Roseanne

Jerry Nelson and John Goodman on the set of Roseanne as seen on Muppets Tonight.

"Halloween IV"

"Party Politics"

"Roseanne-Feld"

"Into That Good Night"

Roseanne was a sitcom which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997. Based on the stand-up comedy of Roseanne Barr, who often joked of her status as a "Domestic Goddess", the series featured the blue-collar working Conner family and the trials and tribulations of their everyday life. The series remained in the top four of the ratings for six of its nine years and received multiple Emmy Awards.

Muppet Mentions

• In "Halloween IV", a guest at the Halloween party is wearing a costume of Link Hogthrob in his Pigs in Space costume with a space helmet on his head.
• In "Party Politics," DJ complains about carrying his lunch in a big brown bag. After complaining so much, in the ending of the episode, Roseanne has DJ's lunch pack in his old Sesame Street lunch box.
• In "Construction Junction", Jackie gets a computer in her house and David is helping her set it up. As David is showing Jackie an ABC software and a counting software for her son, Andy, to play with, Jackie looks at the screen and shouts, "Is that Big Bird?"
• In "Roseanne-Feld", Roseanne tells Jackie that she isn't going to be one of those grandmother that spoils their grandchild. Jackie then takes Roseanne's bag and dumps a bunch of dolls and plushes including Elmo out from the bag on to the table. Roseanne replies, "How did that get in there?"
• In "Into That Good Night (Part 1)," the Elmo plush is seen on the bed of Darlene and David's new baby room.

References

• In the closing scene of Muppets Tonight episode 104, guest star John Goodman is back on the set of Roseanne, and the stagehand that welcomes him back to the show is played by Muppeteer Jerry Nelson. Andy and Randy then show up to reveal that they work for that show now. John is mortified, and the shrill strings played to accentuate this are a nod to Bernard Herrmann's classic Psycho score.

• The show is also spoofed on the KMUP television schedule as "Rosehamme."

• In a taped presentation for promotion for the new series Muppets Tonight, Gonzo suggested a surefire alternative: "Roseanne's Funniest Home Improvements, She Wrote."

• In Sesame Street Unpaved, it's pointed out that Cookie Monster shares his astrological sign, Scorpio, with Roseanne ("but not his cookies").

Connections

• Judd Apatow was a writer for the show
• Tom Arnold played Arnie Thomas
• Ed Asner makes a cameo appearance as his character, Lou Grant, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show in "Call Waiting"
• Ned Beatty played Ed Conner
• Milton Berle appeared in "December Bride"
• Sandra Bernhard played Nancy Bartlett
• Red Buttons played Jake
• David A. Caplan wrote for the series
• Tim Curry played Roger
• Sarah Chalke played Becky Conner
• Ellen DeGeneres played the psychologist in "The Blaming of the Shrew"
• Tim Doyle was a producer on the show
• Dann Florek appeared in three episodes of the show
• Brad Garrett played Doug, a bank loan officer, in one episode
• Johnny Galecki played David
• John Goodman played Dan Conner
• Gary Halvorson directed episodes of the series in Season 9
• Neil Patrick Harris appeared as Doogie Howser, M.D. in "Less is More"
• Florence Henderson played neighbor, Flo, in "Suck Up or Shut Up"
• Bob Hope as himself
• Robin Leach as himself in "What a Day for a Daydream"
• Loretta Lynn appeared in "Lanford Daze"
• Ed McMahon played himself
• Liza Minnelli appeared in "December Bride"
• Jerry Springer played himself in the episode " What a Day for a Daydream" (1996)
• Members of Stomp appeared in "Roseanne In The Hood"
• Sharon Stone played the tipsy neighbor in "Happy Trailers"
• Raven-Symoné played Melissa
• Rob Ulin was a writer/producer on the show
• Fred Willard played Scott
• Ellis E. Williams appeared in the episode "Girl Talk" (1994)
• Moon Unit Zappa played Carol in "Pampered to a Pulp" (1996)