Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore - S1-E20
Question: Why did the family not go to the basement?
Question: Why In the opening credits is Roseanne's full name shown as Roseanne Arnold, when she didn't marry Tom Arnold till 1990 and this episode came out in 1988?
Question: When the family is having dinner, and Ed tells them about how he almost invented rear windshield wipers, he mentions that at the time, Dan was three years old and Audrey was eight months pregnant and required a bathroom break, so he lost his train of thought on the wipers. For the rest of the series, Dan is portrayed as an only child until his father marries Crystal. So, what happened to that sibling? Was anything else ever mentioned over the course of the series?
Answer: It was never mentioned again or explained, and Dan was always portrayed as an only child until Ed married Crystal. There could be any number of explanations, such as Audrey had a miscarriage or stillborn, the baby died shortly after birth, etc. Ed's colorful stories are usually so embellished, it's hard for the family to know what is true or accurate. The show may also have been intending for Dan to have a previously unmentioned sibling to be introduced as a new character at some point. However, this likely was a continuity error.
Answer: Most likely this had to do with TV production concerns rather than depicting reality. The set for the home's main floor is bigger and allows for more action to be shown. The storm's damage and severe effects such as the high winds, torrential rain, thunder, lightning, etc. are from the windows, heightening the drama. If the family was in a cramped basement space, they would be huddled together and the action would be more static. Some artistic license was needed in order to tell the story.
raywest ★