That's the way I saw this show. John Goodman is a great actor but there is not much to his character on Normal Ohio that differs from his Dan Conner role. I think that's why the show didn't last. He didn't do enough to separate himself from his character on Roseanne.
shareReally late...but i dont think its totally John's fault. He didnt write the show just acted in it.
I think that Butch had more negative qulaities than Dan. For instance when Butch is playing with his nephew he unplugged his nephews controller. That didn't seem like something Dan would do. Also despite Dan's differences with his dad, he repected him. Butch and Pamela seem to have no respect for their parents. Lastly i don't think that Dan would buy his son a car for nothing, although Dan didn't exactly have money to buy a car just because.
Butch was a contractor, Dan was a contractor.
Now with all that said i totally agree with you in that Butch and Dan are alike. But as i said i blame the writers. John himself said he asked the writers to write the character of Butch differently and they were going too until you know the show was canceled.
"I'm from L.A: Lower Affton."-John Goodman, St. Louis MO