Scott D. Pierce: Roseanne recounts tale of Utah ‘Momster’
Actress and author Roseanne Barr
(AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)
Roseanne Barr has many unpleasant things to say about her home state over the years. Like the time she referrred to Mormons as the "Nazi Amish."
And when she returned as grand marshal of the Utah Pride Parade in 2011, Barr said it wasn't easy growing up Jewish in Salt Lake City.
"Boy, my family stuck out like a sore thumb," she said. "We only had the one mother."
These days, the former sitcom queen is hosting the cheesy reality/crime show "Momsters: When Good Moms Go Bad" (Friday, 8 and 8:30 p.m., ID — the channel formerly known as Investigation Discovery). And in one of the segments of one of this week's episodes, Roseanne gets to talk about the place where she grew up.
"In my hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, there's a very traditional image of moms who are pure as the driven snow," Barr says. "But, you know, there's always a few bad apples, as they say.
"One of them just couldn't help but hoard kids like the old woman who lived in a shoe. And then she realized — maybe an income would come in handy. That's where the trouble begins."
What follows is the tawdry tale of Kerri Fae Brown, a Pleasant Grove woman who took some extreme measures to deal with her financial problems.
To finance a custody battle, she embezzled from her boss. To cover up the embezzlement, she murdered her boss, retirement-home owner Mina Pajela.
(That's not exactly a spoiler, by the way. First of all, this is old news — the crime took place in 2001. And Brown has already been the subject of another reality crime show: Her case was recounted in a 2008 episode of "Snapped.")
There is some unintentional entertainment value in this segment of "Momsters" for local viewers. Brown was living in Pleasant Grove at the time of her crimes, and while the narrator tells us that the Utah County city was "founded on family and faith," the video is of downtown Salt Lake City.
The entertainment value for all viewers is probably the B-grade actors who portray the principals in these stories. And calling them B-grade is being kind — they're just awful, as is the production value overall.
As for Barr, it's not as if she's working hard for the money on this one. Basically, she's doing intros, reading the sort of stuff she never would have agreed to do back when she was on top of the ratings with her hit sitcom.
"Growing up in Utah, I never met a mom as financially creative as Kerri Fae Brown," Roseanne says. "I mean, embezzling to feed the kids is one thing, but taking your boss's dough to get one of your four kids back in your custody? Your cause may be worthy, but your method leaves a lot to be desired."
As does Barr's phone-it-in performance on "Momsters."
Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.
Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City native and East High School graduate Roseanne Barr talks to fans about her new book "Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm" at Sam Weller's bookstore, Thursday, January 13, 2011.
Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Roseanne Barr was introduced as the Grand Marshall of the 2011 Utah Pride Festival at a reception in Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, June 3, 2011.
Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Roseanne Barr was introduced as the Grand Marshall of the 2011 Utah Pride Festival at a reception in Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, June 3, 2011.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune
Comedienne Roseanne Barr serves as grand marshall of the 2011 Pride Festival Parade in this archive photo from Sunday, June 5, 2011.
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