"They say she's the same, but she isn't the same"

Last night while Daisy and I were at Nathan's I got into a friendly debate with him and his friend Kenny re: my knowledge of season 9 (the final season) of the Roseanne show. (We were watching the ep. where they win the Illinois Lottery on Nick-at-Nite). This is a post meant to illuminate the public as to the way the final season actually went down. I have actually had this debate before- and I actually watched the final episode when it originally aired. Basically, I was right. Boo yah!

Final season (1996-1997)
In the final season the Conner family wins the lottery and begins living an extravagant lifestyle. In the final episode Roseanne reveals that the last season was totally fictional, written by the character Roseanne Conner. The parts she hadn't liked about real life, she'd changed in the story.

Storyline of the final season vs. Roseanne Conner's "real life"
Dan Conner survived his heart attack vs. Dan Conner died after his heart attack at Darlene's wedding
Darlene married David vs. Darlene married Mark
Becky married Mark vs. Becky married David
Roseanne's mother, Bev, was a lesbian vs. Roseanne's sister, Jackie, was a lesbian
The Conner family won the lottery vs. The Conner family did not win the lottery

Bonus trivia: The new Becky


In the 5th season the actress that played Becky, (Lecy Goranson) left the show to attend Vasser and the character was absent for parts of seasons 5 and 6. Instead of writing the character out completely, it was recast with actress Sarah Chalke (now of Scrubs fame).

Fun self-references:
- At the end of Chalke's first episode, the Conner family watched a Bewitched episode, and several characters complained about the recast of Darrin Stevens. Chalke said she'd always liked the second Darrin best and smiled.
- Goranson returned to the role two seasons later. In her first ep back, Roseanne and Darlene say things like, "[w]here the hell have you been? The episode concludes with Goranson and Chalke dancing as if they were each other's reflection in a black-and-white parody of the closing credits of The Patty Duke Show.
- In season 8, Goranson and Chalke took turns playing the role of Becky depending on Goranson's availability.
- In one eighth-season episode after ABC was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, the show, like many others on the channel, created a plot about the characters visiting Walt Disney World. (Eds.: remember that episode of Full House where Michelle is "Princess for the Day?" I totally do.) Chalke played Becky during this episode and tells Roseanne how excited she is to be going to Disney World when the announcement is made, leaving Roseanne to comment, "[a]ren't you glad you were here this week?"
- In an episode that pretends to glimpse into the future, during a visit to a psychiatrist with an adult DJ, it is revealed that DJ cannot stop muttering:

They say she's the same, but she isn't the same.

DJ had been driven mad by his sister's twin-like identity.

Source: Wikipedia