Roseanne begins to feel the empty-nest syndrome when Jackie departs for police training, Becky dates a 17-year-old and Darlene goes to a co-ed party.
The show portrayed a working-class family struggling to get by on a limited income in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. Many critics considered the show notable as one of the first sitcoms to portray an American family in which economics necessitated two parents working jobs outside the home.