The Roseanne Episode You Forgot Starred Steven Seagal

During the '90s, many fans considered actor Steven Seagal one of the biggest action stars in the world. With critical hits like "Under Siege" (via Rotten Tomatoes) and box office performers like "Executive Decision" (via Box Office Mojo), many people even viewed him on the same level as other heavyweights like "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger and "Bloodspot" headliner Jean-Claude Van Damme. Of course, Seagal wasn't the only one enjoying an ascent to the top of Hollywood at this time. 

On ABC, "Roseanne" was a TV-ratings juggernaut thanks to starring comedienne Roseanne Barr and the show's relatably humorous plots of a struggling American family (via Deadline). With Seagal snapping necks in films and Barr gaining laughs on television, it probably wouldn't seem especially likely that the two would ever cross paths. Simply put, the two actors simply occupied entirely different worlds of media. 

And yet, in 1996, the two became destined for a particularly strange pop-culture collision. Though you could certainly be forgiven for assuming this is the lead-up to a celebrity game show appearance or long-since-forgotten buddy cop movie, this duo's time sharing the small screen is actually much more notable. This is the story of the episode of "Roseanne" that featured Seagal as a parody of himself.

Steven Seagal probably couldn't have a found better episode of "Roseanne" to appear in than Season 9, Episode 9 ("Roseambo"). The episode's plot has all the familiar markings of one of his many '90s action films. Some terrorists infiltrate a train, a dash of action occurs, and there's even a meeting with First Lady Hillary Clinton (Teresa Barnwell). However, Seagal isn't the star in the episode who experiences all of this mayhem. Surprisingly, that honor goes to Roseanne. 

The episode opens with Roseanne and her family traveling on a train ride to Washington D.C. Long before the tourists can visit the Capitol building, however, a group of terrorists bring the train to a screeching halt. Rather than lay low, Roseanne transforms into a Rambo-like figure who manages to save the day. At the end of the episode, Seagal appears as a hallucination for Roseanne. She tells him that she's studied all of his teachings, including those found in his movies. Despite her success, Seagal counters that her use of violence means the only enemy is within her. He then offers a brief bit of advice on Buddhist philosophy before suddenly disappearing into thin air.

If "Roseambo" feels a million miles away from the series' grounded blue-collar roots, that's because, as a whole, Season 9 is seen by many as a major outlier. As noted by Vulture, Season 9 shifts the series from its working-class origins to dream-like parodies of other TV series and films. Still, for one surreal moment, including Seagal in one of the biggest sitcoms of the '90s just fit. And given Seagal and Barr's string of controversies in recent years, it still seems to fit all these years later.