...I read The Art of War and kept the idea “He that cares the most, wins” upmost in my mind. I knew I cared the most, since I had the most to lose. I made a chart of names and hung them on my dressing-room door; it listed every person who worked on the show, and I put a check next to those I intended to fire when Roseanne became No. 1, which I knew it would.
...When the show went to No. 1 in December 1988, ABC sent a chocolate “1” to congratulate me. Guess they figured that would keep the fat lady happy—or maybe they thought I hadn’t heard (along with the world) that male stars with No. 1 shows were given Bentleys and Porsches. So me and George Clooney [who played Roseanne Conner’s boss for the first season] took my chocolate prize outside, where I snapped a picture of him hitting it with a baseball bat. I sent that to ABC.
Not long after that, I cleaned house. Honestly, I enjoyed firing the people I’d checked on the back of my dressing-room door. The writers packed their bags and went to join Matt on Tim Allen’s new show, Home Improvement, so none of them suffered at all. Tim didn’t get credit either.
... I gave Joss Whedon and Judd Apatow their first writing jobs, as well as many other untried writers who went on to great success.
3 comments:
I love Roseanne. I saw her appearance on Carson before her tv show. Her stand up routine was hilarious.
It's good that people like her are willing to brave being called a bitch and call the evil out even when people want to buy the pretty face it's currently wearing.
Good story...
Reminded me of a similar story - though not at the million dollar star level:
My youngest sister works hard and conscientiously at an auto supply store as a "picker" (filling order sheets from the warehouse) for close to minimum wage... A couple of years ago she was awarded a "lovely" gold-colored badge with some sort of Way-To-Go slogan on it because she was excellent at her job and the company had posted a record profit that year.
She politely handed it back, telling them that she couldn't wear it as it would seem as if she was morally in agreement with companies making record profits and paying CEOs million dollar salaries all earned off the backs of minimum wage workers like herself.
She's still working there - she's polite, shows up on time, and is a pleasant person. But she don't go along with the BS obviously. Yay on her!!
Reading the whole article was a wonderful insight into those early years of 'Roseanne', but sadly nothing really surprising.
However, as Dolly Levi sings in 'Hello Dolly' ..."Look at the old gal now fellas" that is one red-hot macadamia-growing comfortable-in-her-skin-and-life Domestic Goddess. Long may she reign.
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