98 Fun Facts About Roseanne

In which fictional Illinois town do the Conners live?

The Conners live in Lanford, a fictional blue-collar town in Illinois; the town stayed the setting through all nine original seasons, the 2018 revival and The Conners.

Which actor plays Dan Conner?

John Goodman plays Dan Conner; he earned seven Emmy nominations for the role without a win and took the 1993 Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy.

Who plays Roseanne's sister Jackie Harris?

Laurie Metcalf plays Jackie Harris; she won the supporting-actress comedy Emmy three years running, 1992 to 1994, and later voiced Andy's mom in Toy Story.

On what date did Roseanne premiere on ABC?

Roseanne premiered on ABC on October 18, 1988 with the episode 'Life and Stuff'; the original run closed nine seasons later in May 1997.

Who is credited as the creator of Roseanne?

Matt Williams is credited as creator of Roseanne; Carsey-Werner built the show around Barr's stand-up persona, and Williams left during the first season after clashes with her.

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

'Domestic goddess' was Roseanne Barr's stand-up tag line, honed in Denver clubs before her 1985 Tonight Show debut; the sitcom's housewife was built on that persona.

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 factory foreman Jackie briefly dated, in Roseanne's 1988-89 first season, five years before ER made him a star.

What is the Conners' home address?

The Conners' address is 714 Delaware Street in Lanford; the living-room and kitchen sets were rebuilt to match the originals for the 2018 revival.

What does D.J. stand for in D.J. Conner's name?

D.J. stands for David Jacob; Michael Fishman played him from the second episode onward, through the 2018 revival and four seasons of The Conners.

Which two actresses played Becky Conner, the eldest Conner child, over the course of Roseanne?

Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke shared the role: Chalke filled in when Goranson's college schedule clashed with filming, and the show later joked openly about the swaps.

Which actress plays Darlene Conner?

Sara Gilbert plays Darlene Conner; she was 13 when the show began and later became the producer who drove the 2018 revival and The Conners.

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

Johnny Galecki played David Healy from 1992 and went on to be Leonard on The Big Bang Theory, where Laurie Metcalf played Sheldon's mother.

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

Estelle Parsons plays Beverly Harris; she had won the 1968 supporting-actress Oscar for Bonnie and Clyde two decades before joining the show.

Which comedian played Roseanne's boss Leon Carp?

Martin Mull played Leon Carp, Roseanne's fussy boss at the mall luncheonette and later her partner in the diner; Fred Willard played Leon's husband Scott.

In which season did Roseanne reach number one in the Nielsen ratings?

Roseanne reached number one in its second season (1989-90), tying The Cosby Show; it stayed in the Nielsen top four for six of its nine original seasons.

What business do Dan and Roseanne open in season four?

Dan opens a motorcycle repair shop, Lanford Custom Cycle, in season four; it folds within a season and he goes back to construction, drywalling the new prison outside town.

Which of these jobs does Jackie take up in season two?

Jackie becomes a police officer in season two after the academy; she later leaves the force and in season four takes up long-haul trucking instead.

What is the first name of the baby boy Roseanne has in season eight?

The baby is Jerry Garcia Conner, named for the Grateful Dead frontman who died in August 1995; Roseanne Barr's real pregnancy was written into season eight.

Whose baby is Crystal expecting when she marries in season three?

Crystal is expecting Ed Conner's baby; Dan's father, played by Ned Beatty, marries her in season three, and Dan is floored by the news.

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

TV Guide ranked the episode number 21 on its list of the 100 greatest episodes.

In the season two episode 'Boo!', what do the Conners turn their house into?

In 'Boo!' the Conners turn their house into a Halloween 'Tunnel of Terror' while Roseanne and Dan compete to be Master of Horror; Halloween episodes became an annual tradition.

How much do the Conners win in the Illinois state lottery in season nine?

The Conners win $108 million in the state lottery in the season-nine opener; the rich-family storyline was widely panned and the season finished outside the Nielsen top 30.

What does the original 1997 finale reveal about the series?

Time called the two-parter 'off-the-rails loopy'; the 2018 revival quietly undid it.

According to the original finale, what had really happened to Dan?

The revival brought him back alive, with Dan reappearing after 'faking his death'.

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

Blues Traveler recorded the season-nine theme, with John Popper's harmonica and newly written lyrics replacing the instrumental used for the first eight seasons.

On Roseanne, what is draped over the Conner family's living-room sofa in every episode?

A crocheted granny-square afghan covers the sofa in every episode; the show's other signature prop is the octagonal kitchen table seen in the opening titles.

In which major Emmy category was Roseanne never nominated during its original run?

Roseanne was never nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series in nine seasons, despite Emmy wins for Barr and Metcalf and seven lead-actor nominations for John Goodman.

In which year did both Barr and the actress playing Jackie win Emmys for the show?

In 1993 Roseanne Barr took the lead-actress comedy Emmy and Laurie Metcalf her second straight supporting win; Barr and John Goodman had both won Golden Globes that January.

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 January 1990, taking his surname for the length of the marriage?

She became Roseanne Arnold after marrying Tom Arnold on January 20, 1990; he also played Dan's poker buddy Arnie on the show.

Where was Roseanne Barr born?

Roseanne Barr was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 3, 1952, and grew up there in a Jewish family before starting stand-up in Denver.

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

Barr won the Peace and Freedom Party nomination in August 2012 after losing the Green Party's to Jill Stein; anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was her running mate.

How many viewers watched the 2018 revival premiere live and same-day?

The March 27, 2018 revival premiere drew 18.44 million live-plus-same-day viewers, a huge number for a sitcom; ABC renewed the show three days later, on March 30.

In the revival, what causes the year-long feud between the sisters?

Darlene engineers the reunion in the premiere.

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

D.J.'s daughter is Mary, played by Jayden Rey; his wife Geena is still deployed overseas when the revival begins.

On what date did ABC cancel Roseanne over Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett?

ABC cancelled Roseanne on May 29, 2018, hours after Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett; the spin-off The Conners was ordered weeks later without her.

How did The Conners explain the absence of Roseanne Conner?

She died of an opioid overdose, a choice Barr complained 'lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show'.

In which month and year did The Conners premiere on ABC?

The Conners premiered on ABC on October 16, 2018, five months after Roseanne's cancellation; it ran seven seasons, ending in April 2025.

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.

Who played D.J. Conner in the pilot before Michael Fishman took over the role?

Sal Barone played D.J. in the pilot only; Michael Fishman took over from episode two. Gordon-Levitt later appeared as D.J.'s friend George and Masterson as Darlene's boyfriend Jimmy.

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

Jackie names the boy Andy; the father is Fred, played by Michael O'Keefe, and Ellen DeGeneres later turned up as the couple's marriage counselor.

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

Shelley Winters, a two-time supporting-actress Oscar winner (The Diary of Anne Frank, A Patch of Blue), played Nana Mary, Bev's sharp-tongued mother, recurring through the 1990s.

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

The Lunch Box was bankrolled by Bev, who later sold her share to Roseanne's old boss Leon out of spite; ABC recreated it as a pop-up at SXSW to promote the 2018 revival.

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

Arnie arrived in the season-two episode 'Five of a Kind' by planting a kiss on Roseanne; he later married Nancy in Las Vegas, then left her claiming aliens had abducted him.

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

The trip had consequences: it was later revealed Darlene got pregnant while the family was there. Eric Dane appeared as a hotel bellhop.

Which prestigious broadcasting award did the series win in 1992?

Roseanne took a Peabody in 1992, after a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy in 1989, and in 1993 won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Series.

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

Barr said in 2018 that Lanford was modelled on Elgin, Illinois, northwest of Chicago; early episodes had nominally placed the town in Fulton County, three hours from the city.

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.