roseanne is an american television sitcom. it was shown on abc from 1988 to 1997. it stars comedian roseanne barr. the series is about a working-class family living in fictional city of lanford, illinois. for many years, "roseanne" was more truthful than other series of the time in how it showed family life. they dealt with tough subjects, for example poverty, alcoholism, narcotics, sex, first menstrual periods, masturbation, obesity, feminism, domestic violence, nudity and homosexuality. another important thing in the series was roseanne's control in raising her children. her husband dan (john goodman) felt as though he had no say in their house. "roseanne" was important for women because it was one of the first series to put an overweight, powerful, yet smart woman as the main character.