‘The Conners’ Fans Sound off on Tonight’s Special Guest Star Cheryl Hines

A special guest appearance by Cheryl Hines has had fans of The Conners lighting up social media. The Curb Your Enthusiasm star played Dawn, a restaurant supplier who starts making the moves on Jackie (Laurie Metcalf). While the family restaurant struggles, Dawn may be able to pull some strings and help them out — however Becky (Lecy Goranson) isn’t exactly sold on her sales pitch.

Despite Dawn’s seemingly ulterior motives, fans of the show couldn’t get enough of Hines’ portrayal.

“You were great tonight,” wrote one user, adding, “Looks like a fun character to play!” Another tweeted that they “get the feeling that Aunt Jackie is about to get a girlfriend.” A third tweeted simply that “Cheryl Hines is a gem!”

As Hines noted in the tweet above, tonight’s episode of The Conners was filmed in front of a live studio audience. It’s going to keep that trend going into next month, where it’ll do a live episode at the same time as the New Hampshire Democratic Primary while incorporating results from the race into the script itself.

Hines won’t be the only guest star featured on The Conners this season. Earlier this month, it was announced that Shameless star Noel Fisher was cast as “Little Ed,” the late-in-life child Dan’s father, Ed Sr. (Ned Beatty) had with his second wife, Crystal (Natalie West). 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 arc, the first of which is set to air in February. The character of “Little Ed” first appeared during Roseanne’s original run.

Fisher’s casting also marks the second time The Conners has looked to Shameless for actors. Fisher’s co-star, Emma Kenney, also appears in the Roseanne revival/spinoff as Harris, the child of Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and David (Johnny Galecki).

The Conners grew out of the Roseanne revival, which brought the show back for a 10th season back in 2018. While it was initially successful, star Roseanne Barr was fired after a series of racist tweets, and the show was reworked as The Conners with Barr’s character was written out.

In the meantime, Barr has reflected on the arrival of the new year with a video about mind control.