Alicia Goranson's request to wear her hair shorter as Becky was originally turned down by the producers. Goranson took her case to Roseanne, who solved the issue by taking up a pair of scissors and hacking Goranson's hair short then and there.
Sara Gilbert's contribution to the show was considered so important to Roseanne that the show's producers juggled storylines and taping schedules to allow her to study at Yale University while remaining part of the cast, shooting remote segments of Darlene at a soundstage in New York City.
Early during the first season, Roseanne frequently butted heads with the show's creator Matt Williams. Williams worked as the executive producer for the show's first thirteen episodes, but quit when Roseanne vehemently refused to say to her on-screen husband, "Well, you're my equal in bed, but that's it." Roseanne felt it was a line her character would never say.
At the very end of Sarah Chalke's first episode after replacing Alicia Goranson in the role of Becky, the family is seen watching an episode of Bewitched (1964). They are discussing how the producers of the show must have been stupid to think that no one would notice that they replaced the original Darrin (Dick York) with another actor (Dick Sargent). Becky (now played by Sarah Chalke, who relates to replacing a character) mentions that she likes the second Darrin better.
Roseanne Barr's brother and sister are both gay, which is why she pushed for introducing gay characters into the show. This led to a major fallout with producer Matt Williams, who disliked making Nancy Bartlett (Sandra Bernhard) a lesbian. Roseanne responded: "My show portrays various slices of life, and homosexuals are a reality."