Roseanne is summoned to a parent/teacher conference after Darlene has been barking in class. Stressed from the pressures of coping with home and work, she lashes out at Dan for not doing his share.

Although Dan and Roseanne agree not to spend any of Dan's $500 advance payment on themselves, neither can resist the temptation.

Roseanne acts as referee when Dan's father, Ed, visits the family bearing gifts. Everyone is thrilled to see him except Dan, who says Ed was an often-absent father and considers his philosophy of "work smart, not hard" as veiled criticism for his being a contractor; Ed considers it caring, fatherly advice.

An unannounced visit by Roseanne and Jackie's parents throws the Conner house into an uproar. Dan and Jackie urge a usually outspoken Roseanne to stick up for herself. Hostility and craziness abound, but the biggest shock comes when Bev announces they are considering moving to Lanford, though later dismisses this as just a casual idea. Bruce Willis makes a surprise cameo appearance as himself during the end credits.

A poker night turns interesting after Dan's friend, Arnie, give Roseanne an unexpected kiss, leaving her unsure if it was platonic or something more. After talking to Jackie about it, Roseanne realizes it was only meant as a friendly, though inappropriate gesture.

As the family gathers for Thanksgiving Day, Jackie finally tells her mother she joined the police force, unleashing Bev's anger at both Jackie and Roseanne. After dinner, Dan disapproves when it seems his father is interested in romancing Crystal.

Becky develops a rebellious attitude, resulting in her and Roseanne having a particularly nasty string of fights; Roseanne lashes out at Dan for always remaining "neutral" and making her the "bad" parent. After Becky gives her mother the silent treatment and locks her out of her bedroom, Roseanne removes the girls' door. While cleaning, Roseanne finds Becky's "real" diary, but Jackie convinces her to respect her daughter's privacy. Roseanne makes a peace offering by giving back the door.

Roseanne's new job at a fast-food restaurant includes an obnoxious teenaged boss who schedules her to work weekends, interfering with the Conner's family time. In an attempt to change his mind, she invites him to dinner and Dan offers to help with his automotive project for school, but his nasty attitude convinces everyone that Roseanne deserves better treatment.

The Conners' old high school biker pal Ziggy roars into town, making Dan and Roseanne feel old and trapped. They realize that while their lives did not turn out as their youthful selves had envisioned, they still feel fulfilled, particularly after Ziggy refurbishes Dan's old Harley motorcycle so Dan can ride again.

After their fight, Jackie gives Roseanne the silent treatment but, when Gary proposes, the sisters reconcile. Roseanne is overjoyed and goes into overdrive with wedding preparations, but Gary and Jackie realize they are unready for marriage and slow down their relationship.

Roseanne quits the hair-salon for a waitress job at the luncheonette in Rodbell's Department Store. Roseanne complains that Dan does too little to handle the kids' disputes. After Becky and Darlene fight over their room yet again, Dan sends Darlene to sleep in the basement bedroom. Roseanne disapproves of how Dan handled the situation, though his solution resolves the issue and Darlene returns to the upstairs bedroom.

Roseanne and Dan shop for a new mattress. Becky starts dating Mark, a rebellious punk teen who Dan and Roseanne dislike after he disrespects them.

Roseanne is miffed that Darlene's home-economics class only invited fathers to discuss their careers. She visits the class to talk about being a working wife and mother, then takes the students on a field trip to the supermarket, followed by them preparing a meal at the Conner home. Meanwhile, Dan tries to help D.J. with his bullying problem but it turns out D.J. has hired a bodyguard to defend him, using Twinkies as payment.

Roseanne anticipates a special Valentine's Day gift from Dan but is disappointed; Darlene is upset when her crush instead invites Becky to a school dance.

The Conners host a Mother's Day barbecue.

Roseanne and Dan ponder opening a motorcycle shop with their friend, Ziggy, who has returned to Lanford. Dan and Roseanne agree to take out a second mortgage on the house. Ziggy gets cold feet at the last minute and exits town, but leaves behind his stake in the business: $20,000. Brad Garrett appears in this episode.

Dan and Roseanne, working 15-hour days, leave Becky in charge at home, causing friction between Becky and Darlene. D.J. starts to feel neglected.

When the Bowmans are out of town, Roseanne witnesses their possessions being removed by what she believes is a charity group. Kathy Bowman is furious after learning that Roseanne watched the theft without realizing the house was being robbed.

Dan and Roseanne play a gruesome Halloween prank on Kathy Bowman. Roseanne expects Kathy will retaliate and is disappointed that Kathy wants nothing to do with Roseanne and her juvenile pranks. At the Lodge's Halloween party, Jackie discovers that the moose she has been flirting with is Booker, her former boyfriend. Dan and Jerry stage an obvious trick to appear as Kathy has taken revenge, thus mollifying Roseanne, who lets an unsuspecting Becky be the target.

Dan and Arnie struggle to bring their bowling team out of last place, while Roseanne feels shut out of Jackie and Nancy's new friendship. Darlene meets Mark's younger brother for the first time, setting off a mutual attraction. David Crosby appears as Bonnie's partner, Duke, who performs with Bonnie at the bowling alley restaurant.

Roseanne's doctor recommends a breast reduction to reduce stress on her back. She agrees but has a nightmare in which her breasts are accidentally enlarged to gigantic proportions.

The Conners are chosen to be in a Rodbell's commercial, much to Darlene's embarrassment and Roseanne's disappointment after the director replaces her with Jackie as "the mother". Leon and his partner break up. To everyone's delight, the Bowmans are moving back to Chicago.

Jackie starts dating the much-younger Fisher, played by Metcalf's real-life then-husband Matt Roth. Bev moves to Lanford after selling her house, making a large profit. She then gives Roseanne and Jackie $10,000 each.

Dan and Roseanne enjoy torturing Darlene by pretending to throw a dreaded Sweet-Sixteen birthday party before sending her off to celebrate with friends at the pizza parlor. While playing "Truth or Dare" with Jackie, Anne Maire, and Crystal, Roseanne suffers an embarrassing incident when she unexpectedly meets the Conner's new neighbor, Ty Tilden, a single father with two teenaged daughters: shy Charlotte and promiscuous Molly.

Becky's absence has drained Roseanne's Halloween spirit, so she is visited by the ghosts of Halloween Past, Present, and a truly terrifying Future. Her prankster spirit restored, she joins the others at the Lodge Halloween party.

Molly has an extra ticket for a rock concert in a neighboring town, and Roseanne reluctantly allows Darlene to go. When Darlene arrives home in a cab at 4:00 a.m., Roseanne initially doubts her explanation that Molly ditched her to smoke pot in a stranger's van.

As Roseanne takes Jackie to the hospital and Darlene bails Dan out of jail, the news of Dan hitting Fisher quickly spreads through town. Meanwhile, Fisher begs Jackie to come back. Roseanne is shocked that this was not the first time Fisher hit Jackie. Jackie shows she is strong enough to make her own decisions and leaves him for good.

Vegetarian Darlene vandalizes the Lunch Box as a protest against eating animals. To punish Darlene, Roseanne forces her to sell loose-meat sandwiches at the diner's Lanford Days festival concession stand.

Roseanne's wealthy cousin comes to town, hoping to end a years-long feud with Roseanne, after she excluded Roseanne from her wedding party. Ronnie encourages Darlene to follow her writing dream to move to New York City, offering her a place to stay.

The Conners go on a road trip to California with the Tildens for a taping of The Jackie Thomas Show; Dan tells Roseanne he wants to have another child, though Roseanne is cool to the idea.

Darlene attends the high school prom with David, then surprises him afterward with a motel room she has rented, leaving him excited until he is unable to meet the challenge. Jackie is surprised and jealous when Nancy goes back to men by dating Roger (Tim Curry), a developer who flips houses for profit and wants Dan to go into business with him.

Roseanne and Jackie have reached their limit tolerating Bev at the Lunchbox. Bev agrees to step aside, but secretly sells her share to Leon, Roseanne's old boss. Elsewhere, Fred, Dan's co-worker at the garage, asks Jackie out for a date.

When Becky and Mark return for a visit, Roseanne, seeing them drifting apart, schemes to break the couple up for good, but realizes Mark may not be the problem. Dan's 20th high-school football-team anniversary celebration is being held at the Conner house.

Becky and Darlene feud over Roseanne's baby shower when Darlene slacks off, leaving Becky doing most of the work. Roseanne wants to return baby shower gifts to have enough cash to buy a crib, though she is disappointed by what she is given.

While Roseanne narrates a video time capsule for her unborn child, Becky and Darlene find Dan and Roseanne's old love letters. D.J. gets upset when he learns his parents never filled out his baby book, and Mark cooks up a 'special' dinner for the Conner clan.

Roseanne tries in vain to be cool at the hospital. Dan learns that D.J. performed CPR on him, saving his life. Dan's hospital room is the venue for Darlene and David's scaled-down wedding reception.

Dan is still in California, and Roseanne worries about how he will react to all the changes she has made to the house. Elsewhere, Bev seeks answers from her free-spirited mother, Mary, who finally mends her relationship with her daughter.