'The Conners' Reveals First Photo of Justin Long in New Role

ABC shared the first photo of Justin Long on the set of The Conners, the Roseanne spin-off now in production.

Long joined the cast as Neil, a new love interest for Sara Gilbert's Darlene, who has been single since she divorced David, reports TVLine. Johnny Galecki is slated to reprise his role as David, while his girlfriend Blue will be played by Juliette Lewis.

Another love interest will be introduced during the Oct. 30 Halloween episode. Steve Zahn will play a new love interest for Laurie Metcalf's Jackie. Jackie wants Dan (John Goodman) to look into Zahn's background, "only to immediately wish she hadn't," reads the episode description.

ABC initially announced Long's casting on Twitter with a photo of the actor reading the script and sitting on the Conners' famous couch. The network later shared another photo, showing Long sitting up straight and looking into the camera.

"Thanks for stopping by Lanford, [Justin Long]," the caption read.

ABC has been slowly teasing the new show, which starts in less than two weeks. The network has released brief teasers, but has yet to confirm how Roseanne Conner's absence will be explained. Roseanne Barr has claimed she will die of an opioid overdose, which would play off a story from the Roseanne reboot season, where Roseanne became dependent on narcotics.

"It's so cynical and horrible," Barr said on the YouTube show Walk Away last month. "She should have died as a hero, or not at all. … It wasn't enough to [fire me], they had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show."

Roseanne was cancelled in May after Barr posted a racist tweet. A month later, ABC greenlit The Conners, and Barr has no creative input.

"I was consciously trying to accept it," Goodman told PEOPLE about his feelings after the show was cancelled. "Just like, 'Okay, this is happening, just breathe and go with it.' Underneath I'm trying to get out of a plastic bag that is closing in on me, but I'm trying to be calm on the surface. I remember that contradiction."

"Any sadness that we feel over what we've lost we're hopefully channeling in an honest way into the show," Gilbert also told PEOPLE. "And our show has always been able to deal with heavy topics, particularly for a sitcom. It's been kind of built into the mix."

As for Long, he is best known for his roles in Tusk, Accepted and Live Free Or Die Hard. He also recently starred on New Girl and voices Kevin Murphy for Netflix's F Is For Family.

The Conners will finally debut on ABC on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Twitter/ABC