Now that Twin Peaks has wrapped up its revival season in the weirdest of packages, we can look forward to one of another one of TV's most unexpected returns: Roseanne. With just about all the main cast officially locked in for more -- some in unexpected ways -- the producers have recently cast the very first wholly original character for the new season, who just so happens to be a new addition to the family itself. The young, up-and-coming actor Ames McNamara has been cast to play Darlene and David's eight-year-old son.
While TV children aren't necessarily what we get most excited about, this is something of an exception, as Darlene and David's son will be named Mark, which is no doubt a familiar name to Roseanne fans. Glenn Quinn's Mark Healy played Becky's rough-edged boyfriend-turned-husband, but Quinn died in 2002, and it's still unclear exactly how the revival will clear up the fictional character's fate. To have David name his kid after his brother could be a telling sign that Adult Mark will have died within the show itself. Or perhaps Darlene and David just didn't have any other names they wanted to use.
There's not a lot to go on as far as what we might actually expect to see from this new character, but according to TVLine, he's being described as smart and sensitive, with an affinity for dressing up in girls' clothes. That should be interesting, all things considered. Back when David's feminine side showed in the original run, it was one thing, but modern America is a wholly different beast when it comes to alternative lifestyles. Hopefully it all works out with as few cringe-worthy moments as possible.
It had previously been reported that Darlene and David were going to be the happy parents of not just the daughter that was birthed during the original run, but also a younger son. And it makes some sense that the show would cast a newcomer like Ames McNarama for the role, since the original series run was so good at making household names out of its cast members. Here's what the actor looks like, though it's not anything from the set itself.
Unfortunately, we still don't know if New Mark's father will even be seen on the show, as Johnny Galecki still hasn't been able to confirm any Roseanne appearances, thanks to his busy day job on The Big Bang Theory. Considering the two sitcoms are on different networks, that complicates things, but it's more than likely that Roseanne's limited episode count will make it a little easier for him to get involved.
There's no specific release date locked down for the Roseanne revival just yet, but ABC will bring the beloved sitcom back at some point in the midseason in 2018. While we're waiting to see who will be cast as Mark's sister, you can stream all nine seasons of the show while checking out our fall premiere schedule to see everything else hitting the small screen soon.
