Roseanne is an Emmy award-winning comedy series that aired on ABC from 1987 to 1998.  The series followed the story of a working-class family, The Conners, in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois.  Comedienne Roseanne Barr was the most prominent figure in the show, playing wife and mother Roseanne Conner.

The series tackled a myriad of issues that, at the time of its original run, were considered taboo, and were thus, handled differently on other shows.  The sitcom’s storylines often included such topics as poverty, alcoholism, narcotics, sex, obesity, feminism, domestic violence and homosexuality.

Aside from presenting sensitive subjects in a unique way, Roseanne also featured a dominant and intelligent lead female character, who was also not afraid to speak her mind.  The patriarch of the family, Dan Conner (John Goodman), even conceded that his wife is the one who “wears the pants” in the family.  Roseanne also had more say when it came to raising their children, Becky (Lecy Goranson, and, later, Sarah Chalke), Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and D.J. (Michael Fishman).

The Conner family also had a constant visitor in the form of Roseanne’s sister, Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf), who had a tendency of sticking her nose in other people’s business.

The show ran for a long nine seasons on ABC, raking in several recognitions along the way.  The show’s awards includes a 1993 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Barr and 1992, 1993 and 1994 Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Metcalfe.  Goodman earned a 1993 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical, while the series was chosen for Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical in the same year.

The first six seasons of Roseanne was among the top five of the Nielsen ratings. The show’s seventh run experienced a slight dip in the ratings, but still remained within the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings. However, during the show’s ninth and final season, its ratings lowered considerably and consequently fell out of the top 30.

Source: tv.com