The show was tapping into something that other scholes werent. Some of the fun stuff was dan and roseanne and jackie getting high. It still cracks me up every time i see it. All right, listen up, everybody. I got an important announcement to make. Youre a woman trapped in a mans body . Sharon stone. Leo ddy ca dicaprio was on. He was a doll. I hope you dont show that clip. Feels like a time warp. Feels like being home again. Roseanne the return. Heres our host, joy behar. Hello, everybody. It was a sitcom originally called life and stuff and thats exactly what america saw, every day family life headed by a mother unlike anything tv had ever seen. A brassy comic taking on the hottest topics in the funniest way imaginable. Hey, sounds familiar. Now, shes back with the rest of the connor crew, and no doubt, the new roseanne will be as groundbreaking and funny as ever. I im on my way to the set of the roseanne show for the roseanne show reboot. Its been 20 years. Im so happy to see you its pretty amazing. Its very exciting, but its very emotionally overwhelming. Am i ready yet . Its september 2017 and its a family reunion. You look great ah, baloney. Roseanne and the rest of her is cast mates are gathering in sound stage eight to read through the script. The name of the number one script, 20 years to life. Not bad for a onetime struggling comic who parlayed her unique take on family life into a life changing appearance on the tonight show. Shes a housewife from denver, colorado. Oh my god, i was anything but relaxed. Being funny on the tonight show made your career if you were a comic. Getting on the tonight show was the thing that every comic in los angeles was desperate to do. And this is her very first appearance on national television. Would you welcome, Roseanne Barr. Roseanne . I thought i was going to fall over. Im obsessive, so, i must have done that sevenminute act, like, 150 times. I hate that word, housewife. I prefer to be called domestic goddess. Its very hard to understand how one spot on one show could make our break your career as a comedian. The tonight show was that spot. The carson spot leads to more work and more national exposure. What does it take to become successful and how tough it is for you, compared to men . I think its harder for a man comic because they are generally not funny or intelligent. Marcy carsey and tom werner meet up with roseanne and they get talking about the possibility of doing a sitcom that would focus on a character like the one roseanne talked about in her standup. It started with an idea about how interesting it would be to portray a family in which the mom was a working mom. I was inexperienced as far as acting and but i was a big fan of sitcoms all my life and i always pretended that i had the roseanne show. Marcy and i were developing this idea and we said, well you know what, this may be a hard sell, actually. Even though we had the cosby show on television, which was the number one show. Nbc passed on it and then we brought it to abc. So, they cast it, and the first thing they do is they get john goodman. They need to get people who are really good, because roseanne has no acting experience. All i knew about Roseanne Barr that she was a rising comedian, and she was on a pizza hut commercial. Thats the only time id ever seen her. How about we take the kids out for pan pizza and you can eat at the sal dad bar . We hit it off from the very beginning. We kind of made each other laugh. And thats why i felt like i had the job as soon as i left the audition. Nobody else was ever considered. We kind of bonded around making each other laugh and you know, he has a working class background, too, so, i knew he was the guy, and as soon as i read with him, i knew we had a hit show. Theres a 200point game pulsating through these fingers. Lets not waste it on bowling. And then the next person they brought in was Laurie Metcalf to play the sister. I had a real heavy theater background. Zero tv. I allowed myself two weeks to be in l. A. And during those two weeks, i happened to go to the audition. So, i was literally in the right place at the right time. Laurie was her tow truck driver. Shed nudge her into the marks and then let her go. You know, sort of steer her this way. A push here, push there. Then meeting the kids, we auditioned a lot of kids. Oh i was eating chinese food with my family and i opened a Fortune Cookie and it said, you will be graced with the presence of stardom. And then the phone rang and it was a callback for roseanne. Come on, just answer my question. Its none of your business. It is my business when you start sneaking out of this house to meet some guy that i would consider leaving your father for. Id never been in an audition process before, other than for the school play. Haha. Michael came in, he was 6. He looked like my family. And hi sits down, he goes, want to hear a joke . So, im like, yeah. So, i asked her, why did the turtle cross the road . I go, i dont know. And the punchline was, chickens day off. Chickens day off. I go, youre hired. Thank you, honey. Youre one of my three favorite kids. What about me . No. It was the absolute first thing i had ever done. It was a lifechanger. When i met the entire cast, i think we went to a Howard Johnson to have our first table read, and seeing the family trickle in was just so exciting. She started it. Okay, we know who started it. It was the first time i got this feeling, even though i was young, i just felt like, oh, we have Something Big here. They certainly did have Something Big here. A cast member who would later go on to become Academy Awardwinner george clooney. We used to play basketball together. You know, hes that cute and charming and someone you want to pal around with in real life. George clooney was, you know, just the manager at a factory on a show and was a small character, and we all felt like he was magical and he was a great guy. All right, listen up, everybody. I got an important announcement to make. Youre a woman trapped in a mans body . Onset, the cast finds chemistry and comedy, but behind the scenes, there is drama, lots of it. The show that will soon return for its tenth season was once in real danger of never making it through the first. They knew they had something really special here, but they also had somebody who wasnt used to the rules of television and who was not going to be easy to work with. My feet hurt and i got periodic bouts of depression, but other than that, im fine. I dont know if she told you this, but we were editing the pilot and roseanne called me up and i was just checking with her and i was saying how great the show was. And she said, im not sure i want to do anymore episodes. And i said what . Big trouble. The network wants to pull the plug, roseanne hits the script, the writer hates roseanne, its a mess. And that will begin a high stakes battle between two very powerful people on this show Roseanne Barr, its star, matt williams, its creator and executive producer, that will never be resolved. We had big fights. Oh, yeah, we all were aware of that, yeah. I mean, we were right there. Roseanne wanted him out. Roseanne wanted control of the ship creatively. The tension was, you know, unbelievable. I remember he threw over a table and chairs and said, im not a scribe she was promised a show to voice her point of view. And what was on the page at that point was really not that. The show premieres in october of 1988. As the cast watches the pilot, roseanne notices something is missing. Because that is the first time that Roseanne Barr sees the credit, created by matt williams. She believes that she is the creator of roseanne. Ah roseanne had it tougher because, as a woman, coming into it, especially in those days, she really had to fight for the power. You were in the first year of roseanne. It was a big hit. You played what, her boss . The first season she wanted it to be a specific way. Matt williams did not. And there was a big fight and she eventually asked matt to leave. Now, matts a nice guy, and very tale talented. Roseanne was right. And so, that is the question. Is the show actually going to proceed without roseanne . People told me that he was keeping a list of all the offensive things i did, so that they could replace me, and it included belching and things like that. In the end, williams decides to leave the show over creative differences. Matt williams goes on to create home improvement, with tim allen, which is hugely successful. I knew i would have the last word and i always did. Well, shes around and matts not. There you have it. When we come back what . Youre fired. From hot button topics onset schools having a food drive for poor people. Well, item them to drive some of that food over here. To getting really steamed offset. I made the sign that i put on my door, these are the people that will be fired when the show goes to number one. One year later, they were all gone. Its time for the ultimate sleep number event on the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort your sleep number setting. And snoring . Does your bed do that . Right now during the ultimate sleep number event, save 50 on the ultimate limited edition bed with adjustable comfort on both sides. Plus 24month financing. Ends monday. Visit sleepnumber. Com for a store near you. Woman i think of all the times when ive had to put on a brave face as i struggled to hide my symptoms of depression. Im on an antidepressant. Why do i still have depression symptoms . I didnt want to let people down, so i hid my real feelings behind a mask. Enough no more. Thats when i talked to my doctor. Really talked. I stopped saying, oh, im fine, and told her about living behind the mask. Thats when she told me about rexulti. She said that rexulti, when added to an antidepressant, has been proven to help reduce symptoms of depression. Without giving up any of the progress i may have made with my antidepressant. Rexulti is not for everyone. Call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior, worsening depression, or thoughts of suicide. Antidepressants can increase these in those 24 and younger. Elderly dementia patients taking rexulti have an increased risk of death or stroke. Call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles, and confusion to address a possible lifethreatening condition or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these may be permanent. Rexulti has been shown to increase blood sugar in some people. Other risks are increased cholesterol; weight gain; decreased white blood cells, which can be serious; dizziness on standing; seizures; trouble swallowing; and impaired judgment or motor skills. It was time to change the picture. Thats why i talked to my doctor about adding rexulti. Feel better about facing the world. Pay 0 for your first prescription. Details at rexulti. Com. And its packed with powerful cranberry nutrients that can help your body defend against certain infections. Ill be your body on cranberry juice bring it on, bad stuff still healthy. In your noise cancelling trheadphones . Ry maybe not. Maybe you could trust you wont be next to a loud eater. eating potato chips loudly or you could just trust duracell. silence use pantene shampoo together with 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. Their prov formula is like a multivitamin. Making your hair 2x stronger see the difference when you add 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. We cant now with more of roseanne the return. She was the queen of abc, she was the queen of television. In no time at all, roseanne has become a smash hit. Its the number one show in the country, reaching a staggering 30 million viewers. And roseanne has creative control. When the show hits number one, the head of abc entertainment, he sends a chocolate cake to the show. They gave me a chocolate number one. Well, roseanne has heard, that when guys have number one shows, they dont get cakes. They get, like, has rattys. They get, like, ferraris. And they gave me a [ bleep ] chocolate number one. Excuse me. She feels its disparagement. But once bob eiger got on abc, boy, they started upping the gifts. You read my diary. I have to go to work. The question about roseanne was, also, was she representing a new kind of person . Was she this newly empowered woman who was taking on the old guard . Or was she just like a tyrant, like anybody else was, firing men and women . I made the sign that i put on my door, these are the people that will be fired when the show goes to number one. And one year later, they were all gone. When i took the job, my agent and my lawyer said, she will fire you. She fires everyone after a year. And i said okay. They said, its going to be a hell of a year. She fired me. If youre working for roseanne, shes not going to settle for much at all. And rightly so. Her names on it, and its her story. Its her real life. Being roseanne, it was not the calmest of places. So, you had to kind of be ready, on your feet. We were often changing stories last minute. Sometimes it was, hey, i met joan collins. Yeah, met joan colins at a party and i want joan collins to play my cousin, so, write her into the episode this week. Thats a nice outfit. Thank you. Thats a nice place. It was a little crazy. Hi, arnie. Hey, rosie. Tom arnold is put in the writers room. Tom arnold is there to make sure that roseannes wishes are followed. Reporter tom arnold will enjoy many titles on the sitcom. Actor, writer, producer and perhaps most importantly, roseannes real life husband. Its makes things tricky on set. Roseanne taking up with tom arnold was a huge story. And all this is turning up in People Magazine and all that stuff. Its all a big topic of conversation. You are such a leech. There was always some drama going on every week that i was there. Wow roseanne really did change things in tv. Oh, no, not june cleaver. She wasnt your typical housewife. Oh, let me do it, its eas r easier. She wasnt your typical actress with this voice that could be very piercing and grating. D. J. becky dan, come here that really bluecollar working class person. Us regular people, were paying more taxes than the rich people because they got all the lawyers to figure out the loopholes. I want to figure out loopholes. To represent working class as the noble class in this country, that just hasnt been the point of view. Roseanne was the first woman i saw on television that was rejecting the social construct of what femininity was supposed to be. Well, i always wanted to do a show that was complimentary to the viewers, who i felt were, you know, me when i was a little girl watching tv. Give me this thing. Make it about something that i can identify with, and she certainly did that. In my culture, it was always a strong motherbased home with a loving husband and some problems and loudmouth kids, so, i wanted that. Come on, mom. And of course they faced money issues. Our schools having a food drive for poor people. Well, them them to drive some of that food over here. It was a show where you could see people paying bills, or the lights being turned out, because we werent able to pay all our bills. Or the games roseanne would play, how to shuffle around the bills. First, we send in the phone bill and we forget to sign the check. There you go. Then they send the water bill to the Electric Company and electric bill to the water company. Now youre cooking. And you know that charge card bill, it never even showed up. Thats what roseanne did over and over again. She just constantly reinforced this idea that there were struggles to be had. What . Youre fired. You dont have to have a sex just to have a boyfriend. I know. Look what i found in davids room when i was cleaning today. Oh, man, that looks like pot. Its set up as a comedy. Everybodys loving it, you know. First season and everybodys relating to it. And now she starts introducing issues. Im real sorry that you died before i got to tell you some stuff. The Birth Control stuff. Its time for me to um get some Birth Control. Uhhuh. I think the episode where d. J. Doesnt want to kiss the girl in the play is kind of pivotal american television. I just dont want to kiss her. Hey. Black people are just like us, theyre every bit as good as us and anybody that thinks so is just a pick of cousindating, barefoot embarrassments to respectable white trash like us. We dealt with Domestic Abuse with jackies character and her boyfriend. Darlene says your backs all bruised up. Its nothing. Let me see. No, dont. Dont. Everyone was terrified of tackling that subject. Was it going to be too dark . Was it going to turn people off, to watch that when theyre tunes into a sitcom . That son oaf a bitch. You dont understand. He beat the crap out of you. No, he didnt. Its no big deal. I came back to her and i said, powers that be are very concerned about this. Dont want to do it. She said, were doing it. I said, okay, great. Roseanne was one of the first people in that arena that said no, you know, this is it. It has to be this good all the time or im not going to do it. Dont say anymore. She was always willing to sacrifice some of the laughs in a sitcom for the depth, and i think people loved her for that reason. I did. They were in the comedy business. But it did give you an ongoing sense that this show was tapping into something that other shows werent. And thats what made it special. Next o say can you see shes singing, shes kissing. And were dishing on the mystery of the two beckies. Where the hell have you been . I was surprised that they recast me. Fred would do anything for his daughter. Get in, fred even if it means being the back half of a unicorn. Fear not fred, the front half washed his shirt with gain flings and that smell puts the giddy in giddy up. Thats because one gain flings pac has more freshness than a whole bottle of the other guy. Gain. Seriously good scent. In your noise cancelling trheadphones . Ry maybe not. 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