While Laurie Metcalf is still credited with one of the funniest moments in sitcom history, she says another comedy legend also deserves a mention.
The three-time Emmy winner, who is currently promoting Netflix’s “The Big Miss,” stopped by “The Drew Barrymore Show” this week to revisit her iconic “Roseanne” scene, the confusing phone call in which Jackie Harris tries to tell her deaf aunt that her father has died.
According to Metcalf, this unforgettable part came with the help of a future “Saturday Night Live” titan.
“You know who wrote it,” said Mr. Metcalf. “Norm MacDonald was one of the staff writers that season, and he wrote that little scene.”
This scene is from the season 5 episode “Wait Until Dad Gets Home,” which aired in 1993, and remains one of the most-played clips on the hit comedy.
In it, Metcalfe’s Jackie begins gently, “I have bad news: Dad is no longer with us.”
When that didn’t work, she said again, louder, “I told you my dad died.”
Jackie became more and more distraught, saying, “He’s dead. He’s dead! No, he’s dead! He’s dead!” and the phone immediately went off.
After another failed attempt, she gave up completely. “No, he’s fine. He’s sending love.”
Hanging up, she told Roseanne, “I’m not going to do that anymore. You can’t make me.”
This performance was a defining moment for Metcalf as Jackie, and led to her winning the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy that year. He was one of three Metcalfe brought back for the role.
Although the episode is officially credited to Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, McDonald was working in the writers’ room at the time, meaning that she likely contributed to the now-famous exchange during the script-breaking process.
He spent just one season on “Roseanne” before moving to “SNL,” where he became the deadpan face of “Weekend Update” and one of the show’s most distinctive voices.
Barrymore, who has his own history with Macdonald through their shared connection to Adam Sandler, called him “the great Norm Macdonald” in response to the revelation.
Metcalfe and McDonald would meet again years later on “The Norm Show,” which aired from 1999 to 2001 and starred the two as social workers, but it was a quiet reunion compared to the explosive energy of the sitcom’s early days.
Metcalfe eventually returned to the role of Jackie in the Roseanne revival and its spinoff The Conners, keeping the character alive for a new generation of viewers.
McDonald passed away in September 2021 after a private battle with leukemia, prompting tributes from across the comedy world.
Adam Sandler, Steve Martin, and David Letterman were among those who praised his work.
“In every important way in the world of stand-up, Norm was the best,” Letterman said.
“An opinion that all of my colleagues and I share. Always up to something, but never sure until his factual statements level you out.”
Decades later, it still features one of TV’s most quoted scenes — and, as Metcalfe now points out, it still bears Macdonald’s unmistakable comic imprint.
