Matthew Broderick Is Joining The Conners as Laurie Metcalf's On-Screen Love Interest

Natalie Stone
Updated

Matthew Broderick is saying hello to The Conners.

The actor, 56, is joining the ABC sitcom this season as Laurie Metcalf‘s on-screen love interest, PEOPLE confirms.

He’ll be appearing as character Jackie Harris’ boyfriend Peter, according to Entertainment Weekly, and will be making his debut on the Oct. 30 episode.

Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick

The series premiered on Tuesday evening, when audiences learned how production wrote off Roseanne Barr’s character following the actress’ firing and Roseanne‘s cancellation in May.

During the premiere episode, the Conner family addressed Barr’s absence in the opening scene. As the family gathered in the kitchen mourning the loss of “Granny Rose” three weeks after her death, a concerned Jackie asked to speak to Dan (John Goodman) alone outside.

While the family initially thought she suffered a heart attack in her sleep, they find out Roseanne died of an opiate overdose.

“I just got a call from a friend at the coroner’s office,” Jackie told Dan. “The autopsy found that it wasn’t a heart attack. Roseanne OD’ed on opiates.”

“That’s not possible,” Dan said. “We knew she had a problem. She was only on pain pills for two days after surgery, then it was just ibuprofen. It’s got to be wrong.”

“They think that she must’ve taken the pills right before bed, and with her health issues, it was enough to stop her breathing,” Jackie said.

RELATED: More Conservatives Watched The Conners Premiere Than the Roseanne Reboot, Study Says

Throughout the episode, the family discovered a mixture of pills hidden in different places around the house, including the closet and their freezer.

Although Barr said that she wouldn’t be tuning in to watch the Roseanne spin-off, she made her voice loud and clear on premiere night.

“I AIN’T DEAD, BITCHES!!!!” she tweeted.

She later put out a longer, more eloquent joint statement with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach regarding the show’s spin-off and decision to kill 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,” the statement began.

The Conners airs Tuesdays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.