LOOKING FOR MR. GOODMAN; FORMER `ROSEANNE' STAR EASY TO FIND ON SCREEN WITH QUADRUPLE RELEASES.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

It's like ``Roseanne'' never went off the air. Or, at least, like Dan Conner never died.

Four films featuring John Goodman, the big, versatile actor who co-starred in the wildly successful sitcom, have been or will be released in the first 10 weeks of 1998.

We've already seen ``Fallen,'' in which he plays a cop on the trail of a supernatural killer. In ``Blues Brothers 2000,'' the sequel to the 1980 car wreck and r&b comedy, Goodman can be spotted in the regulation black suit, shades and porkpie hat, belting out songs as he hasn't since his Broadway breakthrough, ``Big River,'' 13 years ago.

``The Borrowers,'' which opened last week, is another departure, a Gulliver-esque children's fantasy about 4-inch-tall sprites taking on Goodman's greedy, full-size lawyer.

And on March 6, get ready for ``The Big Lebowski.'' Joel and Ethan Coen, the filmmaking brothers behind some of Goodman's best roles (``Raising Arizona,'' ``Barton Fink'') are at it again in this first outing since their Oscar-winning ``Fargo.''

Written especially as a showcase for their favorite actor, ``Lebowski'' is a zonky travesty of hard-boiled detective stories such as ``The Big Sleep.'' Goodman co-stars as Walter Sobchak, an argumentative Vietnam veteran who takes extreme, inevitably self-defeating measures when his friend and bowling teammate Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is embroiled in a kidnapping scheme.

Add Goodman's recent ``Saturday Night Live'' portrayals of Moses and White House scandal figure Linda Tripp to the mix, and you clearly have a guy who has escaped the weekly TV grind and is enjoying the chance to display his diversity.

Or maybe not.

``It's weird the way it turned out,'' Goodman, 45, reveals. ``Four things coming out at once; I don't know if it's going to be good or bad, but they're all pretty different. I never looked at `Roseanne' as any barrier to doing that, though. I usually got to do two movies a summer while I had that job.''

So many movies ...

Indeed, Goodman can boast some dozen movie credits since ``Roseanne'' debuted in 1988, including such noteworthy efforts as ``Sea of Love,'' playing Babe Ruth in ``The Babe'' and bringing the well-known cartoon caveman to life in ``The Flintstones.''

Goodman's current crop of films nonetheless fulfilled a variety of desires. ``The Borrowers,'' based on Mary Norton's series of children's books, was a chance for him to make a film his 7-year-old daughter, Molly, could enjoy. It was also a gas to shoot the film in England on ultra-stylized sets, designed with giant props of everyday items the tiny heroes ``borrow'' from their human neighbors.

Mostly, though, Goodman related to the concept.

``I lose things all the time, and I like to think there's a reason behind it other than creeping senility or stupidism,'' he admits. ``Also, this guy I play, Ocious P. Potter, is a real weasel. This guy has no redeeming qualities; he's mean-spirited, short-fingered, money-grubbing, pushy. Did I say greedy yet? It's really fun to play somebody that rotten.''

And easy. Though he rarely interacted with the actors who played his toy-size co-stars, Goodman knew he had the better part of the deal.

``It wasn't really a challenge at all. While I shot the first six weeks of the film, the Borrowers themselves were at gyms, getting fit. They had the real bad stuff to do, all the climbing, running and blue-screen stuff. All I had to do was pretend to talk to Borrowers, and they'd give me puppets to talk to, dressed in the costumes and, sometimes, mechanized. So I knew exactly what I was doing, which is something of a miracle in itself.''

`Blues' man

Just as miraculous, to Goodman, was the chance to participate in the sequel to one of his favorite movies.

``It took four years to get `Blues Brothers 2000' made; the studio just didn't want to do it,'' he says. ``Originally, I approached Dan Aykroyd when I heard a rumor that he might have been starting a sequel. I would've played a cop, moved traffic cones for it, anything; I was just always a big fan and wanted to be part of that energy.''

Goodman was pleased to discover that surviving Blues Brother Aykroyd had already written a role with him in mind: Mighty Mack McTeer, a bartender whose dream to sing r&b comes true when Aykroyd's Elwood Blues gets out of prison and tries to re-form his destruction-prone band.

Of course, John Belushi created Elwood's brother Jake in the original 1980 ``Blues Brothers'' film and the ``SNL'' act it was based on. Though Jake's death is acknowledged in the sequel, some still may suspect that Goodman is trying to fill the late Belushi's ultra-wide shoes. He says nothing could be further from the truth.

``That'd be suicide,'' Goodman acknowledges. ``If people go to the movie, they'll learn that there are four Blues Brothers, and nobody's trying be John. I didn't even consider it a daunting proposition; the characters are totally different.

``It was the music that made me want to participate, the respect the films pay to this great rhythm and blues that I grew up listening to,'' says the St. Louis native. ``There is a huge superjam at the end of the movie that's worth the price of admission alone. And it was a huge thrill to meet Aretha Franklin, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, B.B. King - and I got to meet Junior Wells who, unfortunately, checked out a few weeks ago. Gosh, it was great.''

Coens' choice

As for ``Lebowski,'' Goodman enjoyed bringing to life a character only the Coens could create.

``They knew a couple of guys like Walter. I can't make up my mind whether he saw a lot of action in Nam or whether he was in the rear with the gear, but I like the way he handles himself in a crisis.''

Goodman and his co-stars, who include usual Coen suspects Steve Buscemi and John Turturro, all learned to bowl from a pro. ``I'd bowled a lot, but I'd never really had proper lessons before. I'd like to give it a whirl now.''

But he hasn't. In fact, since ``Lebowski'' wrapped last fall, Goodman has done very little - for the first time in a decade.

``It's been interesting. I've found out how lazy I can get; I've reached the bottom of that barrel. I even did more when I first got off than I do now; before, I could play golf and do more outdoor stuff, but now it's too chilly.''

And he has no plans to resume working, or doing anything more than spend time with his family, in the near future.

``I never was really much on planning,'' he admits. ``I'm just waiting for whatever comes next down the line.''

There is one call he'd be happy to get, though.

``I haven't seen Rose (since the sitcom ended last year). Y'know, she's devoting a lot of energy to the talk show she's developing now. I don't expect to be a guest on it; I think she just wants to put the sitcom behind her and move on.

``But if she does ask me to appear, I'll be there in a minute.''

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) BIG JOHN

LIFE AFTER `ROSEANNE' FINDS GOODMAN IN FOUR FILMS AT ONCE

Tom Mendoza/Daily News

(2) In ``The Borrowers,'' Goodman portrays a crooked lawyer.

(3) John Goodman and Denzel Washington are cops chasing a supernatural killer in ``Fallen.''

(4) He's a soul man in ``Blues Brothers 2000,'' belting out tunes as in his Broadway days.

(5) The Coen brothers and Goodman team up again in ``The Big Lebowski.''