Roseanne (TV series)

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Roseanne
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Matt Williams
Starring	Roseanne Barr John Goodman Laurie Metcalf Sara Gilbert Lecy Goranson (1988-1992, 1995-1996) Sal Barone (pilot only) Michael Fishman Sarah Chalke (1993-1995, 1996-1997) Natalie West (1988-1992)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	222
Production
Running time	approx. 22 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	October 18, 1988 – May 20, 1997
Links
IMDb profile

Roseanne was an American sitcom which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997, starring stand-up comedian Roseanne Barr. The show portrayed a working-class family living in fictional Lanford, Illinois, struggling to get by on a limited income. For many years, Roseanne was, in contrast to many of the most popular shows at the time, honest in its depiction of family life, tackling subjects such as poverty, alcoholism, narcotics, sex, first menstrual periods, masturbation, obesity, feminism, domestic violence, and homosexuality in ways unlike other shows. Another theme was Roseanne's dominance in raising the children and husband Dan feeling as though he had no say in their household. Roseanne was also a breakthrough for women because it was one of the first shows to put an overweight, smart and dominant woman as the lead character.

The show was hugely successful from its beginning, spending its first six seasons in the top five of the Nielsen ratings and inspiring a rash of stand-ups getting their own sitcom deals (a practice that continued for years afterwards). During the seventh season the show dropped some in ratings, but still stayed in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings. However, during its ninth, and final season, the show's ratings dropped considerably and drifted away from its original storyline and had fallen out of the top thirty.

Contents 1 Nielsen ratings 2 Characters 2.1 The Conner family 2.2 Extended family 2.3 Other recurring characters 3 Two actresses, same role 4 Final season (1996-1997) 4.1 Series finale 4.2 Roseanne's Comments on the Final Episode 5 Awards & Nominations 5.1 Awards Won 5.2 Awards Nominated 6 Trivia 7 DVD Releases 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Nielsen ratings

Season	Ratings Rank
1	#2
2	#1 (tied with The Cosby Show)
3	#3
4	#2
5	#2
6	#4
7	#10
8	#17
9	#35

[edit] Characters

[edit] The Conner family

• Roseanne (Harris) Conner (played by Roseanne Barr) - Roseanne, in a take off of her stand-up comedic persona and presumed real-life persona, is a bossy, loud, caustic, and dominant woman. She frequently meddles and tries to control the lives of her husband, daughters, son, sister, and friends. Despite her dominating nature, Roseanne is a loving mother who works hard and makes as much time for her kids as possible. She, like her family, deals with the many hardships of poverty and domestic troubles with humor. She worked at the Wellman Plastics factory at the beginning of the show's run and quit that job after conflict with the new egotistical domineering boss, Mr. Faber; she led a walkout that included most of her friends. She had several periods of unemployment and held jobs as a fast-food employee, a telemarketer, a bartender, and a shampoo woman/hair sweeper at a beauty salon. Subsequently, she worked for several years as a waitress in the luncheonette at Rodbell's department store (much to the chagrin of daughters Becky and Darlene, who regularly hung out there). She eventually co-owned a successful restaurant called the Lanford Lunch Box with Jackie and Nancy (as well as her nemesis Leon, her boss from the luncheonette, who assumed partial ownership of the restaurant after mother Bev sold her share to him). In the (fictional) ninth season, Roseanne (along with Jackie) gave up her control of the restaurant to Leon and her friend Nancy after winning the lottery.

• Dan Conner (played by John Goodman) - Dan is a genial, easygoing man who loves the gregarious, bossy, loud Roseanne as she is. He appears to be dominated by her but has his own strong personality, too, which keeps the boundaries clear. He has a very good sense of humor, often making jokes about his wife's bossiness (once joking I'm not Mrs. Connor, I'm a normal human being). Other than his poker buddies (Dan bonding with them parallels the bonding his wife does with Jackie and her other female friends), being easygoing in spite of his family problems, Dan eventually, following extremely trying situations brought on by both, learns to get along with the men in his daughters' lives, particularly Mark and David. Both men end up seeing Dan as a father figure, and he begrudgingly returns the affection much in the way that his caustic wife ultimately cares for her cantankerous children. He is frequently unemployed, but he is a hard worker when he is on the job. Throughout the run of the show, he does drywall, construction, owns a failing bike shop, works as a bus inspector for the city government, and then retires upon hitting the lottery. In the (fictional) final season, he briefly moved to California to take care of his mentally ill mother. While there, he becomes involved in an affair with one of his mother's nurses, which he soon ended. In the last episode, it is discovered that Dan had died of the heart attack at the end of the eighth season and that the ninth season was fictional--a story written by the once-promising writer, now-widowed Roseanne Conner.

• Marjorie "Jackie" Harris (played by Laurie Metcalf) - Jackie is Roseanne's younger sister. Jackie is an intelligent, warm, highly sensitive underachiever who often lacks faith in herself. Roseanne seems to be in charge of Jackie's life, which is a frequent cause of conflict between the two; however, Jackie sometimes enjoys having Roseanne mother her, especially when Jackie feels vulnerable. Jackie's character seems to become more animated and colorful as the series progresses. She begins the series as a single woman on the prowl, then after a traumatic experience with an abusive boyfriend which also triggers buried memories of her father's belt beatings, her deeply troubled side comes out more and for a while, she appears to be affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, but after a failed marriage and giving birth, becomes much freer, somewhat spastic, and zany with her creative, wacky side coming out more. Jackie has held numerous jobs; she was working in the Wellman Plastics factory for several years until the walkout, then became a police officer until she was injured on the job, and later was a truck driver, and then opened the Lanford Lunch Box with Roseanne and Nancy. Jackie often comes up with seemingly off-the-wall "crazy" ideas, but it turns out that many of her unconventional ideas actually work. Her romantic relationships were frequently unstable, including one where she dated a man named Fisher and became the victim of domestic violence. However, she did eventually marry Dan's co-worker Fred, who knocked her up after a one-night stand and who only got the idea to propose to her in the "perfect way" by taking notes from Jackie's favorite soap opera, One Life to Live. Jackie gave birth to their son, Andy, two months before she married Fred. The marriage would prove to be short-lived due to Fred's jealousy and Jackie's varied, creative interests and high-strung sensitivity. Jackie is crushed by the divorce at first, but she then moves on to become a successful single mom to Andy and continues running the diner with Roseanne, Nancy, and Leon. She was partly the beneficiary of the winning lottery ticket in the (fictional) final season. At the time of Andy's birth, Jackie's full name is revealed to be Marjorie by Beverly; however, older sister Roseanne supposedly could only pronounce Marjorie as My Jackie, and the nickname stuck. Despite Jackie's apparent flightiness in the early episodes, Jackie is actually the backbone of the Conner/Harris family in many ways, as Roseanne admits in the last episode. Roseanne, Dan and each of the kids often come to Jackie for help since she is kind, a very good listener and usually gives very good advice. In the last episode, it is discovered that Jackie was a lesbian; Roseanne penned her as heterosexual because she always imagined her with men.

• Rebecca "Becky" (Conner) Healy (played by Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke) - Becky, the oldest of Roseanne and Dan's kids, is quite bright and is an overachiever, but she is also somewhat quick-tempered and often angry with her parents and younger sister Darlene. She dates her rebellious biker boyfriend Mark Healy against her parents' wishes and then, at age 17, leaves home to marry him and move to Minneapolis. Later, Becky and Mark return home to live with Roseanne and Dan and then move out again into a trailer. Her birthday is given as March 15, 1975. In the final episode, it is revealed that she is pregnant and that Mark is the father, until it is later revealed that her relationship with Mark was actually a product of her mother's imagination, for the purpose of her book, however, Becky actually married David Healy.

• Darlene (Conner) Healy (played by Sara Gilbert) - Darlene in the early years was a "tomboy" who loved sports, but at puberty she became moody, artistic, an animal rights activist, and a vegetarian to more closely match the real-life views and personality of Sara Gilbert. During her freshman year of high school, she begins dating David and later has sex with him. (David is the younger brother of Becky's husband, Mark.) Darlene possesses the same sarcasm and domineering attitude as her mother, often causing the two to clash. Her bossy nature is best seen with David, who usually gives in to her will. Darlene is a very talented writer. Along with David's artistic talents, they began working seriously on a graphic novel, and Darlene eventually applies for and is awarded early admission and a scholarship to an exclusive art school in Chicago before she finishes high school, which Roseanne allows her to attend after realizing it is her only chance to get out of Lanford and make a better life for herself as the writer Roseanne never was able to accomplish being. While in college, she met a boy named Jimmy, who she dated after her break-up with David. Later on he dumped her, saying that she wasn't good enough for him. She later became pregnant by David and soon marries him. She eventually finished art school and later gave birth to her daughter, Harris. Harris is born very prematurely and almost doesn't survive, but by the support of her family and her own endurance, she survives and becomes a healthy little girl by the series' end. Darlene's exact birthday is not disclosed; however, it is very likely in the fall of 1976, judging from her sweet 16th birthday party in late 1992. It is also stated later in the series that when Darlene is 19, Becky is 21, meaning they are 2 years apart.

• David Jacob "DJ" Conner (played by Sal Barone in the pilot, and Michael Fishman for the remainder of the series; apparently Sara Gilbert didn't get along with Sal) - DJ was a lonely, bizarre, and unpopular child who was frequently taunted by his sisters and peers. He is portrayed as being something of a simpleton in school and abnormally weird, as in the time he peeked at both Darlene and Becky naked at different times, as well as the time Becky found dismembered Barbie dolls under his bed. As a teenager, he showed interest in filmmaking and eventually found a girlfriend who shared his interests. One episode dealt with DJ's relationship in a mature way, showing the couple's decision not to rush into a deep commitment too soon. DJ says (to David, in the episode Sleeper) that he has been in the house since 1981, when he was born. In Season 3, it is also stated that while Becky and Darlene were planned pregnancies for the Conner's, DJ was a "surprise". Later in the series, it is mentioned that Jose Cuervo Tequila was responsible for the interlude that lead to DJ's conception.

• Jerry Garcia Conner (played by Cole Roberts) - Jerry was the family's baby, born to Roseanne and Dan while they were in their forties. His name is a tribute to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Roseanne's pregnancy in the seventh season was to coincide with her real-life pregnancy, made possible via fertility drugs and methods in a clinic (which Roseanne even explained in great detail at the end of an episode in which she did not appear due to her pregnancy). Also, as explained by Roseanne at the end of the season 8 Halloween episode, Roseanne's character became pregnant 3 months before the actress Roseanne did. In addition, Roseanne's labor was to occur during a Grateful Dead concert; however, because of Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, that was changed. Before Jerry's birth, it is understood that Roseanne's baby will be a girl. It is never addressed why the baby was instead born male, despite the information provided by her doctor. It is also unclear if Jerry was part of the fantasy or whether he really did exist.

[edit] Extended family

• Mark Healy (played by Glenn Quinn) - Mark is a dimwitted, rather immature "rebel without a cause"-type who dated and later eloped with Becky, much to the Conners' consternation. Despite Mark's tough-guy image, he is rarely seen to engage in criminal activity, except when Mark was intoxicated at the Lobo Lounge and punched through the glass of the bar's jukebox, another time when he punched out Becky's emotionally violent boss at the Buy & Bag market, and when he mooned photographers swarming the house after the Conner's won the lottery. Mark is strongly disliked by Roseanne for his condescending attitude toward her. Dan initially dislikes Mark also but respects Mark's work ethic and hires him as a mechanic both at his bike shop and his truck-inspection office. Mark later proves himself to be a responsible husband and earns Roseanne's and the family's grudging respect.

• David Healy (played by Johnny Galecki) - David is Mark's younger brother, but he is very much Mark's opposite. David is soft-spoken, artistic, and intelligent and was in a relationship with Darlene during much of the series. He is a talented artist and drew comic books that Darlene wrote, and his well-behaved manner endears him to the Conner family, who think of him as part of the family and in fact, jokingly, is referred to as being more welcome to the family than Darlene is. He moved in with the Conners after Roseanne, a victim of child abuse, saw how abusive his family life was. He has a long-term off-and-on relationship with Darlene and eventually fathers her child. David often finds himself dominated by Darlene's powerful personality. David was meant to be his name on the series for the show's entire run; however, at the time of his introduction, Johnny was already playing a character named David on another show, so the producers changed his name to Kevin so that there would be no confusion. By the time of his second appearance on Roseanne, his other show was canceled, so he was given the name David again. (The line said by Roseanne in season 6 about David not being his real name was a joke, and only a joke.) David always tells the truth, as pointed out by Roseanne in an episode where David was down in the basement playing Monopoly. (she believed him and Darlene were having sex until DJ came in holding a Monopoly box.) She then tells David not to tell her or Dan the truth, that they "raised three kids through lies and did just fine". Dan then walks in, asking David why he was there, making David lie about there being a bird caught in the screen door so as not to upset the proper balance of the way of life in the Conner household.

• Beverly Lorraine "Bev" Harris (played by Estelle Parsons) - Bev is the mother of Roseanne and Jackie and the wife of Al. She is overbearing and shrill and is avoided by all members of her family. She nags them with her shockingly whiny voice, often with good intentions but coming off the wrong way (in a discussion with Fred at the end of an episode, she revealed her attitude to be an act). The family (especially sensitive Jackie) is always taking measures to avoid having to spend any extended time with Beverly, as she is quick to inadvertently over-criticize how people live their lives (after going back and forth playing tricks on each other in one Halloween episode, Roseanne ultimately got the upper hand by having a fake phone conversation with Bev in front of Dan where she agreed to let her mother stay for two months). She is very traditional and conservative, as opposed to her daughters' more liberal and feminist philosophies. She has proven herself generous with the wealth she received from her husband's alimony, constantly giving financial gifts to the family to bail them out. She even provided the seed money for the Lanford Lunch Box and insisted on staying on as a partner, but she was later forced out because Roseanne and Jackie did not want to work with her. As revenge, she sold her share of the restaurant to Roseanne's ex-boss and rival, Leon Carp, effectively making him their new partner. During the show's final season, she came out as a lesbian (according to one of Roseanne's fictional twists on her family, along with winning the lottery), this is revealed in the finale in which Roseanne states that her mother is not a lesbian but that her sister is; she just thought it'd be interesting to put a radical twist on the character of her Mother who was staunchly conservative and intensely disapproved of homosexuality.

• Al Harris (played by John Randolph) - Al is Roseanne and Jackie's physically abusive father who had a mistress for over 20 years. Upon his death, Roseanne met with his mistress, Joan. It was also revealed that Al is Jewish. Despite his violent nature, Al possessed a highly humorous nature that, even in his passing, Roseanne thanks him for after reading a list of many things she hated him for doing to her and Jackie.

• Crystal (Anderson) Conner (played by Natalie West) - Crystal is a neurotic, uptight friend of Roseanne's and Jackie's from childhood and later became Dan's stepmother. She talks with a Southern accent despite having grown up in Lanford (because her father was from Arkansas, as she once explained). Crystal lost her first husband, Sonny, in a construction accident but had a son, Lonnie, with him. Crystal worked at the Wellman Plastics factory with Roseanne and Jackie and quit in order to start a successful cosmetics sales career. Crystal went on to marry two more times (all before the series started) before she married Dan's father, Ed (against Dan's strong disapproval), and bore two children with Ed. Their marriage was perceived to be happy, with Ed's absences creating most of the conflict. After part-way through season 5, Crystal mostly disappears from the show except for brief appearances in a season 6 episode and in the season 8 premiere, plus a few mentions.

• Fred (played by Michael O'Keefe) - Fred is a mechanic who worked at the truck inspection with Dan and was introduced to Jackie, leading to a one-night stand, accidental impregnation, and marriage. It took a lot of encouragement for Jackie to eventually warm up and face the fact that Fred is the father of her child and therefore a part of their life (in the beginning, Jackie was still healing from her trauma with Fisher and was fearful of getting too close to another man again). Fred at first assumes that Jackie's just putting him off lightly and initially doesn't get that Jackie has been through a very traumatic experience (which Jackie told Fred about early on) that is not easily healed in addition to her traumatic childhood. It took a verbal butt-kick from Roseanne in order for Fred to also realize that Jackie was the mother of the then-unborn Andy and that Jackie had her own rights that needed to be respected as much as Fred's rights. Fred is very conventional and average and is shocked by the Conners and Harrises' unconventional ways and cannot understand the whole subculture of Jackie's family. This, and his having very few interests leads the dissolution of his marriage to Jackie who has varied, unusual interests and likes to try new things. Despite their attempts to make their marriage work, Jackie and Fred break up when they discover how incompatible they are.

• Andy Harris (played by Garrett Hazen and Kent Hazen) - Andy is Jackie and Fred's son, born slightly before his cousin Jerry. In a segment set in the future, Andy is seen resembling an attractive female cheerleader. This is due to the fact that, despite Fred's protests, Jackie dresses baby Andy in "feminine" (mostly loose red shirts and little skirts). At one point, Jackie expresses relief in being divorced and proclaims that even if dressing her son as a girl "turns" him gay in the future that she loves him so much that she would march with him in a Gay Pride Parade. Andy is a little overprotected by his nervous mother. In most episodes that revolve around Andy, Jackie is fearful about being a new mother and constantly worries about the well-being of her child. Examples include her wanting to have the baby sleep in the same bed with her and Fred (while Fred wanted Andy in his crib way down the hall and was annoyed at Jackie's getting up and going to Andy and "interrupting" Fred's sleep), her becoming uptight when allowing Becky to use Andy to learn the proper way to hold a baby, and her becoming irate at Roseanne for feeding him Oreo cookies. In later episodes, there are vague, small, but significant hints that Andy has inherited much of Jackie's personality and quirks.

• Nana Mary (played by Shelley Winters) - Nana Mary is Beverly's mother. She is a brash, outspoken, and lovable woman who gambles with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Unlike Bev, she is popular with the family. She can (and does) outsmart and drive Bev crazy, much to the amusement of Roseanne and Jackie. Her character is used often as a comic relief to the family, as well as offering a balance between Roseanne and Jackie's relationship with their mother, and Bev's relationship with Nana Mary. She was promiscuous in her younger days and claimed to have dated Pablo Picasso and Louis Armstrong. She is a big fan of a local radio call-in show that revolves around sex, as she stated in one episode, If I don't call, they worry. It was hinted in one episode that every time Nana Mary comes to town, it is tradition for her to reject the offer from Roseanne and Dan to make room for her to live with them. However, this reoccurring theme was never repeated.

• Audrey Conner (played by Ann Wedgeworth and Debbie Reynolds) - Audrey is Dan's mother. She is described to have been friendly and a great mother but had serious mental problems. She was later institutionalized and it is revealed that though Dan always despised his father for being gone on business all the time (supposedly the trigger for Audrey's insanity), that he pretened to be neglectful and have Dan stay with other family members in truth to hide the fact that Audrey was actually coming in and out of institutions throughout Dan's childhood; his father thought it'd be easier for Dan to believe he had a "bastard for a father, than a crazy person for a mother". In the lottery fantasy, she was released from the mental hospital once and attempted to kill Dan. (She claimed that he took away her life by locking her in the hospital, so she had to take away his.) Audrey is Pentecostal.

• Ed Conner (played by Ned Beatty) - Ed is Dan's father, a charming struggling traveling novelty salesman who always brings presents for the grandchildren. Dan dislikes his father, but he is well-liked by everyone else. Ed never makes any blatant attempt on the show to anger Dan on purpose, but he often does bait his son covertly (eg, when Ed began to date Crystal and when Dan questions him on it, Ed makes a rude, catty crack about Dan being "interested" in Crystal). It usually doesn't take long for Dan to become annoyed at his father's presence. He is portrayed as irresponsible and neglectful of his family. He marries and has two children with Crystal, even though she is over 20 years younger than he is.

[edit] Other recurring characters

• Leon Carp (played by Martin Mull) - Leon plays the sarcastic, urbane foil to Roseanne as her put-upon boss at Rodbell's luncheonette. Leon is gay and is seen dating many men and having romantic troubles. He later married his boyfriend Scott (played by Fred Willard) in a very public ceremony. He and Roseanne had a contentious relationship as her boss. He later purchased Beverly's share in the Lanford Lunch Box, much to Roseanne's chagrin. He was especially upset when Roseanne won the lottery. They actually are friends, although neither of them will admit it.

• Arnie Thomas (played by Tom Arnold) - Arnie is the overweight, jovial friend of Dan. He frequently cheats on the women he dates and is very ill-mannered. However, Arnie always tries to be a good friend to Dan. He married Nancy but left her, claiming to be abducted by aliens (later played upon in the fourth-season finale's end-credit sketch, where he was seen conversing with aliens on a spaceship). While engaged to Nancy, he had a one-night stand with a drunk Jackie. Arnie is often seen wearing a yellow University of Iowa sweatshirt (actor Tom Arnold attended the University of Iowa in real life).

• Nancy Bartlett (played by Sandra Bernhard) - Nancy is the part owner of the Lanford Lunch Box. She was married to Arnie but later came out as a lesbian after he left her, then later admitted to being bisexual. She frequently was seen dating very attractive women; her first girlfriend is played by Morgan Fairchild. Nancy is never ashamed of her promiscuity, nor does she ever show any self-consciousness of her bizarre behavior. In fact, she is the most self-confident of all the characters in the series, often even more so than outspoken Roseanne. Her tendency toward self-absorption seems to only be quelled while she dating a woman. Nancy turns out to be a loyal and good friend to both Roseanne and Jackie throughout the series, although at times Roseanne, Jackie, and other characters commented on how self-involved Nancy usually was.

• Booker Brooks (played by George Clooney) - Booker is the handsome foreman at Wellman Plastics who is the object of affection for much of the factory's predominantly female workforce. He briefly dated Jackie.

• Bonnie Watkins (played by Bonnie Bramlett) - Bonnie is a waitress at Rodbell's luncheonette. She is considerably more polite and hard-working than Roseanne at the luncheonette and frequently covers for her. Bonnie also has a beautiful singing voice and often performs country music at social gatherings. At one point in the series, Bonnie admitted that she and her husband (played by David Crosby) once robbed a liquor store in desperation for money. That point was soon viewed as insignificant when Jackie admitted that she had a one-night stand with Arnie.

• Anne Marie Mitchell (played by Adilah Barnes) - One of the few black characters on Roseanne, Anne Marie was a former high school classmate of Roseanne's. They meet again in their old high school principal's office when both of their children are suspended from school. Anne Marie quickly becomes a part of the "girl group," going on nights out with Roseanne, Jackie, Crystal, and Bonnie. She is married to Chuck (James Pickens, Jr.), Dan's poker buddy and high school football teammate.

• Kathy Bowman (played by Meagen Fay) - Roseanne's uptight neighbor in seasons 3 and 4. She moves to Lanford after her husband Jerry accepts a high-paying job with Wellman Plastics. Born and raised in Chicago, Kathy is appalled by what she perceives Lanford to be — full of classless people living uneventful lives. She takes out her frustrations on Roseanne, whom she believes to be the worst of all. Roseanne refers to her as "the Ice Pop Woman — frozen solid with a big ol' stick up her butt." She moves away after Wellman goes bust and halfheartedly apologizes to Roseanne for her behavior before she leaves.

• Fisher (played by Matt Roth) - Fisher played "the younger man" who dated Jackie and was DJ's hockey tutor in the fifth season of Roseanne. Dan beat him up after it was found out that he abused Jackie while they were dating. In real life, Matt Roth is married to Laurie Metcalf (who played Jackie) and is the father of the child she was pregnant with when her character was pregnant on the show.

• Ty Tilden and his daughters Charlotte and Molly (Wings Hauser, Mara Hobel, Danielle Harris) - Ty, a single parent, moved into Kathy Bowman's old house with his teenage daughters during Season 5. Charlotte was very introverted and shy, and loved to cook for other people (to the point where Roseanne had to tell her to stop bringing food every time she came to the house). Molly, however, was promiscuous and engaged in drug use, which made Darlene dislike her when she left her alone after a concert out-of-town. Roseanne saw through Molly's façade, even though her father was too busy with his job to, and gave her a stern dressing-down for being irresponsible. It was Ty's Winnebago in which the Conners and the Tildens traveled to Hollywood for a taping of The Jackie Thomas Show. After Season 5, these characters were dropped from the storyline.

[edit] Two actresses, same role

One of the most documented moments of the series occurred in the fifth season when Lecy Goranson (Becky) left the series to attend Vassar College. The character was absent for the second part of the season five and the first part of season six with the explanation that she was living with her husband, Mark Healy. Instead of writing Becky out, the character was recast with actress Sarah Chalke (now of Scrubs fame). Wary of the potential backlash to reshaping a longtime role, producers sought to diffuse the criticism. At the end of Chalke's first episode, the Conner family watched a Bewitched episode, and several characters complained about the recast of Darrin Stephens. Chalke said she'd always liked the second Darrin best and smiled.

Goranson returned to the role two seasons later. When Lecy first returns as Becky in the eighth season premiere, Roseanne and Darlene say things like, Where the hell have you been? It feels like you've been gone for three years. Becky responds, Why does everyone keep saying that? The episode concludes with Goranson and Chalke dancing as if they were each other's reflection in a black-and-white amusing parody of the closing credits of The Patty Duke Show, where Patty Duke played two identical cousins. The song, Nearly Identical Beckys, is set to the tune of The Patty Duke Show, featuring altered lyrics. William Schallert, who played Patty's father on the series, appears with Dan in a cameo at the end of the parody. The eighth-season opening credits -- showing morphed images of each cast member over the years -- featured images of both actresses as Becky, but only Goranson's name was displayed on-screen. Both actresses appeared in eighth-season episodes, and during David and Darlene's wedding, the actresses alternate between scenes in playing the role of Becky. The changes had become a running gag.

In one episode after ABC was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, the show, like many others on the channel, created a plot about the characters visiting Disney World. Chalke played Becky during this particular episode and tells Roseanne how excited she is to be going to Disney World when the announcement is made, leaving Roseanne to comment, Aren't you glad you were here this week?

After season eight, Goranson left again and was replaced by Chalke full-time. Chalke returned to the role in the ninth season because Goranson had signed on only for the eighth season, believing it would be the show's last.

In an episode that pretends to glimpse into the future, Jackie, dressed very much like her television mother Bev, is apparently DJ's guardian and only living relative (or at least the only one who will speak to him). During a visit to a psychiatrist with an adult DJ, played by John Goodman, she fearfully asks why DJ keeps muttering, they say she's the same, but she isn't the same. At the end of the episode, snippets from the series show the two actresses playing Becky with a voiceover of the adult DJ's mantra, they say she's the same, but she isn't the same, clearly driven mad by his sister's twin-like identity.

[edit] Final season (1996-1997)

The final season marked a complete departure from the rest of the series - the formerly working-class Conner family wins the lottery and begins living an extravagant lifestyle. Additionally, the series became quite surreal, with an abundance of fantasy sequences and celebrity guests. This change in tone fared poorly with critics and viewers, but has been staunchly defended by Barr. She felt that Roseanne Conner winning the lottery was similar to her landing a sitcom deal, and thus helped the series to parallel her life. [1] Though, the season's detachment from reality was somewhat explained in the last moments of the Series Finale.

For the first time in the history of the series, the introductory music for the final season featured lyrics, sung by John Popper of Blues Traveler.

[edit] Series finale

The final episode ended on an unusual note, with a 15-minute closing monologue by Roseanne revealing that after she was given a writing room (referencing a story thread from a few seasons beforehand), the entire series was merely a fictional story written by the character of Roseanne Conner and based on her family life and experiences. She also revealed that whatever she hadn't liked about her real life, she'd changed in the story; for instance, it was her sister Jackie - not her mother - that had come out as a lesbian. Dan's 'leaving' for another woman was also used to symbolize the pain Roseanne had felt when following his massive heart attack at the end of season eight, Dan had died, with her way of dealing with it meant rationalizing it as though Dan had merely left her for another woman.

Becky and Darlene actually ended up with the opposite Healy brother (Becky with David and Darlene with Mark).

The surrealism of season nine was explained as the "real" Roseanne Conner's way of dealing with the tragedy of Dan dying, which she snapped out of as a result of Darlene giving birth. The Conners' living room then returns to the way it was for the first eight seasons of the show (because they never won any lottery), and Roseanne embarks on a career as a writer. The episode ends with a wide aerial shot of Roseanne sitting on the living room sofa, and text is displayed on the screen:

“

Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible. - T. E. Lawrence

”

Roseanne's trademark laugh is then heard, in a manner similar to the opening of nearly every episode, and the scene fades to black.

One of the final episodes of the eighth season (in which Dan had the heart attack) was originally intended to be the series finale, but after the show was picked up for one last season, writers introduced a plot revolving around Dan not taking the hospital's orders after the heart attack. This led to Roseanne and Dan having their worst fight in the show's history, with a second part to the heart attack episode being the first episode of the ninth season.

In fact, the last season stayed around #35 in the ratings the entire year with the series finale finishing around #9.

In the end credits of the series finale Roseanne says "Thank You" to Eric Gilliland who had left the show at the end of season eight. Eric Gilliland was set to remain as executive producer through season nine however, like so many, he was under the impression that the show's eighth season would be the last. He inked a deal with Fox. He had remained on the show for a total of four years, longer than any executive producer on the show. He was the only executive producer who was never fired. Roseanne asked him back to help write and run the final episode, which he did as a favor due to his respect for the show.

Storyline of the season	Roseanne Conner's "real life"
Dan Conner survived his heart attack	Dan Conner died after his heart attack at Darlene's wedding
Darlene married David	Darlene married Mark
Becky married Mark	Becky married David
Roseanne's mother, Bev, was a lesbian	Roseanne's sister, Jackie, was a lesbian
The Conner family won the lottery	The Conner family did not win the lottery

[edit] Roseanne's Comments on the Final Episode

The following comment comes directly from Roseanne Barr herself. On December 23, 2006, she reportedly posted this on the message board of her website:

"Thanks to Dan Kelly, I was able to revisit the last episode of my show, where Roseanne reveals that writing is what she used to survive depressing times. The Roseanne sitcom was based on my real life, I was suicidal and broken when I gathered all that was left of myself and wrote five minutes of jokes, which became an act, and ultimately the Roseanne show. As we leave our protagonist in her living room, completion of her book just managed, she will have a quiet moment alone to think, before she throws the windows and the doors open and steps out into the world to make feminist television history, much as I did."

[edit] Awards & Nominations

[edit] Awards Won

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Roseanne Arnold (1993)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Laurie Metcalf (1992-1994)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (1993)
• Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical John Goodman (1993)
• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical Roseanne Barr (1993)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards:

• Best Actress in a Television Series Roseanne Barr (1992)

[edit] Awards Nominated

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Roseanne Arnold (1992, 1994-1995)
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series John Goodman (1989-1995)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Laurie Metcalf (1995)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Sara Gilbert (1993, 1994)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (1989, 1994)
• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical Roseanne (1989, 1991-1992, 1994)
• Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical John Goodman (1989-1991)
• Best Performance by a TV Supporting Actress Laurie Metcalf (1993, 1995)

Screen Actors Guild:

• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Roseanne (1995)
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series John Goodman (1995)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards:

• Best Actress in a Television Series Roseanne Barr (1994)

[edit] Trivia

• Sarah Chalke, the second actress to play Becky, is 20 months younger than Sara Gilbert, who played her younger sister on Roseanne.
• The main cast appeared on Roseanne Barr's short lived talk show The Roseanne Show, Sara Gilbert appeared via satellite in this video clip. [2]
• On October 7, 2005, the main cast (except for Laurie Metcalf and Sarah Chalke) were featured on Larry King Live for the first time since the series ended.
• Although Lanford is a fictional town, Roseanne and Jackie's parents, Al and Beverly, were from Moline, Illinois.
• The Conners' address was 714 Delaware Street (on the corner of Third and Delaware, according to still photographs).
• When the show was first conceived, its title was Life and Stuff. Roseanne disliked it, and the show was later retitled Roseanne. The pilot episode however was titled Life and Stuff. Roseanne's ex-husband Bill Pentland later wrote an episode titled Death and Stuff. There was also an eighth season episode called Fights and Stuff.
• For the first eight seasons of the show, the opening theme was an instrumental blues tune. Beginning with season nine, the tune was accompanied with vocals by John Popper of Blues Traveler.
• Roseanne was shot on the same sound stage as the The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Gilligan's Island. Both series were among those parodied on Roseanne.
• It is revealed in a first season episode that Lanford is either inside or very nearby Fulton County, Illinois, on U. S. Highway 36. In later episodes, however, Lanford is described as being within a short-to-moderate drive of Elgin, Illinois, which Fulton County is not. In one episode, Dan is seen sitting in his arm chair reading a newspaper from Sycamore, which is a city in Illinois approximately half an hour from Elgin (not in Fulton County).
• All of the interstituals and key shots shown that were supposed to show Lanford were actually of Evansville, Indiana, hometown of the show's creator, Matt Williams.
• During the episode in which Darlene was accepted to an art school in Chicago, Roseanne, Jackie, D. J., and Dan all wore the same t-shirt with the picture of a chicken on it.
• David Healy was first introduced as "Kevin Healy". Roseanne makes a comment later in the series about how "David" is not his real name and that Darlene just made it up.
• In the episode The Courtship of Eddie, Dan's Father, Crystal's date Donald asks Dan about the kitchen. After Dan says he didn't design it, Donald asked who did, to which Dan responds, "Garvin Eddy", the production designer of the series.
• The Lanford Lunch Box is based on the look (and menu) of a real restaurant in Ottumwa, Iowa. Perhaps coincidentally, when the idea of The Lanford Lunch Box is first conceived by Jackie, she states to Roseanne that she got the idea from a loose meat restaurant she stops at whenever she drives through Iowa.
• In The Dark Ages, a blond mannequin wearing the same black flowered minidress Becky wears in Like a Virgin and Breakin' Up is Hard to Do can be seen on Becky's bed in the scene where Roseanne offers to take Darlene to get birth control.
• Leonardo DiCaprio was an extra on an episode of Roseanne as one of Darlene's classmates.

[edit] DVD Releases

Season Releases

Season	Ep #	RC1 DVD Cover	RC1 Release Date	RC2 Cover Art	RC2 Release Date	RC4 Cover Art	RC4 Release Date	Additional Information
The Complete 1st Season	23		August 30, 2005		September 19, 2005		June 7, 2006	Roseanne on Roseanne candid Interview, Bloopers, Season 1 highlights, Interview: John Goodman takes a look back, Wisdom from the domestic goddess.
The Complete 2nd Season	24		December 6, 2005		February 6, 2006		October 4, 2006	John Goodman: A Candid interview, Best of Season 2, Wacky Jackie, Roseanne Untied: Season 1 Launch Party, John Goodman Audition.
The Complete 3rd Season	25		March 21, 2006		May 15, 2006		February 7, 2007	Laurie Metcalf Interview: The Sister that Never Leaves, Lecy Goranson Interview: I Was a Teenage Becky, The Best of Season 3.
The Complete 4th Season	25		June 27, 2006		Late 2007		June 6th 2007	Interview with Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman, New Roseanne Interview: "Life Imitating Art, Imitating Roseanne, Audio Commentary on selected episodes.
The Complete 5th Season	25		September 12, 2006		TBA		TBA	Video Commentaries with Roseanne, Roseanne answers the top 10 8 questions by her fans, An exclusive interview with Roseanne.
The Complete 6th Season	25		December 5, 2006		TBA		TBA	No special Features for Season Six
The Complete 7th Season	25		April 3, 2007		TBA		TBA	TBA
The Complete 8th Season	25		July 24, 2007		TBA
The Complete 9th Season	24		October 23, 2007		TBA

Roseanne is currently being released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first six seasons are now available, with the seventh season release date announced as April 3, 2007 for Region 1 in the United States. The DVD release of the series has so far proved to be somewhat controversial as the first season was issued with cut, syndicated versions of the episodes. From the second season onwards, the DVDs contain the original, unedited episodes. The first season did not contain the original episodes because Anchor Bay Entertainment was unable to attain the rights to them and apparently did not succeed in their second attempt to do so after fans complained of the episodes on the season one DVD. Although the first season DVD includes syndicated episodes, it is the only DVD set to include bloopers from the season. With the fourth season Roseanne provides video commentaries on two episodes (Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down and Thanksgiving 1991). A special Halloween edition DVD was released in August 2006, featuring uncut Halloween themed episodes, and commentary by Roseanne.

It is worth noticing that the region 4 season one set released in Australia was produced by another company - Magna Pacific, and unlike the region 1 and 2 sets, it does actually feature non-syndicated, full length episodes.

Seasons 1-3 have been published as RC2/PAL boxes in Europe as well, each one shortly after the RC1/NTSC releases in the USA. However, this has somehow been frozen from season 4 on: As of 09/2006 (shortly before the release of season 5 as RC1/NTSC) not even season 4 has been published as RC2/PAL. Anchor Bay recently acknowledged that season 4 RC2 is scheduled for 2007 but that there is no definite date when it can be expected. - This parallels the Cheers RC2 releases which have been on hold (or possibly even cancelled) in Europe after season 4 while the RC1 releases face season 9 in fall/winter 2006.

Potential European purchasers of the RC1/NTSC DVD boxes should note two things: Firstly the DVD player has to be RC1 compatible (or region-code-free) to play US DVDs. Secondly the US DVD boxes of Roseanne (and Cheers as well) contain "just" the English sound-track and no subtitles at all. They however contain Closed Captions which unfortunately cannot be displayed with ordinary European TV equipment. However current versions of some software DVD players can display Closed Captions instead of subtitles, for example Nero ShowTime (part of the Ahead Software's Nero Burning Rom suite), Cyberlink's Power DVD or InterVideo's WinDVD.

[edit] See also

• List of Roseanne episodes

[edit] External links

• Roseanne at the Internet Movie Database
• Roseanne Official DVD Web Site
• Roseanne Barr's Official Web-Site
• Encyclopedia of Television
• Nick At Nite's Roseanne
• Roseanne on DVD
• Roseanne at TV.com