15 Things You Never Knew About ‘Roseanne’

7. So That’s What Happened

To say that there were problems with Roseanne’s ninth and final season is an understatement, and in order to wish it all away, writers did just that. Instead of owning up to a crappy season, the season finale revealed that all of the last season, along with bits of other seasons, were straight from the pen of Roseanne—the writer. The angle that much of this came from a book the character had been writing worked, because throughout the series Roseanne had always wanted to be a writer. Now if only we could apply this to real-life foul-ups.

8. Phased Out

It must really suck to come into a show as the right hand man—or in this case woman—only to be shuffled off due to nepotism. “Crystal Anderson,” played by Natalie West, was supposed to be Roseanne’s co-worker and best friend. After Roseanne married Tom Arnold in real life and he became “Arnie” on the show, the writing about West’s fate was creeping onto the wall. Next came “Nancy” Arnie’s full-of-life love-interest played by Sandra Bernhard, and unfortunately for West, the set was getting crowded. With Laurie Metcalf on-board as Roseanne’s quirky sister “Jackie,” by season five West wasn’t even in the opening credits and was simply a recurring character. Shows that anything can happen in the TV biz, as the character Crystal was thought up long before Roseanne sold.

9. Jerry Garcia Was Initially a Girl

Remember when Roseanne and Dan got pregnant in season seven? They initially announced that they were expecting a girl on the show. Then Roseanne conceived a child via surrogate in real life, and wanted the show to reflect her experiences. So they switched it to a boy when he was born the following season and hoped nobody was paying close attention. The TV son was named Jerry Garcia Conner after the Grateful Dead singer who passed away around that time.