Roseanne Roseannadanna
| Roseanne Roseannadanna | |
|---|---|
 |
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| First appearance | Saturday Night Live |
| Created by | Gilda Radner |
| Portrayed by | Gilda Radner (1977–1980), Emma Stone (2015) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Television reporter |
| Nationality | American |
Roseanne Roseannadanna was one of several recurring characters created by Gilda Radner, who appeared on Weekend Update in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live (SNL), which aired on the NBC network. She was the segment's consumer affairs reporter who, like an earlier Radner character Emily Litella, editorialized on current issues, only to go off-topic before interrupted by the anchor. Unlike Litella's meek and apologetic character, Roseannadanna was brash and tactless. The character was based on Rose Ann Scamardella, a former anchorwoman on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in New York City. The character also appeared later in Radner's live one-woman shows.
Roseannadanna's Saturday Night Live commentary followed a strict formula. She usually read a letter from Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey, although she once read a letter from his wife, "Mrs." Richard Feder. (The Feders later re-located to Mount St. Helens, Washington.) The letter would include a series of questions, usually about a current social issue, to which Roseannadanna made derogatory comments about New Jersey before moving on to respond to the question. An in-joke, Richard Feder (pronounced as "Fay-der") was the name of an actual resident of Fort Lee who also happened to be the brother-in-law of SNL writer and segment co-creator Alan Zweibel.
While answering the questions, Roseannadanna invariably digressed, launching into lengthy anecdotes, frequently having to do with an encounter with celebrities (Bo Derek, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Princess Grace, Gloria Vanderbilt, etc.) which had no relevance to the topic at hand. Invariably, the story led to Roseannadanna going into graphic detail about bodily functions or personal hygiene. The concept was that the celebrities had told her the graphic stories and she was simply relating them to the audience. She also provided response to these stories, which was the rhetorical question and catch phrase: "What are ya tryin' to do, make me sick?!"
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