‘The Conners’ Casts ‘Shameless’ Star Noel Fisher as Grown-Up ‘Roseanne’ Character

The Conners has added another Shameless star to its ensemble cast. Noel Fisher, who plays Mickey Milkovich on the Showtime series, has been cast as Dan’s half-brother, Ed, per a report from TV Line. Ed, who appeared in the original run of Roseanne, will now be an adult.

The character of “Little Ed” is the late-in-life child had by Dan’s father, Ed Sr. (Ned Beatty) and his second wife Crystal (Natalie West). Ed Sr. and Crystal also had another daughter, Angela. Fisher will play the grown-up version of Ed, who harbors some resentment for his half-brother, who he believes shunned some responsibility in caring for their aging father.

Fisher is slated for a two-episode run, the first of which is set to air in February. His casting marks the second time The Conners has looked to Shameless for actors. Fisher’s co-star, Emma Kenney, also appears in the Roseanne spinoff as Harris, the child of Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and David (Johnny Galecki).

The news of Fisher’s casting is the second time the ABC sitcom has made headlines this week. Just yesterday, it was announced that The Conners would air a special live episode the same night as the New Hampshire Democratic Primary on Feb. 11. The cast will perform the show twice, once for the east coast and again for the west. The special episode will incorporate news from the primary results as they role in, which could make for two very different experiences.

Along with the real-world political tie-in, the upcoming live episode will also center on Mark (Ames McNamara), who’ll be watching the results of the primary with Harris as part of a school report. Because of his political apathy and insistence that voting doesn’t matter thanks to the corrupting influence of money, the rest of the Conner clan urge him to see their middle-class ideal of voting whichever candidate will “screw you the least,” despite how you feel about them personally.

While Kenney’s character will be watching the primary for her school report in the live special, the actress publicly called out Donald Trump last month in a very NSFW tweet after he attacked 16-year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

“Who mocks a young girl trying to do something good for the world,” asked Kenney on Twitter, who later added that she hoped “any and all Trump supporters unfollow me.”

The Conners will return with new episodes starting Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.