‘The Conners’ Collides With ‘Shameless’ As Classic Character ‘Little Ed’ Is Cast For Season 2

The Conners will welcome back a character that was last seen as a child in 1997. Producers for the Roseanne spinoff’s second season have signed Shameless alum Noel Fisher to play “Little Ed,” the now-adult half-brother of Dan (John Goodman).

As fans of the original Roseanne series know, “Little Ed” is the product of Dan’s dad Ed Sr.’s (Ned Beatty) marriage to family friend Crystal (Natalie West). Ed Jr. will turn up on The Conners as a 20-something college graduate who is angry at his older brother for not helping care for their elderly father, TV Line reports.

The television news site notes that Fisher’s Little Ed character will appear in at least two Conners episodes this season. The first episode featuring Dan’s reunion with his little brother will air in February.

Fisher has an impressive acting resume. In addition to his longstanding role as Mickey Milkovich on Shameless, Fisher’s IMDb page logs a steady stream of roles dating back to the early 2000s. Fisher has appeared in guest roles on Two and a Half Men, Cold Case, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Fear The Walking Dead and has also provided voice work on animated series including Justice League Action and X Men: Evolution. His movie roles include vampire Vladimir in Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

After his role on The Conners was announced, Fisher posted a photo to Instagram which shows him holding his script and posing with Conners star Emma Kenney, who is also his co-star on Shameless. Fans reacted with comments to the post.

“This kinda makes up for the lack of Mickey and Debbie scenes,” one fan wrote of Fisher and Kenney’s Shameless characters.

“Some MILKOVICH+GALLAGHER vibes here!” another wrote.

“Love seeing you two together,” a third fan added.

“Well, I guess I watch The Conners now,” another follower wrote.

It is unclear if Little Ed’s parents will appear with him on The Conners. West has already resurrected her role as Crystal Anderson in two episodes of The Conners, but Beatty retired from acting in 2013.

The news of Little Ed’s return and Fisher’s Conners casting comes as showrunner Bruce Helford confirmed that another long-missing character — Jackie’s (Laurie Metcalf) son, Andy — will never appear on the spinoff series. As The Inquisitr previously shared, at ABC’s Television Critics Association panel, Helford explained that Jackie’s son was part of the far-fetched “dream” sequence on Roseanne and that The Conners producers “chose not to acknowledge” the existence of Andy on the spinoff.

The Conners returns to ABC on Tuesday, January 21 at 8/7c.