7 surprising celebrities you definitely forgot were on Roseanne

Notable actors who guest-starred on the original Roseanne

There was never a shortage of stars in the original Roseanne (1988–1997) galaxy. Some, like Joan Collins and Morgan Fairchild, were already famous — so well known they were practically their own constellations — by the time they passed through Lanford. Some, like George Clooney and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, were already ascending to stardom, and their roles on Roseanne were just what they needed to launch their careers into permanent orbit. While most Roseanne fans can easily rattle off the bigger celebs credited in memorable roles, do you remember these single-episode appearances?

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres guested in the season 7 episode “The Blaming of the Shrew” as Dr. Whitman, a quirky marriage counselor who Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) forced unflappable, laconic Fred (Michael O’Keefe) to see in order to help him with his “mashed anger.” Dr. Whitman joked about recording their session in order to play it for her friends later, but the joke was on her when she realized the tape recorder wasn’t working. It was almost as if Dr. Whitman suffered from short-term memory loss. She should’ve just kept recording, just kept recording.

Neil Patrick Harris

When it’s 1992 and you air on the same network as the most famous teen TV doctor, why not invite Neil Patrick Harris to crossover to your series in a dream sequence? Because she long suffered from back pain, Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) decided during the season 4 episode “Less Is More” to get a breast reduction. Once she was under anesthesia, Roseanne imagined that her surgeon screwed up and gave her a breast enlargement instead, prompting her to demand to see her doctor. In walked Doogie Howser, M.D., as he deadpanned, “What’s wrong? Not big enough?” Legen — wait for it — dary!

Sharon Stone

After Mark (Glenn Quinn) and Becky (Sarah Chalke) moved out of Roseanne and Dan’s (John Goodman) house and into a trailer in the season 7 episode “Happy Trailers,” Sharon Stone played the park “welcome wagon” by slipping into a hot pink robe and slippers to match her garbage Southern accent. If they were looking for a glamorous blond actress to convincingly portray a woman of lower income, perhaps they should’ve gone with Kim Basinger.

Alyson Hannigan

This one time at Rodbell’s in season 3 when Roseanne started working as a waitress, Becky (Lecy Goranson) was, like, totally mortified by her mom’s new job. Still, she inexplicably decided to meet her friends Dana (Lindsay Fisher) and Jan (Alyson Hannigan) there for burgers in the episode “Like, a New Job.” When Roseanne unsurprisingly served the girls her usual mom snark, our favorite band geek put Becky in her place like only a teenager can with an impeccably delivered, “Well, duh.”

Tobey Maguire

While this web-slinger continued to play high school students well into his 20s, Tobey Maguire was actually a teenager in 1991 when he played Jeff, one of two varsity jacket-wearing buddies of Barry (Tristan Tait), the object of Darlene’s (Sara Gilbert) affection in the season 3 episode “Valentine’s Day.” With only a couple of lines to deliver, Maguire made the most of his itsy bitsy role and his middle-part bowl cut, clearly understanding that, in the ’90s, with great hair came great responsibility.

Eric Dane

Before he was McSteamy on Grey’s Anatomy, or Cal on Euphoria, Eric Dane was just an unnamed bellhop who, in the season 8 episode “Disney World War II,” showed the Conners how to call down for room service and housekeeping. In 1996, wearing a dorky bellboy hat, Dane looked more like a tall, pubescent Leonardo DiCaprio than the McSteamy we would eventually come to drool over and then mourn after his plane crash. On second thought, perhaps he should’ve stayed in the hospitality industry.

Leonardo DiCaprio

When Leo appeared in the season 3 episode “Home-Ec” next to Darlene as a gum-chewing, plaid-wearing classmate, he was nowhere near becoming the King of the World, or, at least, the prince of the ’90s. In fact, with no lines whatsoever, he was more like someone who wouldn’t even get to share the life-saving door in the middle of the Atlantic after a luxury liner crashed into an iceberg.

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