97 Fun Facts About Roseanne

Roseanne Barr made her film debut in 1989's She-Devil opposite which actress?

Meryl Streep played the glamorous romance novelist who runs off with the husband of Barr's dowdy housewife; the wronged wife answers by methodically wrecking her rival's life.

Which actor plays Dan Conner?

John Goodman plays Dan Conner; he returned for the 2018 revival and then carried the family on in The Conners after ABC dropped Barr.

Who plays Roseanne's sister Jackie Harris?

Laurie Metcalf plays Jackie Harris; she won the supporting-actress Emmy three years running for the part, then came back to it for the 2018 revival and The Conners.

Emma Kenney, Darlene's daughter Harris in the 2018 Roseanne revival, was already known from which series?

Shameless had cast Kenney as a Gallagher daughter since its first season; her Harris, the baby Darlene delivered prematurely in season nine, returned as a teenager, and she kept the part throughout The Conners.

Roseanne creator Matt Williams later co-created which Tim Allen comedy?

Home Improvement followed in 1991; Williams wrote the Roseanne pilot and so took the 'created by' credit, which Barr, whose stand-up act inspired the show, never forgave.

What phrase did Roseanne Barr popularise in her stand-up act, which became the basis for the character?

Domestic goddess was the mock-grand title Barr's stand-up gave the housewife; she built the show's heroine on it and was outraged when the first episode credited someone else as creator.

Where does Roseanne work when the series begins?

Roseanne starts the series on the line at Wellman Plastics alongside Jackie and Crystal; she quits in season one after a new foreman raises their quotas.

Which future movie star played Booker, Jackie's foreman boyfriend, in Roseanne's first season?

George Clooney played Booker Brooks, the plant foreman who spars with Roseanne and briefly dates Jackie; he left after one season and resurfaced only for a single 1991 cameo.

What is the Conners' home address?

714 Delaware Street stayed the family's address into The Conners; for the 2018 revival designers rebuilt the rooms to match the originals, making the sofa and chair from a pair of Craigslist finds.

Which Midwestern speciality is the signature dish at the diner Roseanne co-owns in later seasons?

Loose meat sandwiches, crumbled seasoned beef on a bun, came from a real restaurant, the Canteen in Ottumwa, whose menu the show's diner copied.

Which two actresses shared the role of Becky Conner on Roseanne?

Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke shared the role: Chalke took over when Goranson left for college, Goranson came back for season eight, and Chalke stepped in again for the ninth.

Which actress plays Darlene Conner?

Sara Gilbert plays Darlene Conner; in 2017 she was the one who approached Barr about a revival, then served as its executive producer as well as its Darlene.

Which future Big Bang Theory star played Darlene's boyfriend David Healy?

Johnny Galecki played David Healy, the gentle boyfriend who ends up living with the Conners; his Big Bang Theory schedule limited him to one episode of the 2018 revival.

Who plays Roseanne and Jackie's overbearing mother, Beverly Harris?

Estelle Parsons plays Beverly Harris; an Oscar winner for Bonnie and Clyde, she came back as Bev for the 2018 revival at the age of ninety.

Which comedian played Roseanne's boss Leon Carp?

Martin Mull played Leon Carp, Roseanne's fussy boss at the luncheonette and later her partner in the diner; in 1995 she talks him out of cold feet and plans his wedding.

What business do Dan and Roseanne open in season four of Roseanne?

A motorcycle repair shop was their friend Ziggy's idea, but he backed out before it opened and left them to run it alone; the business struggled and closed within about a year.

Which job does Jackie take up in season two of Roseanne?

Police officer is Jackie's new career after the factory; she hides it from her mother until Thanksgiving, then leaves the force a season later after being injured on duty.

What do Roseanne and Dan name the baby boy born in season eight of Roseanne?

Jerry Garcia Conner is born on October 31, 1995, soon after the Grateful Dead guitarist died; a medicated Roseanne even imagines a visit from his spirit in the delivery room.

On Roseanne, whose baby is Crystal expecting when she marries in season three?

Dan's father Ed is both groom and father-to-be, which floors Dan: the baby, Little Ed, becomes his half-brother and his old friend Crystal his stepmother.

In the Roseanne episode 'A Stash from the Past', whose 20-year-old marijuana does Roseanne find in the basement?

Her own: after she punishes David for it, Dan admits the bag is the couple's 20-year-old stash, which he hid instead of flushing when she was pregnant with Becky.

Which holiday became Roseanne's signature, marked by a prank-filled special in most seasons?

Halloween took over after 1989's 'Boo!', in which Roseanne and Dan try to out-scare each other; the yearly specials that followed later filled a DVD set of their own.

How do the Conners suddenly become multimillionaires in Roseanne's ninth season?

Winning the state lottery brings them $108 million early in the season, and the show turns surreal, leaving behind the daily money struggles it was built on.

What does Roseanne's original 1997 finale reveal about the series?

It was a story Roseanne Conner wrote, her closing monologue admits, and she changed what she did not like: in her real life her daughters' partners were the other way round.

In Roseanne's original 1997 finale, what had really happened to Dan?

His season-eight heart attack was fatal, the closing monologue reveals, and the affair that split the couple was her invention; the 2018 revival simply ignored the twist.

Which band re-recorded Roseanne's theme song, with added lyrics, for the ninth season?

Blues Traveler's John Popper had guest-starred a season earlier as an old friend of Dan's; for the final year his harmonica and vocals took over the wordless theme.

On Roseanne, what is draped over the Conner family's living-room sofa throughout the series?

A crocheted granny-square afghan covered the sofa for the whole run; rebuilding the set in 2018, designers had to fake the couch itself but still had copies of the afghan.

Roseanne went nine original seasons without one nomination in which major Emmy category?

Outstanding Comedy Series never once listed Roseanne, even in 1989-90 when it sat at the top of the ratings; its Emmys went to members of the cast instead.

In 1993 Roseanne Barr, her screen husband and the show itself all won which award?

Golden Globe night in January 1993 was a Roseanne sweep: best comedy, best actress for Barr and best actor for her co-star, who never did win an Emmy for the part.

Roseanne Barr's notorious July 1990 anthem came before a game of which baseball team?

Barr screeched the anthem before a San Diego Padres home game on July 25, 1990, then spat and grabbed her crotch in imitation of the players; President George H.W. Bush called it 'disgraceful'.

Which fellow comedian did Roseanne Barr marry in 1990, taking his surname for the length of the marriage?

Tom Arnold married her in 1990; the credits read Roseanne Arnold from season four until their 1994 divorce, after which she was billed simply as Roseanne.

Where was Roseanne Barr born?

Salt Lake City, Utah, was home until Barr dropped out of high school and left for Colorado, where she married, raised a family and first tried stand-up in Denver.

In 2012 Roseanne Barr ran for president as the nominee of which party?

Peace and Freedom Party members nominated Barr in August 2012 after she lost the Green Party contest to Jill Stein; anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan joined her ticket.

What did ABC do three days after the 2018 Roseanne revival premiered?

Renewed it for another season: the eleventh was ordered on March 30, 2018, but never made, because ABC cancelled the show two months later over a tweet by its star.

In the 2018 Roseanne revival, what has kept Roseanne and Jackie from speaking for a year?

The 2016 presidential election split the sisters, with Roseanne backing Donald Trump; Darlene brings them back together in the first episode.

In the Roseanne revival, what is the name of army veteran D.J.'s young daughter?

Mary is the daughter D.J. is raising on his own, because his wife Geena, still in the army, is serving overseas when the revival begins.

ABC cancelled the Roseanne revival in May 2018 after Barr's tweet about which former Obama adviser?

Valerie Jarrett was the target; ABC cancelled the show the same day, even though Barr apologised, and relaunched the family that autumn as The Conners without her.

How did The Conners explain the absence of Roseanne Conner?

She died of an opioid overdose: after knee surgery Roseanne had secretly been getting painkillers from friends, which the family learns only after her death.

Which sitcom veteran joined The Conners as Louise, who becomes Dan's second wife?

Katey Sagal's casting closed an old loop: Peg Bundy, her signature role, had been offered to Roseanne Barr, who turned it down.

Exterior shots of the Conner house were filmed in which Indiana city?

Evansville was the hometown of first-season producer Matt Williams, and the real house sits a few blocks from his alma mater, the University of Evansville.

What does a reluctant Darlene read aloud at her school's Culture Night in season two of Roseanne?

A poem she wrote is judged the best in her class, but the tomboy would rather stay home watching the game with Dan, until Roseanne puts her foot down and takes her.

On Roseanne, what does Jackie name the son she gives birth to in season six?

Andy is born after Jackie's one-night stand with Fred, a co-worker of Dan's; she resists a relationship at first, and the couple marry only in the season finale.

Which Oscar-winning actress played Bev's mother, Nana Mary?

Shelley Winters played Nana Mary, the free-spirited grandmother who delights in embarrassing Bev; at one Thanksgiving she blurts out a secret about her daughter's marriage.

What is the name of the Lanford diner that Roseanne, Jackie and Nancy open in season five?

The Lunch Box opens on Bev's money, which makes her a partner; when her daughters sideline her, she gets even by selling her share to Roseanne's old boss Leon.

How did Dan's poker buddy Arnie make his startling debut on Roseanne?

Planting a kiss on Roseanne at a poker night is how Arnie arrives in season two; she frets over what it meant until Jackie helps her see it as a clumsy friendly gesture.

In season eight of Roseanne, Dan spends his pension money taking the whole family where?

Walt Disney World was Dan's splurge after he quit his steady city job; the holiday had a sequel, since Darlene later reveals she got pregnant while the family was there.

Which prestigious broadcasting award did Roseanne win in 1992?

Peabody judges honoured Roseanne in 1992 for looking unflinchingly at family life and for tackling subjects such as unemployment without easy answers.

In 2018, Barr said Roseanne's fictional town was based on which real Illinois city?

Elgin was Barr's answer in 2018: the producers had gone there to interview residents about how the town had changed since the original run.

The actor playing Dan Conner missed most of Roseanne's ninth season while filming which Coen brothers comedy?

The Big Lebowski shoot kept him away, and when Dan reappears late in the season he is wearing the look of his character in the film, Walter Sobchak.

Which future Oscar winner appears, without a single line, as one of Darlene's classmates in a 1991 Roseanne episode?

Leonardo DiCaprio sits uncredited in the home-economics class that Roseanne takes on a field trip to the supermarket.

Which motorsport series staged a race called the Roseanne 300 to promote the sitcom's 2018 return to ABC?

NASCAR's Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway carried the name after ABC bought the sponsorship to plug the revival.

Which prescription drug did Roseanne Barr blame for the 2018 tweet that got the Roseanne revival cancelled?

Ambien's maker, Sanofi, answered her with a public statement of its own, and critics derided the excuse.

Roseanne's seventh-season finale is a fantasy salute that recasts the Conners as characters from which 1960s sitcom?

Gilligan's Island returned the compliment: over the end credits its original stars played the Conners, with Bob Denver as Jackie and Dawn Wells as Darlene.

Patsy Stone and Edina Monsoon get drunk with Roseanne in season nine, visiting from which British sitcom?

Absolutely Fabulous stars Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley played their own characters; Barr had tried to launch an American remake that never materialised.

Which instrument plays the lead melody of the original Roseanne theme tune, heard over the opening titles?

Saxophone led the tune for eight seasons, until a rock band re-recorded it for the last original season with a distorted harmonica and sung words.

Where did producers first see Roseanne Barr's stand-up act on television before building a sitcom around her?

The Tonight Show appearance, in 1985, showed the producers the blunt, in-your-face voice they wanted for a series about a working mother.

Which actress played Sharon, whose gay-bar scene with Roseanne ABC at first refused to broadcast in 1994?

Mariel Hemingway's scene, set at a bar called Lips, aired only after Barr threatened to move the series to another network; some 30 million people watched.

Which stand-up comedian played Nancy Bartlett, the Roseanne regular who comes out as a lesbian in season five?

Sandra Bernhard joined in the fourth season as the fiancée of Dan's pal Arnie and stayed until the original run ended in 1997.

What is Dan Conner's trade on Roseanne, the work he finds only sporadically in the early seasons?

Drywall contractor Dan's patchy bookings are a running money worry for the family, and he later takes a steadier job at the city garage.

Around which piece of furniture is the whole Conner family gathered in Roseanne's opening title sequence?

The kitchen table in the titles is an unusual octagonal one, and it stands on the set used for most of the Conners' interior scenes.

Which natural disaster sends Crystal to shelter with the Conners in a first-season episode of Roseanne?

A tornado bears down on the town while Becky insists on rescuing her pet guinea pigs from the garage.

In which city is the arts college that offers teenage Darlene early admission in Roseanne's fifth season?

Chicago wins out even though her boyfriend is turned down by the same school, and Darlene admits that what really held her back was a fear of failing.

To which state do Becky and Mark move after they elope early in the fifth season of Roseanne?

Minnesota offered Mark a mechanic's job after Dan's business failed, and the move covered for the actress leaving the cast to attend Vassar College.

After a brief spell selling perfume, Jackie enrols in a school for which trade in Roseanne's fourth season?

Truck driving follows a drunken night with Arnie that she cannot remember, in an episode titled Why Jackie Becomes a Trucker.

What does teenage Becky stun Roseanne by asking for at the start of the fourth season of Roseanne?

Birth-control pills come up only after Becky first takes the question to her aunt Jackie, who nudges her to talk to her mother.

What do Darlene and David produce together on Roseanne, with her writing the stories and him drawing them?

A comic book of theirs gets D.J. hauled in front of his school for obscene reading, and the pair once skip class to attend a convention.

Teenage Darlene on Roseanne takes up which cause, reflecting the real-life views of the actress who played her?

Vegetarianism is part of Darlene's animal-rights streak, a long way from the early seasons, when the character cared mostly about sports.

What is the name of the neighbourhood bar where Dan, Roseanne and their friends drink throughout Roseanne?

The Lobo Lounge is also where Roseanne takes a second job tending bar at night during the second season.

Which Deliverance and Superman actor played Ed Conner, whose long absences Dan cannot forgive on Roseanne?

Ned Beatty's charmer always arrives with presents for the grandchildren, but Dan cannot forgive the sales trips that kept him away through his boyhood.

Which Dynasty star played Ronnie, the wealthy estranged cousin who visits Roseanne in the fifth season?

Joan Collins's Ronnie arrives to end a feud that began when she left Roseanne out of her wedding, and she urges Darlene to chase a writing career.

Which Rocky Horror star played Roger, the Roseanne house-flipper who skips town and leaves Dan with the bills?

Tim Curry's smooth developer is dating Nancy when he recruits Dan, and only Jackie buying the unsold house saves the Conners from ruin.

Which Las Vegas headliner does a tipsy Roseanne heckle in season four, taking him for his own impersonator?

Wayne Newton makes a surprise appearance on stage while Roseanne and Nancy are in town for Nancy's wedding to Arnie.

Soap supercouple Luke and Laura appear in Roseanne's sixth season as a crossover from which daytime drama?

General Hospital actors Genie Francis and Anthony Geary played the pair, whose 1981 wedding drew 30 million viewers, a record for an American soap.

Which comedian guest-starred as the marriage counsellor Jackie and her husband visit in Roseanne's seventh season?

Ellen DeGeneres was starring in her own ABC sitcom at the time; the counselling fails, and the marriage is over by the end of the season.

Which Singin' in the Rain star played Dan's mother Audrey in a Roseanne episode written by her own daughter?

Debbie Reynolds took over the part in the final original season, and her daughter Carrie Fisher scripted the episode, in which Audrey tries to kill Dan.

Which actor played Scott, who marries Roseanne's former boss Leon in a 1995 episode of Roseanne?

Fred Willard was reunited with the actor playing Leon, his old partner from the 1970s talk-show spoof Fernwood 2 Night.

Which Irish actor, later Doyle in the Buffy spin-off Angel, played Becky's husband Mark Healy on Roseanne?

Glenn Quinn spent seven years hiding his native accent behind an American one on the sitcom, and was delighted when Angel let him drop it.

Which future 3rd Rock from the Sun star played the tiresome neighbour boy who latches on to D.J. on Roseanne?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt first played the pest in the fifth season and came back to bother D.J. again in the seventh.

Why does Dan Conner land in jail during the fifth season of Roseanne?

He beat up Jackie's boyfriend Fisher after learning Fisher had been hitting her; Matt Roth, who played the abuser, later married the actress playing Jackie.

Why does Roseanne finally agree to let Darlene's boyfriend David move into the Conner house in season five?

His mother is abusive, as Roseanne sees for herself on a visit, and it stirs memories of the beatings she took as a child.

When Roseanne and Jackie pick up a hitchhiker and run a trucker off the road, which film is being spoofed?

Thelma & Louise gets the Conner treatment in an episode called The Getaway, Almost, with Jenna Elfman as the rebel teenage hitchhiker.

Which crop did Roseanne Barr grow on the Hawaiian farm that was the setting of her 2011 reality series?

Macadamia nuts gave the Lifetime series its title, Roseanne's Nuts; it premiered that July and was cancelled in September.

Which future co-creator of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory once wrote for Roseanne?

Chuck Lorre has writing credits on a dozen episodes across the third and fourth seasons, and left to create his first show of his own, Frannie's Turn.

In the first-season Roseanne episode Death and Stuff, who drops dead at the Conner house?

A door-to-door salesman collapses while buyers are touring the house to look at a used washer and dryer, so Dan and Roseanne try to hide the body.

What excuse does Arnie give for walking out on his new wife Nancy at the end of Roseanne's fourth season?

Aliens abducted him, or so he claims, and the season's end-credit sketch shows him chatting with them aboard a spaceship.

At which department store's luncheonette does Roseanne wait tables under her boss Leon in seasons three and four?

Rodbell's luncheonette sits in the local mall, to the horror of Becky and Darlene, who hang out there with their friends.

How did Roseanne Barr reportedly address the staff writers on Roseanne, a habit shown on their shirts?

By assigned numbers: each of the 19 writers was given one in place of a name, and they wore shirts printed with their digits.

Which future Weekend Update anchor wrote for Roseanne in the 1992–93 season before leaving for Saturday Night Live?

Norm Macdonald has the sole writing credit on the road-trip episode Lose a Job, Winnebago, and went on to anchor Weekend Update for three and a half seasons.

Which food word is worked into every first-season episode of Roseanne as a writers' running gag?

Corn gets a mention in every episode of that first year, when the new sitcom finished the season as America's second most-watched programme.

Where is the body of Crystal's late husband Sonny entombed after a building-site accident on Roseanne?

Inside a bridge: Sonny was buried in it by accident while it was being built, and the first-season episode about Crystal's grief is called Bridge over Troubled Sonny.

By what first name was Darlene's future boyfriend David Healy called in his debut episode of Roseanne?

Kevin was a stopgap: the actor was already playing a David on another sitcom, Billy, so the name Barr reportedly wanted had to wait.

What does Bev reveal to be Jackie's real first name while Jackie is in labour on Roseanne?

Marjorie was too hard for little Roseanne to say, so she called her baby sister 'my Jackie' and the family followed suit.

Which garment is passed around almost the whole Conner family as a running gag on Roseanne?

A chicken shirt, long-sleeved and printed with eggs, turns up on one Conner after another in different scenes.

Which actor, famous as Ernest P. Worrell, played Jackie's royal suitor Prince Carlos in Roseanne's ninth season?

Jim Varney's prince, from Moldavia, is smitten after seeing Jackie on television, but he ends up marrying his maid.

Which founding member of the Byrds guest-starred as Duke, husband of Roseanne's waitress friend Bonnie?

David Crosby's Duke and his wife have both put a drinking problem behind them; she was played by the singer Bonnie Bramlett, credited on the sitcom as Bonnie Sheridan.

Which actor and future US senator played the bullying foreman who drives Roseanne to quit her factory job?

Fred Thompson's Keith Faber keeps raising the production quota until Roseanne leads a walkout in the first-season finale; Tennessee elected him in 1994.

Which production company, later behind That '70s Show and 3rd Rock from the Sun, made Roseanne?

Carsey-Werner, the company of Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, built the sitcom on the idea of a working mother as the central voice.

Which university's yellow sweatshirt does Dan's pal Arnie often wear on Roseanne, a nod to the actor's own college?

Iowa is where the man who played Arnie went to university in real life, which is why the character keeps turning up in its colours.