After making a splash in the world of stand-up comedy, where she nicknamed herself the “domestic goddess”, Roseanne Barr brought us one of the most successful and influential sitcoms of all time where ROSEANNE premiered in 1988. Lasting nine seasons, the series found a loyal audience by showing us a family just about anyone could relate to. My mother never looked or sounded like Rosie, and my father wasn’t very similar to Dan Conner (in fact my parents were divorced before the series even premiered), but there was still something so familiar to me about the Conner household. It wasn’t the first time we had seen a working-class family in a sitcom dealing with real world issues (ALL IN THE FAMILY, FAMILY TIES, and GOOD TIMES come to mind), but it was relevant to the time period, and in many ways still holds up with today’s society. One of the reasons the show resonated so strongly with viewers was that it would frequently surprise us with shocking events, unexpected sadness, or just something very sweet and endearing. Below we collect five of our favorite moments from the 9-year run of the show.

Sara Gilbert had many great moments on the series, but one of her greatest was early in the run. Season 2 Episode 1- titled “Brain-Dead Poets Society” built up to a moment where tomboy Darlene had to read a poem at school, and Roseanne made her go through with it. What starts out as a scene with an innocent-enough child speaking before the class turns into something much more. As Darlene reads, Roseanne and Jackie’s smiles turn to near tears, and just as we too are about to crack, the moment ends with a realistic and hilarious finale. Darlene just poured her heart out in the most honest way, and Rosie, being the proud mom, starts snapping countless pictures of her depressed daughter’s face. It’s a short but sweet emotional sequence that shines for all three characters involved.

It’s Mother’s Day, but that doesn’t stop Becky (Lecy Goranson) and Darlene from ruining things for their mom in Season 4 Episode 24 called “Don’t Make Me Over.” After driving Roseanne to literal tears, the two daughters still think they’re going to go to a concert, that is until Dan busts in to set them straight. He lets them know how angry he is, but rather than force them to set things straight, he gets even by taking Roseanne out without the kids in tow, even saying they’ll decide their punishment over dinner. And the bonus present for Rosie? He made sure they’re mad at him now, not her. It’s a great scene.

Season 5 Episode 13 “Crime and Punishment.” Jackie, played brilliantly by Laurie Metcalf, frequently had some of the funniest moments on the show, but occasionally she would deliver a surprisingly emotional scene like this. Jackie’s boyfriend Fisher was established in multiple episodes, and at first he seemed like a decent enough guy, but we find out the worst possible truth. Fisher beat Jackie, and if Darlene hadn’t caught a glimpse of Jackie while dressing, who knows how long it would have gone on. Roseanne confronts her sister, and hearing Metcalf break down is enough to get anyone choked up. This scene is double-whammy too, as not only do you get one of the most unexpected emotional moments of the series, but there’s also the phenomenal capper to it when Dan grabs his jacket… we all know where he’s going and what he’s going to do. His actions also led to very realistic consequences, as Dan ends up going to jail for what he does, though no one could fault him for it.

Season 5 Episode 16 “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home” deals with a death in the family, that of Roseanne’s abusive father. The highlight of this episode come when Roseanne is making phone calls to deal with the funeral arrangements, finally throwing in the towel and telling Jackie she has to call relatives to give them the news. Reluctantly, she agrees, and dials her undoubtedly old and nearly-deaf Auntie Barbara… and the end result is screamingly funny. This is just one of many examples of how great Laurie Metcalf could be with the right material.

Season 6 Episode 11 “The Driver’s Seat” deals with something most sitcoms were afraid to touch… spanking your kids. Now look, when I was a kid I got my share of whoopins for sure, and if I’m being honest I likely deserved just about every one of them. But in the show, Roseanne and Jackie came from an abusive home, which is important to note here. In this episode, D.J. (young Michael Fishman, who literally grew up on the show) steals the family car and wrecks it while joy riding. After yelling at him for his carelessness, Roseanne grabs D.J. and unleashes a series of smacks on him for punishment, to the point of where Jackie (who was pregnant) had to pull her away from it. Roseanne immediately realizes what she’s done and regrets it, as Jackie reminds her this is what their dad did to them. While Dan tries to defend it saying the boy had it coming, we can see this is affecting Rosie in a big way. Later in the episode she sits D.J. down and apologizes to him, even noting this is one of those moments where she’s gonna have to make it up to him, big time. But it’s this scene that resonates, partly because (unless I’m mistaken) no sitcom had ever shown a parent whooping their child like this, or dealt with the psychological aspects of it. It’s just one more way ROSEANNE was bold enough to take on a subject many could relate to.

Season 6 Episode 21 “Lies My Father Told Me” is a great showcase for John Goodman. The story revolves around Dan finding out his father (who was played on the show by the great Ned Beatty) had his mother committed to a mental institute. In a drunken rage, he goes to confront his father’s current girlfriend about things, and just makes matters worse. The episode ends with Dan confronting his dad about all of it, but before we get there we’re given a singular moment that is so honest and powerful that it demands to be noted. Hungover and regretting his actions, Dan and Roseanne have an argument in the kitchen, with Rosie being the voice of reason to calm him down. Then it happens… Dan Conner, the strong patriarch of the family who is almost always tough, breaks down and cries saying “I can’t take this!” And Roseanne says “I know, I’m gonna take it with you.” There’s something about this moment, seeing Dan shattered and exposed, it’s just so powerful. Sadly, the ONLY video I could find of this is what you see above, and whoever uploaded it thought making it into a joke was the right thing to do, I have no idea why.

Season 9 Episode 19 “The Miracle” is pretty much an emotional roller coaster, but the scene above is what sticks with me most. Darlene is in the hospital to have her baby which ends up being born prematurely. The doctors tell her because of this, it’s not likely to live and the family should say their goodbyes while they can. Try to overlook the poorly-timed “Coven” joke at the start of the scene, and just embrace the moment as the women of the show collectively tell the weak newborn all they can think of in the moment. Roseanne leads them in taking turns holding the seemingly-doomed infant. Everyone shines here, particularly Estelle Harris as Roseanne and Jackie’s mom – you’ll also notice that’s Sarah Chalke as Becky, who replaced Goranson late in the show’s run. But it’s Sara Gilbert who kills me in this scene, starting with the “What am I gonna do?” line, but really nailing it at the end. Up until now, Darlene was such a strong and at times cold character (in the best possible way), but when she breaks down at the end of this scene and leans into Rosie, it’s truly heartbreaking. SPOILER ALERT – the baby actually lives, but you had to watch the end credits of this episode to see it suddenly finding the miracle-like strength to survive.

It was a running gag that popped up in a few different episodes, Dan saying something inappropriate or just annoying to Roseanne, and her whacking him over the head with a frying pan. Now look, there’s no way that frying pan was real, sound design helps sell the gag though. But the way John Goodman made the most of the joke was enough to have everyone on set that day in stitches. Watch and embrace the silliness.

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