80s | 90s | TV | Pop Culture
10 Facts About 'Roseanne' That Will Make You Miss The Original Series
Roseanne will be back in just a few short months, but now is the best time to catch up on our old favorites. There are a lot of things about the classic series that we may not know, and it might change how you feel about the revival.
Roseanne Barr's first TV show obviously helped her career, but how much do you really know about the classic sitcom? Find out now!
1. Because Roseanne was successful, other stand up comedians got their own shows
Between Roseanne and Seinfeld, TV executives were realizing that stand up comedians were a great resource for television. Shortly after Roseanne started, Tim Allen was offered Home Improvement, Brett Butler was offered Grave Under Fire, Ellen Degeneres starred in Ellen, and Ray Romano's show Everybody Loves Raymond started.
2. Macaulay Culkin almost played D.J.
Two years before Home Alone came out, Culkin was auditioning to play Roseanne's son. Instead, she said that “I wanted Michael Fishman because he looked like my family and he was a little Russian boy."
3. The show was never nominated for an Emmy
Even though many of the actors on the show were either nominated or the recipients of the prestigious award, the show was never nominated for Best Comedy Series.
4. ABC forced the show to have an episode at Disney World
Did you ever feel like every show that was on in 1995 had a Disney park episode? Well, that's because the merger between Disney and ABC required all of their family shows to have an episode at one of their parks. Boy Meets World, Full House, Step By Step and Family Matters also had to visit the park.
5. John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf were cast for two reasons
Not only are they both amazing actors who fit their roles perfectly, they also were hired to act as acting coaches for their lead character. Barr had never done any professional acting, so the studios hoped that by having such qualified cast members on set she would learn quickly.
That's not the only weird casting choice...
6. Sara Gilbert recorded many scenes remotely
She was important to the show so she could not be written off, but she wanted to attend Yale. They adjusted taping schedules to allow her to shoot in a sound stage in New York and would work her into the series.
7. All of Barr's husbands have appeared on the show
She has been married three times, Bill Pentland, Tom Arnold and Ben Thomas. All three have appeared on an episode of Roseanne at one point.
8. Corn is mentioned in almost every episode
If it isn't directly mentioned, it is at least shown.
9. When Johnny Galecki's character, David, is first introduced his name is Kevin
He was playing the younger brother of another character but they eventually changed his name.
10. There was a cartoon spin-off
Barr was responsible for creating an animated series called Little Rosey that was actually about Barr herself, not the Connor family. The show didn't end up lasting long, but Barr claims it was cancelled because of how she sang the national anthem at a baseball game.