Stan Zimmerman is no stranger to big television productions. As a staff writer on “Roseanne” during season six, he witnessed many memorable moments.
One that stands out involved Roseanne Barr and her then-husband, Tom Arnold, gathering all 21 writers for the season and asking them to wear numbered T-shirts.
Reflecting on the moment, Stan recalls, “And I didn’t know what it was about. So I just thought, well, my birthday’s October 13th, so I’m getting number 13 and I’m pushing people away and they’re all getting mad, not at me, but at what? Why? What’s going on? And then, as I’m getting up closer to get my t-shirt, I learn that’s why they got those numbers so that Roseanne could just point and say, ’13, you’re fired’.”
Stan remembers this as “a prank, a joke—though maybe a bit intimidating.” He noted that Roseanne and other higher-ups didn’t shy away from showing their disdain for writers. At one point, he humorously thought that all Roseanne might need was a little warmth, saying, “I’d tell the writers, if I could just give her a hug, maybe she’d trust us and love us.”
In response to Stan’s suggestion, his colleagues would warn him, saying, “Stan, don’t touch her. Don’t go near her. You won’t come out alive.” Yet, he believed she just needed a little more kindness.
Roseanne’s mental health struggles were also visible on set, witnessed by both cast and crew. Stan recalled one particular day when her distress was apparent. “Roseanne has been very open about her mental health challenges,” he shared. “I read everything about her before joining the show because I genuinely wanted to understand her.”
He added, “A lot of the books discuss her multiple personalities.”
Reflecting on her now saddens him. “These days, she’s just shouting at people, and she seems so angry, with little regard for others’ feelings,” he said.
Roseanne rarely engaged with the staff writers, so the one time she personally called for Stan stands out in his memory. He recounts, “We were down on set a few weeks before we filmed that episode, and all of a sudden we hear, ‘who the hell wrote this?’ And all the writers just parted. And then, only we were left. It was like walking to the Wizard of Oz, you know, like I was the scarecrow. My legs were shaking and I said, ‘we did’, and she was like, ‘yeah? its effing funny’. So I knew she appreciated what we were writing, but I think it was very difficult for her to fully really acknowledge that.”
Stan was one of the writers behind the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” episode of “Roseanne”, which featured a same-sex kiss between Roseanne and Sharon, portrayed by guest star Mariel Hemingway. Zimmerman recalled that in 1994, such a storyline was groundbreaking. The network was concerned that advertisers would be frightened off and refuse to purchase ad spots during the episode.
He recounted, “So the network said, you’re not you’re not going to write this episode. When they heard about what the storyline, which was, Roseanne got kissed by a woman at a lesbian bar.”
ABC even told Roseanne that they wouldn’t air the episode, prompting her to threaten to buy it back and air it on HBO instead. Ultimately, the network relented. The episode performed well in the ratings, and as Stan noted, “The world did not explode.” He credits this pivotal moment in television history with paving the way for later shows like “Ellen” and “Will & Grace”.
However, the scene featuring the iconic kiss is one that Zimmerman wishes he could change, as it wasn’t originally scripted that way. He explained, “When she kisses Meriel Hemingway, and then she kind of wipes it off with her arm. That was not in the script. That was an ad-lib that Roseanne did at the taping. And I went to the producer, and I said, ‘I don’t think it’s funny.’ I don’t think at that moment she would have that ick factor. I think it’s more versus just like, ‘what did I just do’?”
Zimmerman continued,“And, you know, I fought the good fight, but I wasn’t the showrunner. That’s their job. So all you can do with those jobs is give your thoughts. Thats what they’re paying you for. And then you have to learn to let it go and not hold on to things.”
In 2018, Roseanne made headlines for a racist tweet directed at former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. At that time, Stan recognized the seriousness of the situation but believed it presented an opportunity for a broader conversation about racism. He remarked, “We don’t really want to talk about [racism]. And, I thought she could have, you know, move the needle some by having that discussion, but she didn’t.”
Recently, however, he has struggled to comprehend her public behavior.“It’s really difficult to see to see her, go so far into the conspiracy theories and just I mean, it’s just so nutty. It’s I can’t even explain it. And it’s disappointing, to be quite honest,” Stan expressed.
Yet, he remains hopeful. “You know, I always have that little hope thinking that maybe she’ll come around.”
Zimmerman shares his captivating experiences with Roseanne and others in his book “The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore”. In it, he recounts his time with some of television’s most prominent women, including the four “Golden Girls”, Lauren Graham, Lily Tomlin, and more!
Currently, he is touring with his play “Right Before I Go”, a heartfelt story inspired by the suicide of a close friend 13 years ago.
