Roseanne Barr was made famous in the early 1980s with her stand-up comedy routine, which received significant critical acclaim for its unglamorized portrayal of the typical US middle-class housewife. It was during this routine that she also coined the now well-known phrase "Domestic Goddess," referring to a homemaker. This led to her own series on ABC, called Roseanne. The show ran from 1988 to 1997, and co-starred Emmy winners Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman, as well as child actor Sara Gilbert.

A year after the end of her sitcom's run in 1997, Roseanne went on to host her own talk show, The Roseanne Show. The show ran for two years before it was cancelled in 2000; soon after she ventured back into stand-up comedy. In 2003 she took on the dual role of hosting a cooking show and starring in a reality show about hosting a cooking show.

Roseanne married Bill Pentland on February 4, 1974 and they had three children (Roseanne had a daughter prior to marriage, whom she gave up for adoption, but this daughter is now somewhat back in her life). While taping her show she fell in love with fellow actor Tom Arnold and in January of 1990 she divorced Pentland and married Arnold. Four years later this marriage also ended in divorce. Roseanne married Ben Thomas on Valentine's Day in 1995 and they had one son, Buck Thomas. In 1998 she sued Thomas for divorce, claiming he had threatened to kidnap their son. The Thomas family later made up and Roseanne dropped the charges, but they divorced in 2002.