ByAmanda Green|Mar 22, 2022, 7:13 PM EDT
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At a time when shows like The Wonder Years, Growing Pains, Murphy Brown, Designing Women, Dallas, and Dynasty still ruled the airwaves, the debut of Roseanne in the fall of 1988 introduced a new kind of family to television audiences and a new kind of matriarch. Praised for its portrayal of blue-collar America, the Emmy Award-winning series also broke new ground in terms of its envelope-pushing (for the time) storylines. Here are some things you might not know about the series that made Roseanne Barr a star.
1. THE SUCCESS OF ROSEANNE JUMPSTARTED THE TREND OF GIVING COMEDIANS THEIR OWN SITCOMS.
TV producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner were interested in developing a sitcom about a working mother. When they saw Roseanne Barr’s outspoken “domestic goddess” comedy routine on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1985, they offered her a show. Barr wasn’t the first performer to transition from stand-up to TV, but her ABC show was an immediate hit. By its second season, it was number one in the Nielsen ratings and remained in the top four for six of its nine seasons.
As a result—and coupled with the success of Seinfeld—networks started offering more development deals to comedians, including Tim Allen (Home Improvement), Brett Butler (Grace Under Fire), Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), and Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), to name a few.
2. THE SHOW WAS ORIGINALLY TITLED LIFE AND STUFF.
Roseanne creator, head writer, and executive producer Matt Williams said the benign title established the sitcom as an ensemble piece. But Barr argued that the show should be called Roseanne, since she was the lead character and the show was based on her life. (Williams left the show after season one.)
3. THE SHOW’S EXTERIOR SHOTS ARE OF EVANSVILLE, INDIANA, NOT ILLINOIS.
Why Evansville? It’s where co-executive producer Matt Williams grew up. The house used for the facade of the Conner home went up for sale, plaid couches not included, in early 2013. It was taken off the market less than a month later.
4. JOHN GOODMAN AND LAURIE METCALF WERE CAST WITH ULTERIOR MOTIVES.
Roseanne Barr had never acted before, so the producers hoped that surrounding her with a strong supporting cast would give her a crash course in acting. Barr and Goodman also had great chemistry and squabbled like a married couple from their first reading together. Goodman was the first and only actor to audition for the role of Dan Conner.
5. MACAULAY CULKIN AUDITIONED FOR THE ROLE OF D.J.
Had Culkin been cast, it would’ve been his big break (it would be another two years before Home Alone was released). Instead, Michael Fishman got the role, replacing Sal Barone from the pilot (who, in addition to hitting a growth spurt, didn’t get along with Sara Gilbert, who played his sister Darlene). “I wanted Michael Fishman because he looked like my family and he was a little Russian boy,” Barr told Entertainment Weekly. “He was so not like all the other little Hollywood bastards.” Added Fishman: “The network wanted one person, the production company wanted another person, and she wanted me. In many ways, I’m one of the first battles she won.”
6. ROSEANNE WAS A CRITICAL DARLING, BUT IT WAS NEVER NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY FOR BEST COMEDY SERIES.
Laurie Metcalf won three consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Roseanne’s sister Jackie beginning in 1992 (in 1993, Barr won Outstanding Lead Actress). But the show never managed to nab a Best Comedy Series nomination. And while John Goodman’s portrayal of Dan Conner earned him the Outstanding Lead Actor nomination seven years in a row, he never took home an award.
7. IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PRIMETIME SHOWS TO FEATURE OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.
Despite network protests, Barr insisted on featuring gay characters as friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors. (Barr’s own brother and sister are gay.) In season eight, Roseanne’s former boss Leon (Martin Mull) married his partner Scott (Fred Willard)—a scene that wouldn’t be so unusual today, but was very controversial back in 1995. (It actually aired later than its usual time slot because of its “adult humor.”) A year later, Roseanne’s mother came out of the closet. Spoiler alert: In the bizarre “it was all a dream” finale, it was revealed that Roseanne’s sister Jackie was a lesbian. And of course, there was the scandalous kiss between Barr and guest star Mariel Hemingway.
8. ROSEANNE LAUNCHED JOSS WHEDON’S CAREER.
Joss Whedon began his television career as a staff writer on Roseanne. Whedon was only 24 years old when he wrote four episodes of the show’s second season, which Splitsider later dissected, looking for early glimpses of Whedon’s style:
“While John Goodman is a national treasure who can make any material work, Whedon’s take on his character stands out: Dan is goofier and more removed from the action, and notably less agitated than when written by other writers … In these episodes, Dan Conner transforms into the Whedon proto-male a.k.a. the ‘Xander:’ an affable, quipping observer defined more by the women around him than by any strong internal life.”
A few other big names in television honed their skills on Roseanne, including Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls and Bunheads, and Chuck Lorre, co-creator of Two and Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
9. ALL THREE OF BARR’S EX-HUSBANDS MADE GUEST APPEARANCES ON THE SHOW.
Roseanne was inspired by life with the comedian’s first husband, Bill Pentland, and their three children. Pentland served as an executive consultant for three seasons, wrote two episodes, and played one of Dan’s buddies in an early episode. In 1990, Barr divorced Pentland after 16 years of marriage. Four days later, she wed comedian Tom Arnold, who had a recurring role as Arnie Thomas. Then in 1995 Barr married Ben Thomas, her former bodyguard, and gave him two bit roles as a cop. They remain his only acting credits.
10. THE FICTIONAL LANFORD LUNCH BOX INSPIRED A REAL-LIFE RESTAURANT.
Three years after they married, Barr and Arnold opened Roseanne and Tom’s Big Food Diner in Eldon, Iowa, near Arnold’s hometown. It served the same loosemeat sandwiches as the Lanford Lunch Box, the restaurant Roseanne opened with her sister, mom, and friend Nancy (played by Sandra Bernhard) in season five. The diner closed in 1995, a year after Barr and Arnold divorced.
11. ROSEANNE’S THEME SONG CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN ITS LAST SEASON.
After using an instrumental version for eight seasons, Roseanne got a new theme—courtesy of Blues Traveler’s John Popper—for its ninth (and final) season. The change foreshadowed an even more bizarre finale that would leave many viewers puzzled.
12. ABC REQUIRED THE CONNERS TO VISIT DISNEY WORLD.
It seemed incongruous for the Conners to visit The Happiest Place on Earth, but in season eight they did just that … twice. That’s because the ABC-Walt Disney Company merger in 1995 required family shows to feature Disney World or Disneyland. Boys Meets World, Step by Step, Full House, and Family Matters all had at least one Disney Park episode.
13. IN 1990, BARR GOT A SPIN-OFF DEAL FOR A SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON.
Little Rosey was an animated series presumably about Roseanne—the real person, not the character—as a child. Barr didn’t voice her character in the first season, which may have been one reason the show didn’t take off. She agreed to voice Rosey in the second season, but the show was suddenly cancelled and replaced by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Barr claimed that ABC gave her cartoon the axe because they were offended by her rendition of the National Anthem at a San Diego Padres game.
14. BARR HAS PREDICTED WHERE THE CONNERS WOULD BE TODAY … AND IT ISN’T A HAPPY ENDING.
In 2008, Barr told Entertainment Weekly, “I’ve always said now that if they were on TV, D.J. would have been killed in Iraq and [the Conners] would have lost their house.” Barr divulged more potential plotlines in her blog a year later, including Becky’s job at Walmart, David and Darlene divorcing, and Roseanne and Jackie opening the first medical marijuana dispensary in Lanford. I guess we’ll see how accurate those predictions were when the series returns in 2018.
15. ROSEANNE HAS ALWAYS WANTED TO COME BACK TO PRIMETIME TV.
When Roseanne ended in 1997, ABC considered a sequel about the main character’s life as a widow. It never materialized, but Barr has since had a talk show, a reality series, and a few sitcoms in the works. In 2011, she filmed a pilot called Downwardly Mobile about life in a trailer park, but it wasn’t picked up by NBC. In 2013, Barr was in talks with NBC again for a 10/90 sitcom deal—an agreement in which the network orders a straight-to-series run of 10 episodes and then orders 90 more if the show’s successful. The deal never came through. It looks like it took returning to her roots to finally make that comeback happen; in May 2017, ABC announced that Roseanne would return to primetime in 2018.
16. THOUGH THE ORIGINAL SERIES ENDED WITH DAN DYING, HE’LL BE ALIVE IN THE REVIVAL.
We’re not exactly sure how this plotline will play out, but when Roseanne makes its return to television, Dan Conner will be alive and (presumably) well. ABC president Channing Dungey recently confirmed that the new season will conveniently ignore some of the major events that occurred in the series’ finale.
“I can confirm that Dan is still alive,” Dungey said at TCA, though she didn’t elaborate on how that will play out. Nor did she say whether any more of the last season’s revelations would be ignored for the reboot. However, she did confirm that the network is currently in talks with The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki about reprising hs role of David on the series.
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The Real-Life Serial Killer That Might’ve Inspired Dexter’s Dark Passenger
Brazil’s most notorious killer of killers has been called the real Dexter for years, but ‘Dexter’s’ creator tells a different origin story.
ByMatt Hoffman|Oct 30, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT
Back in July 2004, Jeff Lindsay introduced readers to Dexter Morgan, a Miami police blood-spatter analyst who kills only people who deserve it, egged on by a voice in his head he calls the “Dark Passenger.” Two years later, Showtime turned Darkly Dreaming Dexter into a hit series with Michael C. Hall.
Somewhere along the way, the internet decided Dexter had a real-life model: Pedro Rodrigues Filho, a Brazilian who claimed to have killed more than 100 people, most of them criminals. Entertainment sites now call him “the Brazilian Dexter,” and ScreenRant describes the show as loosely based on his crimes. No quote from Lindsay or the show’s producers backs that up, but the similarities are hard to miss.
The Boy Who Settled Scores
Filho was born in 1954 on a farm in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, with an injured skull: his father, he said, had kicked his pregnant mother during a fight. He told the magazine Época in 2003 that he first wanted to kill at 13, when he shoved an older cousin into a sugarcane press. A year later, after his father lost his job as a school guard over accusations that he was stealing school lunches, Filho shot the official who had fired him, then shot the guard he believed was the real thief. (Accounts disagree on who that first victim was: some Brazilian outlets say the mayor of his hometown, others the deputy mayor of Alfenas, also in Minas Gerais.)
He fled to Mogi das Cruzes, outside São Paulo, where he robbed drug dens, killed traffickers, and took over a dead drug boss’s business. When his pregnant girlfriend was shot dead, he went looking for the man who ordered it and, with four friends, hit a wedding party, leaving seven dead and 16 wounded, according to Época. He was arrested shortly after turning 18 and entered prison on May 24, 1973; in the van on the way there, he killed a fellow prisoner he said was a rapist.
Where the Comparison Holds
Like Dexter, Filho had a code, or said he did. He told Época he killed only people who were no good, and that he never killed children, women, or family men. He also had a father story to rival Harry Morgan’s, though a much darker one: Filho claimed he killed his own father in prison, in revenge for his mother’s stabbing, and chewed a piece of his heart. (Época noted that he gave a psychiatrist a completely different account of how his father died.)
The resemblance mostly ends there. Dexter’s code, as Mental Floss has laid out before, includes “don’t get caught,” and Filho spent roughly four decades behind bars, much of it bragging. He had “Mato por prazer” (“I kill for pleasure”) tattooed on his left arm. He claimed 47 victims inside prison alone, though Época found just 18 charges against him on file in 2003; by his death, Brazilian outlets counted 71 homicides on his record.
What Dexter’s Creator Actually Said
Lindsay has told his origin story many times, and it starts nowhere near Brazil: at a Kiwanis Club lunch where he sat at the head table waiting to speak and, as he told BookPage in 2005, “the idea just popped into my head that sometimes serial murder isn’t a bad thing.” He then built the character out of research: he collected books on sociopaths and murderers, interviewed psychologists and crime scene investigators, and got cop friends to turn him loose in their dead-files room. He also rejects the very label that made Filho famous: “Dexter’s not a vigilante,” he told Middlebury Magazine in 2011. “Vigilantes are trying to perform an act of justice. Dexter just likes to kill people.”
The Ending Dexter Survived
Filho walked out of prison in 2007, went back in 2011 for crimes committed during his sentence, and was released for good in 2018. Within months, he had reinvented himself as a YouTube personality who commented on crimes in the news and lectured about his past. On the morning of March 5, 2023, he was on a sidewalk in Mogi das Cruzes holding a small child when men in a black car opened fire, according to the news site G1. The child was unhurt, but according to the police report, one of the attackers stabbed Filho in the throat as he lay on the ground. He was 68.
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Every Season of ‘The Twilight Zone’ Ranked From Best to Worst by Rotten Tomatoes
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man, and it holds a ranking of every ‘Twilight Zone’ season.
ByLogan DeLoye|Oct 31, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT
You unlock this door with the key of imagination; beyond it is another dimension where Rotten Tomatoes has ranked all five original Twilight Zone seasons.
The Twilight Zone took over television screens from 1959 to 1964, inviting the people of Earth into “a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind,” of “both shadow and substance, of things and ideas.”
The science-fiction series, hosted by Rod Serling, spanned 156 episodes, each with different characters and plots that drew you deeper into The Twilight Zone. Just when viewers thought they had the story figured out, a supernatural (sometimes horrific and psychological) plot twist transpired, leaving you with a moral lesson.
The series as a whole received a 92 % on Rotten Tomatoes, earning top praise from the review site. They also ranked each season individually, with a few scoring higher than others. But which season was the best, and which fell short on the Tomatometer?
SEASON 1 – 100%
The first episode of The Twilight Zone premiered in October 1959 and immediately captivated viewers with a storyline they would never forget, though not the case for the main character. Mike Ferris wanders into the small town of Oakwood, with no idea who he is or why he is there. Hours go by, and he realizes he is entirely alone, but is it all just a simulation?
The season continues with favorites like “Mr. Denton on Doomsday,” “The Four of Us Are Dying,” “The Fever,” “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “Mr. Bevis,” and “A World of His Own.”
Rotten Tomatoes gave Season 1 of The Twilight Zone a perfect rating.
SEASON 2 – 100%
Rotten Tomatoes also gave Season 2 a perfect score, which upheld the horror and speculative appeal of the first season.
The second season of The Twilight Zone opens with “King Nine Will Not Return,” in which World War II pilot James Embry is on a plane that crashes into the desert. When he wakes up, his crew is gone. Wandering through the desert and seeing strange visions in the sky, he wakes up in a hospital 17 years later, triggered by news headlines of the incident. Was Embry experiencing PTSD, or was there actually something supernatural occurring in his hospital room?
The season proceeds with “Eye of the Beholder,” “A Most Unusual Camera,” “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?,” and the finale, “The Obsolete Man.”
SEASON 3 – 90%
Premiering in 1961, the third season of The Twilight Zone begins with an episode about an apocalyptic battle and two enemy soldiers. Throughout the episode, the soldiers, a man and a woman, learn to like each other despite being on opposing sides. With no one left on Earth, they must work together to survive, though hostile and tense.
Other episodes from this season include “The Shelter,” “The Mirror,” “It’s a Good Life,” “To Serve Man,” “Little Girl Lost,” “Nothing in the Dark,” and “The Changing of the Guard.”
Rotten Tomatoes gave the third season a 90%, with the Critics Consensus being that the season “manages to overturn an uneven structure with some superb writing that borders on profound and some of the finest half hours in the series’ history.”
SEASON 4 -86%
Season 4 of The Twilight Zone ranked lower than previous seasons with an 86% on the Tomatometer (tied for last).
The first episode of this season, “In His Image,” follows 35-year-old Alan Talbot, who struggles with homicidal urges and memory issues. He discovers he is actually an android with a malfunction. In the end, Alan is deactivated, and the scientist who created him assumes his identity… and his fiancée!
Other episodes in Season 4 include “Valley of the Shadow,” “Printer’s Devil,” “On Thursday We Leave for Home,” “No Time Like the Past,” and “The Bard.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/SXapeCPpyeo?feature=oembed
Season five of The Twilight Zone premiered in 1963 with “In Praise of Pip,” which follows bookie Max, who learns his son has been wounded at war. Max becomes mortally wounded himself and finds his way to an amusement park where he relives happy memories with a younger version of his son and prays to God to spare his son’s life in exchange for his own. Pip recovers and finds himself in the same park by the end of the episode.
Rotten Tomatoes scored this season an 86%, like the fourth season, once again tied for last, saying that “portions of these episodes are diminished by unfortunate clichés.”
Other Season 5 episodes include “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” “Living Doll,” “The Old Man in the Cave,” “Ninety Years Without Slumbering,” “The Masks,” and “The Bewitchin’ Pool.”
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The 5 Best Indian Restaurants in the U.S., According to Guy Fieri
Chicken vindaloo in Alaska and lamb curry in New Mexico? These are the unexpected Indian restaurant picks that made Guy Fieri’s list.
ByNitya Rao|May 12, 2026, 8:34 PM EDT
Guy Fieri has spent decades behind the wheel of his red Camaro, proving that you don’t need a plane ticket to Delhi to find world-class curry. From the high-desert heat of Santa Fe to a hidden gem inside a Utah gas station, the Mayor of Flavortown has uncovered a “real deal” map of Indian cuisine right here in the U.S.
We aren’t just talking about your standard, lukewarm lunch buffets or the neon-red chicken you find at the mall. We’re shouting out five standout restaurants where the spices are toasted fresh, the tandoors are roaring, and the flavors are, in Fieri’s words, “off the hook.”
If you’re ready to trade the burgers for biryani and see how the spice trade meets the American Main Street, explore this mouthwatering list of Fieri’s top five Indian restaurants in the U.S.
- Paper Dosa – Santa Fe, NM
- Tandoori Oven – Logan, UT
- Gandhi Mahal – Minneapolis, MN
- Hari Om Cuisine of India – Fairbanks, AK
- Al Noor – Baton Rouge, LA
Paper Dosa – Santa Fe, NM
Lamb Curry
Santa Fe is world-renowned for its green chile, but Paper Dosa is successfully putting South Indian comfort food on the New Mexican map. This isn’t your typical rich, cream-based fare; instead, Chef Paulraj Karuppasamy offers an aromatic, authentic approach to the subcontinent’s lesser-known culinary region.
While their namesake paper-thin fermented rice crepes are a work of art, Fieri was specifically floored by the lamb curry. The dish features a lighter profile than most Northern Indian stews, relying on fresh curry leaves and toasted mustard seeds rather than heavy dairy. The result is a vibrant, aromatic dish with layers of flavor—”spice,” “smoke,” and “acid,” to be specific—that allow the tenderness of the lamb to shine through. After sampling the spread, from the potato-stuffed masala dosa to the fragrant lamb curry, Fieri noted that a visit here “isn’t just a meal; it’s an experience.”
Tandoori Oven – Logan, UT
Chicken Tikka Masala
In the world of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, some of the best culinary treasures are found in the most unassuming places. Case in point: Tandoori Oven, which is famously tucked inside a Utah gas station. While travelers might stop for a tank of unleaded, locals know to head inside for a “smorgasbord of flavors” that the Arora brothers have been perfecting for years.
When giving Fieri the lowdown on the restaurant’s offerings, Chef Sham Arora clarified that Northern Indian food is typically richer than its Southern counterparts, and the signature chicken tikka masala he later whipped up is a prime example. The secret to this creamy, spicy “Indian stew,” as Fieri describes it, lies in a rigorous two-day marination process that breaks down the proteins until the meat is so tender that your teeth simply sink into it.
After a trip into a traditional clay tandoor oven, the chicken is smothered in a vibrant, orange-red tomato-onion gravy and served with rice, naan, or—if you’re doing it right—both. Between the “perfect blend of spice” and the high-heat char from the clay tandoor, Fieri found himself struggling with the etiquette of eating something so delicious. He joked that his only real anxiety was figuring out how to “shovel it in fast enough” without looking like a dog who had never seen food before.
Gandhi Mahal – Minneapolis, MN
Dal with Naan
Gandhi Mahal is a Minneapolis legend that proves you can be “green” while serving up red-hot curry. Before its original building was lost in 2020, the restaurant was a marvel of urban sustainability, featuring a full aquaponics system in the basement. This high-tech setup allowed the kitchen to grow its own fresh produce and raise fish right on-site. Today, that commitment to fresh ingredients continues through their “Curry in a Hurry” concept.
When Fieri visited, he was immediately floored by the “outstanding” chicken tikka masala, noting it had “such a depth” of flavor. He specifically praised the “richness” of the ground almonds in the sauce and the juiciness of the chicken, which he likened to butter.
But the “next level” experience didn’t stop there. Fieri also got a taste of the plant-based side of the menu, continuing his Indian feast with a helping of earthy dal and blistered naan. The lentils are simmered for hours before being finished with a tarka—a traditional technique where whole spices are tempered in hot ghee to create an explosion of flavor.
Fieri was so impressed by the bite of smooth dal and pillowy naan that he declared the combination “multi-layered perfection.” For Fieri, the soulfulness of the cooking made it the perfect entry point for any skeptic: “If you don’t think you like Indian food, let this be your visa.”
Hari Om Cuisine of India – Fairbanks, AK
Chicken Vindaloo
If you think you have to be in a major metro area—or even the mainland—for authentic spice, Hari Om in Fairbanks is here to prove you wrong. Located just a few hours south of the Arctic Circle, this eatery provides a fiery contrast to the Alaskan chill thanks to the expertise of Chef Amit Paul.
With nearly three decades of experience, Paul has mastered the Dum Pukht tradition—a specialized slow-cooking method where the pot is sealed, allowing the food to steam in its own juices. This technique is likely why Fieri was so impressed with the texture of the chicken vindaloo, noting that the chicken was so tender it “just fell apart.”
The dish features a thick sauce built from a potent paste of red chiles and vinegar, a combination that hits all the right notes for the Mayor of Flavortown. “I love the spice, and I love the acidity,” Fieri remarked, adding that the dish has a “really nice mix of spices” and a distinct “zip.” While the vindaloo brought the heat, Fieri also sampled the lamb korma, a rich, nut-based curry that showed off the kitchen’s range.
Ultimately, Fieri concluded that the meal is “everything you want it to be, especially on a cold day in Fairbanks.”
Al Noor – Baton Rouge, LA
Lamb Kebabs
Baton Rouge might be the land of gumbo and crawfish, but Fieri found a culinary powerhouse tucked away in a suburban strip mall at Al-Noor. Chef Khalad Al-Noor famously walked away from a career in corporate engineering to return to his roots, and the result is what Fieri calls “Indian Soul Food.”
The lamb sheekh kebabs are a masterclass in tandoori cooking. The process starts with fresh ground lamb mixed with a total of 16 flavorful ingredients, including fresh ginger, garlic, and a custom blend of toasted spices. Next, the supple meat is hand-molded onto long metal skewers and lowered into a roaring clay tandoor. The intense heat renders the fat perfectly, creating a kebab that is incredibly juicy with a signature charred exterior.
While Fieri called the restaurant’s unique espresso-rubbed venison “off the hook,” it was the lamb that he deemed truly “outrageous,” noting that the spices aren’t just on the meat—they’re in it.
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