Roseanne is a television rarity, being a series about a working class family which is centred around a matriarchal figure. It became an instantaneous hit when it premiered in October of 1988. The show emerged at the end of a television decade which had mainly focused on wealth and consumption. Roseanne can be seen as a reaction to the dominant 1980s domestic situation comedy, The Cosby Show. Those two shows are polar opposites; The Cosby Show being a loving, prosperous family with a strong father figure whereas Roseanne is discordant, working class and mother-centred. Roseanne offers a realistic view of the problems and everyday life of an average American family. Of race, class, sex, age, family and gender, Roseanne definitely addresses the subject of class distinction in American suburbia most often and with the most depth. The show manages to illustrate the gap between the ideal and the real.