Plot
The ABC series Roseanne was the first sitcom since I Love Lucy to feature the family matriarch as the main character. Unlike the fashionably urban Ricardos, however, the Conners represented working-class America in lovingly honest way seldom seen on network television. Referring to herself as a "Domestic Goddess," Roseanne exuded a style of brassy humor, tough love, and blue-collar sensibilities that deviated from the hyperfeminine history of TV moms. For almost a decade, the show portrayed an average working family in the Midwest handling their everyday problems with wisecracks, witty jabs, and classic sitcom togetherness. The series peaked by 1993 with multiple wins at the Emmy awards and the Golden Globes. Roseanne is fondly remembered in TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" and remains in syndication. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, RoviCredit
Matt Williams - Show Creator, Chuck Lorre - Screenwriter, Chuck Lorre - Co-Executive ProducerEpisodes
Roseanne: Season 01 (1988)The first season of Roseanne served as an introduction to the working-class Conner family and their humorous struggles to get through the day in Lanford, IL. Roseanne is presented as the sarcastic head of the household, snapping rude comments to everyone and working full time at Wellman Plastics. Dan (John Goodman) is a freelance building contractor, but his salesman father (Ned Beatty) thinks that he should be doing more with his life. Frequently shouting back at her mother's comments, Becky's (Lecy Goranson) interests lie mostly in boys; during this season, she prefers the tougher Johnny (Tony Crane) to the wealthier Chip (Jared Rushton). Darlene (Sara Gilbert) is a tomboy who shares her mother's caustic wit and constantly fights with her little brother, D.J. (Michael Fishman ). Darlene approaches getting her first period with serious dread, and she appears to have developed a high propensity for manipulation. Neurotic Jackie (Laurie Metcalf ) works at the plastics factory and dates the manager, Booker (George Clooney). In the season finale, Roseanne finally quits her factory job. This season went through several writers, including Roseanne's first husband, Bill Pentland. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Language Lessons
- Radio Days
- Lovers' Lanes
- The Memory Game
- Here's to Good Friends
- The Monday Through Friday Show
- Bridge Over Troubled Sonny
- Father's Day
- Nightmare on Oak Street
- Mall Story
- Becky's Choice
- The Slice of Life
- Workin' Overtime
- Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore
- Death and Stuff
- Dear Mom and Dad
- Let's Call It Quits
- Dan's Birthday Bash
- Saturday
- Canoga Time
In the first-ever episode of the series, the "Domestic Goddess" Roseanne is introduced as a housewife, mother of three, and a full-time worker at a plastics factory. She has to deal with complaints when daughter Darlene gets in trouble for barking at school while finding time to badger husband Dan for not fixing the plumbing. This is the only episode with Sal Barone in the role of D.J. He was replaced by Michael Fishman. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Roseanne: We're in the Money (1988)
Dan and Roseanne agree to a test of wills in order to avoid spending Dan's 500-dollar cash advance on themselves. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Roseanne: D-I-V-O-R-C-E (1988)
Jackie stays home with the Conner kids while Roseanne and Dan go out to dinner. At the restaurant, they run into a friend who has just went through a divorce, leading them to discuss what it would be like if they ever split up. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Roseanne: Season 02 (1989)
The second season of Roseanne allowed for a lot less financial stability in the lives of the Conners, beginning with Roseanne's unemployment. She tries out several jobs this season, including telephone sales, computers, Chicken Divine, the Lobo Lounge, and the beauty salon. Dan's (John Goodman) future bike shop is foreshadowed when old friend Ziggy (Jay O. Sanders) rides into town on his motorcycle. The reoccurring character of Arnie is introduced, played by Tom Arnold, Roseanne's future husband and also one of the show's writers. Becky (Lecy Goranson) starts getting more defiant against her mother, while Darlene (Sara Gilbert) shows some signs of a talent for poetry, even though she desperately conceals it under a thick layer of cynicism. Jackie's (Laurie Metcalf) various couplings rage on, with one guy actually proposing to her. But the big deal for Jackie this season is her acceptance into the police academy. This leads to one of her many fights with her mother, featured in the same Thanksgiving episode in which Dan's father first puts the moves on widowed Crystal (Natalie West). The season ends with Dan building Roseanne an office to pursue her interest in writing. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Inherit the Wind
- Brain-Dead Poets Society
- Lobocop
- No Talking
- The Little Sister
- Guilt by Disassociation
- Somebody Stole My Gal
- House of Grown-Ups
- Five of a Kind
- BOO!
- Sweet Dreams
- We Gather Together
- Chicken Hearts
- One for the Road
- An Officer and a Gentleman
- Born to Be Wild
- Hair
- I'm Hungry
- All of Me
- To Tell the Truth
- Fender Bender
- April Fool's Day
- Fathers and Daughters
- Happy Birthday
Season three of Roseanne opened following the media frenzy surrounding the infamous baseball game where Roseanne slaughtered the National Anthem on television. Married to Roseanne in 1990, Tom Arnold makes a few guest appearances and starts writing episodes as well. The Conner family's problems with money escalate in this season, when Dan (John Goodman) gives Arnie (Tom Arnold) a loan right before he finds himself in debt. Dan also gets injured at work and Roseanne starts working at the coffee shop. Becky's (Lecy Goranson) behavioral problems escalate significantly as she gets sent to the principal's office, runs away from home, throws a party, and steals Dan's motorcycle with her boyfriend, marking the first appearance of Mark Healy (Glenn Quinn). Darlene (Sara Gilbert) goes to her first school dance and develops an interest in boys, but she still would rather play baseball than wear a dress. Dan's father, Ed (Ned Beatty), proposes to their family friend, Crystal (Natalie West), who is pregnant with his child. Also, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) becomes a full-fledged police officer and breaks up with her boyfriend, Gary (Brian Kerwin). The season ends with Ziggy's (Jay O. Sanders) return to Lanford and the birth of the motorcycle shop. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- The Test
- Dream Lover
- Do You Know Where Your Parents Are?
- Confessions
- Friends and Relatives
- Like a Virgin
- Like, a New Job
- Goodbye, Mr. Right
- Becky, Beds and Boys
- Trick or Treat
- PMS, I Love You
- Bird Is the Word
- The Courtship of Eddie, Dan's Father
- The Wedding
- Becky Doesn't Live Here Anymore
- Home-Ec
- Valentine's Day
- Communicable Theater
- Vegas Interruptus
- Her Boyfriend's Back
- Trouble With the Rubbles
- Second Time Around
- Dances With Darlene
- Scenes From a Barbecue
- The Pied Piper of Lanford
Season four of Roseanne starts with the opening up of Lanford Custom Cycle, Dan's (John Goodman) new bike shop, while Roseanne gets a job as a waitress at Rodbell's diner, with co-worker Bonnie (Bonnie Sheridan) and boss Leon (Martin Mull). Becky (Lecy Goranson) has an on-again/off-again relationship with greaser guy Mark (Glenn Quinn), much to her parents' disapproval. However, Roseanne lets her go on birth control, and Dan lets Mark work as a mechanic at his bike shop. Darlene (Sara Gilbert) starts dressing in black and meets Mark's brother, the low-key David (Johnny Galecki), who is her perfect foil. D.J. gets upset when his next-door neighbor friend, Todd Bowman (Troy Davidson), moves away, but at least he does well in school. In Jackie's (Laurie Metcalf) life, she starts seeing a therapist, accidentally sleeps with Arnie (Tom Arnold), and runs into Booker (George Clooney) for the last time. She also makes friends with Nancy (Sandra Bernhard), who is introduced in the two-part Las Vegas episode. The first of many pregnancies to come on the show kicks off with the birth of Crystal's (Natalie West) child. By the season finale, the Conners are back in financial instability when Rodbell's diner closes and the bike shop goes out of business. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- A Bitter Pill to Swallow
- Thanksgiving '91
- Kansas City, Here We Come
- Santa Claus
- Take My Bike...Please!
- Why Jackie Becomes a Trucker
- Darlene Fades to Black
- Tolerate Thy Neighbor
- Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down
- Vegas (Part 1)
- Vegas, Vegas (Part 2)
- Stressed to Kill
- Bingo
- The Bowling Show
- The Back Story
- Less Is More
- Breakin' Up Is Hard to Do
- This Old House
- The Commercial Show
- Therapy
- Lies
- Deliverance
- Secrets
- Don't Make Me Over
- Aliens
Season five of Roseanne contains some of the best-remembered episodes of the show, and marked the first of many Emmy awards (Laurie Metcalf won for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series in 1992). The season started in the usual dire financial straits, with the bike shop out of business and Roseanne out of work. Her mother, Bev (Estelle Parsons) moves into a retirement home in Lanford and helps to finance the sandwich shop, the Lanford Lunch Box. In the two-part season opener, Mark (Glenn Quinn) and Becky (Lecy Goranson) elope and move to Minneapolis. Right after they leave, Darlene turns 16 and quickly advances her relationship with David (Johnny Galecki), who ends up moving in with the Conners. Darlene dyes her hair black, stages an animal rights protest at the Lanford Lunch Box, and goes to the Daisy Chainsaw concert with new next-door neighbor Molly Tilden (Danielle Harris).This season contained some pretty heavy episodes, like when Roseanne and Jackie's father died or the two-part episode where Jackie left her abusive boyfriend, Fisher (Matt Roth). Also significant is the episode where Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) reveals that she's gay and introduces her lover, Marla (Morgan Fairchild). Other guest stars that appeared this season include Joan Collins, Loretta Lynn, Ed Begley Jr., and Red Buttons. The season ends when a business opportunity gets messed up by shady partner Roger (Tim Curry), and Darlene has to decide between staying with David in Lanford or going to art school in Chicago. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Terms of Estrangement, Part 1
- Good Girls, Bad Girls
- Of Ice and Men
- It's No Place Like Home for the Holidays
- Terms of Estrangement, Part 2
- The Dark Ages
- Mommy Nearest
- Pretty in Black
- Looking for Loans in All the Wrong Places
- Halloween IV
- Ladies' Choice
- Stand on Your Man
- Crime and Punishment
- War and Peace
- Lanford Daze
- Wait Till Your Father Gets Home
- First Cousin, Twice Removed
- Lose a Job, Winnebago
- It's a Boy!
- It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
- Playing With Matches
- Promises, Promises
- Glengarry, Glen Rosey
- Tooth or Consequences
- Daughters and Other Strangers
In season six of Roseanne, Darlene moves away to art school in Chicago leaving David (Johnny Galecki) behind. However, David and Darlene try secretly living together for a few episodes, but Dan and Roseanne eventually find out and it causes a big uproar. The biggest change this season is actress Lecy Goranson leaving the series to attend college, and Sarah Chalke taking over as the new Becky in the episode "Homecoming." In keeping with this kind of soap opera tradition, a few of this season's guest stars played their characters from the soaps One Life to Live and General Hospital. This season features two of the most memorable episodes of the series: "A Stash From the Past," where Dan and Roseanne find an old bag of pot, and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," where Roseanne goes out to the gay bar and gets kissed by Mariel Hemingway. Also, Jackie gets pregnant with Fred's (Michael O'Keefe) baby, goes into labor, and then accepts his marriage proposal for the season finale. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Two Down, One to Go
- Thanksgiving '93
- The Driver's Seat
- White Trash Christmas
- The Mommy's Curse
- Party Politics
- A Stash From the Past
- Be My Baby
- Halloween V
- Homeward Bound
- Guilt by Imagination
- Homecoming
- Suck Up or Shut Up
- Busted
- David vs. Goliath
- Everyone Comes to Jackie's
- Don't Make Room for Daddy
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell
- Labor Day
- Past Imperfect
- Lies My Father Told Me
- I Pray the Lord My Stove to Keep
- Body by Jake
- Isn't It Romantic?
- Altar Egos
Season seven opens with Roseanne announcing her pregnancy, which later becomes medically complicated. Darlene and David break up and Roseanne tells Darlene she can't go back to school. Meanwhile, David still lives in the Conner family house, causing increasing tensions between him and Mark, which leads to an even bigger fight between Darlene and Becky. Eventually, Mark and Becky move out of the house and into a trailer. Darlene gets a new boyfriend (Danny Masterson), and David shows an interest in a couple of girls (Lisa Rieffel, Traci Lords). However, they get back together toward the end of the season when Darlene reluctantly confesses her true feelings to him on the front porch. This season contains two really memorable episodes: "All About Rosey" is the hour-long clip show featuring classic sitcom moms and the season finale, "Sherwood Schwartz," is a hilarious tribute to the legendary television writer/producer and his magical creation Gilligan's Island. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Nine Is Enough
- Thanksgiving '94
- Maybe Baby
- The Parenting Trap
- Two for One
- Snoop Davey Dave
- Girl Talk
- Sleeper
- Skeleton in the Closet
- Follow the Son
- Punch and Jimmy
- White Men Can't Kiss
- Rear Window
- My Name Is Bev
- Bed and Bored
- Sisters
- Lost Youth
- Single Married Female
- Clip Show: All About Rosey
- Husbands and Wives
- Happy Trailers
- The Blaming of the Shrew
- The Birds and Frozen Bees
- Couch Potatoes
- Sherwood Schwartz: A Loving Tribute
Season eight of Roseanne is the last regular season, leading into the crazy departure of season nine. A lot of soap opera situations occur, with the birth of Roseanne's baby, the engagement of Leon and Scott, Darlene's pregnancy announcement, Darlene and David's wedding, and then Dan's heart attack. As usual, the Conners divert to several side jobs and business propositions, leading to an unexpected check and subsequent trip to Disney World. One of the highlights of season eight is the black-and-white "Fifties Show" episode and legend Tony Curtis appearing as the ballroom dance instructor in "Ballroom Blitz." The season ends with Dan's heart attack at Darlene's wedding reception that leads to a big domestic dispute with Roseanne. According to the entire series finale episode "Into That Good Night" aired on May 20, 1997, Dan was supposed to die during the heart attack. Apparently, the character of Roseanne was fantasizing the wildly unbelievable pattern of events that comprise season nine. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Shower the People You Love With Stuff
- Let Them Eat Junk
- Roseanne in the Hood
- The Last Date
- Halloween - The Final Chapter
- The Getaway, Almost
- The Last Thursday in November
- Of Mice and Dan
- The Fifties Show
- December Bride
- Thrilla Near Vanilla
- White Sheep of the Family
- Becky Howser, MD
- Out of the Past
- Construction Junction
- We're Going to Disney World
- Disney World War II
- Springtime for David
- Another Mouth to Shut Up
- Morning Becomes Obnoxious
- Ballroom Blitz
- Heart and Soul
- Fights and Stuff
- Direct to Video
Season nine of Roseanne begins with the Conners winning one hundred million dollars in the lottery, and the rest of the season maintains the same sort of unbelievability. A prince falls for Jackie, the Conners party with rich people, and Roseanne battles terrorists just in the first few episodes. Dan almost has an affair in California and Roseanne almost has an affair with her old boss' son (James Brolin). D.J. grows up and gets a girlfriend (Heather Matarazzo), and Bev comes out of the closet and gets a girlfriend, Joyce (Ruta Lee). Finally, Dan's mentally unstable mother, Audrey (Debbie Reynolds), pays a strange visit, and Darlene's baby is born premature. The admittedly bizarre series of events in season nine are dealt with in the conclusion episode, "Into That Good Night," where Roseanne delivers a monologue. Apparently, Dan was supposed to die during his heart attack at the end of season eight, and season nine was all in the imagination of the character of Roseanne. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Call Waiting
- Home Is Where the Afgan Is
- Mothers and Other Strangers
- Home for the Holidays
- Millions From Heaven
- What a Day for a Daydream
- Honor Thy Mother
- Someday My Prince Will Come
- Pampered to a Pulp
- Satan, Darling
- Hoi Polloi Meets Hoiti Toiti
- Roseambo
- Say It Ain't So
- Hit the Road, Jack
- The War Room
- Lanford's Elite - Part 1
- Some Enchanted Merger - Part 2
- A Second Chance
- The Miracle
- Roseanne-Feld
- The Truth Be Told
- Arsenic and Old Mom
- Into That Good Night





