promoted episode of NBC’s “Mad About You” that guest-starred Carol Burnett and Carroll O’Connor, and it even trailed CBS’ “Promised Land.”

Said one executive producer of prime-time comedies who asked not to be identified: “As a viewer, it seems odd to me. This show has had such a significant impact on situation comedies. It’s always been grounded in reality, but very funny. It brought a psychological realism to the form. I hate to see it go out in a blaze of fantasy sequences and inappropriate guest choices.”

Roseanne, however, insists there is plenty of bloom left in “Roseanne.”

In an interview at her Brentwood home during which her tone ranged from quietly reflective to defiant, she defended the series’ new direction. The Conners’ winning the lottery was a way for Roseanne to make this season “an allegorical one,” exploring what she called the spiritual side of the show’s characters.

“Just because situations change doesn’t change these characters, their hopes, their dreams,” she said. “It’s so easy to say that it’s ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ and that money changes you. Maybe people aren’t going to get it for a few years.”

While artistic and practical considerations prompted the show to steer briefly away from its usual topical course, Roseanne said there is a definite method to the madcap, and that the Conners will be on more familiar ground when they return home next week for their Thanksgiving episode. For one thing, a member of the family “comes out of the closet,” she said.

“This is my ‘coming back to my roots’ season,” Roseanne said. “Maybe I’m going in the back door instead of the front, but it’s right at my roots. The thing is, the working people of this country dream of winning the lottery. It’s a working-class dream to win the lottery. The Conners’ dream came true.”

She added: “My last year is the year I’m going to give everyone’s character their dreams come true. That’s different from all of the other years. This season, if it’s about anything, it’s about hopes and dreams. . . . It’s not about the money. It’s about transformation and redemption.”

Roseanne said she knew she was pushing the envelope this season with the fantasy sequences and the family’s newfound wealth but that she was determined to use the story lines as a way to communicate to her audience lessons and insights she has learned about herself since the show’s premiere.

“I wanted to divide the season into three parts,” she said. “First, there’s the greed of the loot: You have lust and greed for spending the loot. This second part of the season I wanted to be about ‘What does it really mean, what does money really buy you?’ The last part of the season is about choice. A big choice.”

Even executives at ABC questioned the show’s direction this season, Roseanne said: “They were a bit concerned at first until I told them how it ends, and then they were very happy. I told them what I was doing and why I was doing it. They’re very supportive.”

Executives from ABC could not be reached for official comment, but high-placed sources said Roseanne had often caught the network off guard with her creative decisions. But they still have confidence in the show. “The ratings have been decent and steady,” one executive said.

Roseanne said she doesn’t dwell on the competition between her show and “Mad About You,” despite the NBC comedy’s victory last week.

“Look, I have a really great show against me,” she said. “They were in reruns for three weeks before that, then they had the greatest stunt casting in the world. They just were meant to win that night. That’s how it goes; that’s how TV goes.”

But she added, “I have beat them 10 out of 12 weeks. I don’t think [last week] is a trend. I think rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.”

Executives at NBC agreed.

“I would not say we’re taking a deep breath over here and saying, ‘This is a battle that we’ve won,’ ” said Preston Beckman, senior vice president of program planning and scheduling for NBC Entertainment.

“We’re dealing with one of the biggest television stars of the decade,” he said. “You never discount Roseanne or her ability to hit it out of the ballpark. She’s a broadcaster who understands how you stay on top for nine years. When she needs to get up for the game, she gets up. Last May, she cleaned ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’s’ clock.”

Roseanne said she knew she was taking risks with the family leaving home and with the fantasy sequences. But she said the change in direction was also necessary for “Roseanne.” “We had to leave the kitchen. Roseanne had to leave the house because there’s a big world out there that she hasn’t been in.”

She said the fantasy sequences were an effective comedy device to illustrate the desires of the characters: “It really goes to the inner life of the character.”

She paused, then chuckled and said: “They used to put me down for doing serious subjects on the show. Now they all do them. They all have gay characters, they all do Halloween. They all have everything they criticized me for, and believe me, in two years, they’ll all have fantasy sequences.”

At the conclusion of the season, Roseanne said, “That’s it for television. This has been a whole decade of my life. But I went through this for a reason. I wanted to say something, and I’m saying it.”

* “Roseanne” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC (Channel 7).