Tonight’s episode of The Conners didn’t have a live broadcast that incorporated the results of the New Hampshire primary in real-time, but it did have something else to offer viewers: a Shameless mini-reunion. Noel Fisher started his two-episode run as “Little” Ed, Jr. tonight, the now-grown half-brother to Dan (John Goodman). Fisher also stars as Mickey Milkovich on Shameless, where he acts alongside co-star, and Conners regular, Emma Kenney.
Fisher’s portrayal of Ed, Jr. came onto the scene being openly confrontational to Dan after the death of their father. Needless to say, fans of the Showtime series took to Twitter to comment on the similarities between the two characters Fisher plays.
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“Little Ed and Mickey are the same people,” wrote one fan, adding, “they both tryna fight people.”
Another observed that Fisher “is just about as bat s— here [as] on Shameless.”
Another fan tweeted, “every performance he gives is so admirable, one of my favorite actors.”
In the show’s closing moments, the two Shameless stars met face-to-face inside the lobby of The Lunchbox for some awkward (and unknowingly inappropriate) flirting.
“‘I’ll see you around….’” wrote another fan, quoting their exchange. “Love that, with Mickey and Debbie — so sly, [Conners] writers.” Yet another observed that “Debbie hitting on Mickey was wicked weird.”
Fisher’s guest appearance was first announced back in January, playing the child that Dan’s father, Ed (Ned Beatty) had with his second wife Crystal (Natalie West) late in his life. While the character appeared as an infant on the original run of Roseanne, Fisher portrayed the grown-up version of Ed Jr., who clearly harbors some resentment towards his half-brother, believing that he shunned some responsibility in caring for their aging father.
In addition to her work on Shameless, Kenney also plays Harris on The Conners, who’s the child of Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and David (Johnny Galecki).
Last week, The Conners cast and crew performed two live episodes, one or each coast, that factored in the New Hampshire primary as it happened. While fans were generally impressed, there was some pretty astounding turnaround time when the show managed to incorporate Andrew Yang suspending his campaign into the second broadcast.
Fans also sounded off last week over the departure of Katey Sagal’s character, Louise. A former high school friend of Dan and Roseanne’s (Roseanne Barr), she left Lanford long ago to pursue a career in music. However, she returned in The Conners‘ first season to put the moves on Dan and showed up again this year for another attempted go-round.
