"[1] As described in one review, Arnold's character was "an obnoxious, loud-mouthed tyrant who fires writers, producers, actors, even the show's caterers, on the slightest whim.
[2] The cast included recurring Roseanne guest star Martin Mull as a network executive, Dennis Boutsikaris, Michael Boatman, Paul Feig and Maryedith Burrell as writers and Alison La Placa as an office assistant.
"[2] Critics drew many comparisons between the premise of The Jackie Thomas Show and Roseanne and Tom Arnold's real lives.
Like Jackie Thomas, Tom Arnold had worked at a meatpacking plant and as a nightclub comic before realizing fame and fortune in the sitcom world.
[2][7] The couple acknowledged the similarities; Tom Arnold was quoted, "We wanted to take the show-business end of our lives and mix the public perception of us and the reality of us and put them into the show--the images of what people think maybe we did or what they've read that we did.
"[2] Such comparisons were bolstered by a BBC documentary, Feeding the Monster, which depicted the backstage activity behind the writing, rehearsal and filming of the season four Roseanne episode "Santa Claus.
"[7] Kaye wrote that "the show's writers live in constant terror, their exhausting work-weeks punctuated by Pepto-Bismol swigging and all-night writing sessions.
"[25] John Freeman of The San Diego Union-Tribune also approved of Jackie Thomas, writing that it was "nearly as brilliant" as HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, another series about a show-within-a-show.
[1] Soon after the show's premiere, Roseanne Arnold received widespread attention when she faxed vitriolic, profanity-laced messages to three television critics who had reviewed Jackie Thomas: Ray Richmond of the Los Angeles Daily News; Matt Roush of USA Today; and Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times.
[26][27][28] Roseanne told the media that the messages were sent in "self-defense" and that the critics in question had chosen to make personal attacks on the Arnolds instead of responding to the show itself.
[2] To make room, the timeslot's former occupant Coach moved to 9:30 PM on Wednesday, replacing the sitcom Laurie Hill, which was cancelled.
"[2] The Jackie Thomas Show debuted with the highest ratings of any network series premiere since Twin Peaks in April 1990, holding onto 90% of viewers from Roseanne.
[33] For the Jackie Thomas premiere, the Arnolds and ABC experimented with a new technique called the hot switch, in which there was no commercial break between two adjoining shows.
[34] Roseanne also featured a crossover episode in February 1993, in which the characters took a road trip to California and attended a taping of The Jackie Thomas Show.
[38] In January 1993, the Arnolds began to publicly discuss a potential renewal from ABC for a second season of The Jackie Thomas Show, despite the network's repeated refusal to make a decision before May.
"[46] Tom Arnold told KTLA that if Jackie Thomas were cancelled, he would star in a new sitcom on CBS, the same network that had wooed David Letterman from NBC a few months earlier.
[45][46] In the KTLA interview, Roseanne repeated Tom Arnold's claim that ABC had previously told the couple that Jackie Thomas would be renewed.
"[49] On Friday, May 7, Tom Arnold announced that he would wait no longer for a decision from ABC and was quitting The Jackie Thomas Show to develop a new sitcom for CBS.