Roseanne Barr and John Goodman‘s claim that the original Roseanne couch is in the Smithsonian Museum turns out to be a little embellished.
The iconic sitcom couch landed in a production warehouse in Los Angeles after the show went off the air in 1997, according to a new report by TMZ. It sat there for years until an unknown industry mogul purchased it. According to the outlet, that person then contacted James Comisar, who is the curator at the Museum of TV.
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The small television museum picked up the Conner family couch between 10 and 15 years ago, according to Comisar. He also confirmed that his organization has nothing to do with the Smithsonian.
However, Comisar assured reporters that the original couch remains under climate, humidity and light control to preserve it for TV posterity. He said that Sara Gilbert, the actress who plays Darlene and who now executive produces the Roseanne revival, reached out to him about borrowing the couch for the new episodes. However, he had strict guidelines on its usage to ensure it wouldn’t be damaged, and he couldn’t come to an agreement with the showrunners, which is why they ultimately used a replica for the show.
The Museum of TV reportedly has more than 10,000 keepsakes from television history. Comisar told the outlet that he hopes to turn the collection into a legitimate museum one day, and the Roseanne couch will remain on full display.
Barr and Goodman said that the original couch was in the Smithsonian during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, just before the reboot began airing. In retrospect, the claim might have been a joke, though it’s hard to tell from Goodman’s delivery.
“This is fantastic,” Kimmel said as the two were pushed onto the stage on the replica couch. “Is this the one? Is this the real couch?”
“No, this is a replica,” Barr responded. “This ain’t the real one.”
“The Smithsonian Institute has the real one, and they wouldn’t… They wanted too much scratch for it,” Goodman said, rubbing his fingers together to signify the money they wanted.
“Yeah but you know what’s weird about it? It smells just like butt,” Barr said. “The original.”
“That’s so strange,” Kimmel noted, “You donate that to them and then you say ‘hey, we want it back for a little while,’ and–“
“There’s too much butt on it,” Goodman finished.
