Roseanne Barr Was Reportedly “A Living Nightmare” on the Set of Her 1998 Talk Show

It looks like Roseanne Barr’s recent behavior isn’t that out of the ordinary! As it turns out, sources are suggesting that the now 64-year-old actress has always been “a living nightmare” to work with, particularly on the set of The Roseanne Show, her daytime TV talk show.

When the original Roseanne ended back in 1997, Michael and Roger King of King World Productions approached Roseanne for a new TV opportunity. However, the mother-of-five had some outlandish demands before jumping on board.

"As part of her contract, Roseanne demanded that the King brothers buy her a house in Lake Arrowhead, on top of her $5 million yearly salary," a source who worked behind the scenes on The Roseanne Show told Us Weekly. "The brothers thought this was outrageous, but wanted to keep Roseanne happy, so they agreed."

Even after acquiescing to her ridiculous requests, Roseanne continued to prove difficult on set. "It wouldn’t be unusual for Roseanne to call one department, swearing about the crew and lack of support from the King brothers, and demeaning the work that was trying to be done to give her positive press," the source continued.

In addition, it wasn’t uncommon for Roseanne to cancel interviews with little notice and flat out refuse to be photographed by the media. If that wasn’t bad enough, her behavior began to border on abusive.

"[Roseanne began] leaving minutes-long messages at all hours of the night," the source explained. "She would tell us the infomercial she was watching was better than her show and that we were ruining her life."

The Roseanne Show was eventually canceled after only two seasons. While her treatment of the cast and crew was never formally cited as the reason, given these reports, it doesn’t seem like an unlikely cause.