During its ten-year run during the late 1980s and 1990s, the television sitcom (situation comedy; see entry under 1950s—TV and Radio in volume 3) Roseanne consistently pushed the boundaries of television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3), both in its portrayal of working-class characters and in its discussion of previously taboo subjects such as sex and class. Based on the personality and stand-up comedy act of Roseanne Barr (1952–; also known as Roseanne Arnold, and then simply Roseanne), the show centered around Roseanne and her blue-collar family, the Conners, with John Goodman (1952–) as her husband Dan. Roseanne's wise-cracking and often biting humor, and the interplay between her and her family, seemed very real to the show's many viewers. The show earned top ratings in the early 1990s.

The Conners's lives in the fictional midwestern town of Lanford were often beset by hard times, and their economic...