‘The Conners’ Welcomes Matthew Broderick as Jackie’s New Love Interest

The Conners just tapped its next big guest star to romance Aunt Jackie.

The Roseanne-less spinoff series will welcome actor Matthew Broderick, of Inspector Gadget and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fame, will recur this season as Peter, a love interest for Jackie (Laurie Metcalf).

The new character will make his debut on the series during the upcoming Halloween episode, set to air October 30, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The last lime Jackie had a love interest on the series was her husband Fred, played by Michael O’Keefe, who appeared during seasons 6-8. She will be wooed by more than one as a previous report revealed Steve Zahn would also be guest starring on the series in an attempt to woo Jackie.

It was not revealed how many episodes Broderick has signed on for the series, though it might not be for long considering he just joined the cast of Netflix series Daybreak.

The actor will play Principal Burr in the 10-episode series based on the graphic novel by Brian Ralph.

The Conners has been banking on big names guest starring for its first season. The series will welcome Juliette Lewis and Justin Long in the next episode — titled “Tangled Up In Blue’ — as well as Johnny Galecki reprising his role as David Healy.

Lewis will play David’s girlfriend Blue, and will surely bring drama to the episode as Darlene (Sara Gilbert) will meet her during a parent-teacher meeting, along with the news that she and David will be hosting her kids at their home for the weekend. Not all will be sadness for Darlene during the episode, however, as she will meet Neil (Long), a possible love interest.

The Conners premiered Tuesday and revealed that titular character Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) had died three weeks before of an opioid overdose.

Barr herself released a statement after the premiere to slam the writers for the way they killed off her character.

“While we wish the very best for the cast and production crew of The Conners, all of whom are deeply dedicated to their craft and were Roseanne‘s cherished colleagues, we regret that ABC chose to cancel Roseanne by killing off the Roseanne Conner character. That it was done through an opioid overdose lent an unnecessary grim and morbid dimension to an otherwise happy family show,” the statement read.

“This was a choice the network did not have to make. Roseanne was the only show on television that directly addressed the deep divisions threatening the very fabric of our society. Specifically, the show promoted the message that love and respect for one another’s personhood should transcend differences in background and ideological discord. The show brought together characters of different political persuasions and ethnic backgrounds in one, unified family, a rarity in modern American entertainment. Above all else, the show celebrated a strong, matriarchal woman in a leading role, something we need more of in our country.”

The series debuted to 10.5 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic on Tuesday. The numbers were down 55 percent from the premiere of Roseanne last spring, but matched the Roseanne reboot finale, and beat This Is Us as the No. 1 show of the night.

The Conners airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.