Conner on *Roseanne*, the one who mostly existed to get roasted by his sisters and occasionally wander into frame holding a baseball glove?
That was Michael Fishman, and for a solid chunk of the late ’80s and ’90s he was TV’s most famous third banana in a working-class living room.
Then the show ended, the revival happened, and he got quietly written off the reboot in 2021 — reportedly over creative differences, which is Hollywood-speak for “we’re not gonna get into it.” Here’s where it gets fun: instead of doing the standard washed-up-child-star victory lap on a reality show, Fishman apparently went and got an actual job.
A clock-in, get-your-hands-dirty, show-up-at-6-a.m. job.
The internet, being the internet, lost its collective mind when this started circulating, because nothing scrambles Reddit’s brain harder than a former celebrity doing normal-person labor.
Naturally, the comment sections split into two camps, because that’s what we do now.
Camp One: “This man is a hero, he rejected the fame treadmill and found dignity in honest work.” Camp Two: “Okay but is this actually noble, or are we romanticizing the fact that he needed a paycheck like the rest of us?
Y’all would call a guy breathing ‘inspirational.’” Both camps are typing furiously, neither is wrong, and the whole thing says way more about us than it does about him.
The uncomfortable truth nobody wants to admit: we treat any former child star who isn’t either dead or in a TMZ mugshot like a saint.
He didn’t rob a bank, he didn’t sell crypto to your grandma, he just… has a job.
We’ve decided basic adult functioning is a redemption arc when it’s a famous person, which is honestly kind of insulting to everyone involved.
Fishman himself has mostly stayed out of the discourse, which is honestly the smartest PR move available.
He’s posted about work, family, and staying grounded, and he hasn’t tried to turn “I have a normal job now” into a motivational brand with a merch drop.
In 2024 that’s practically monk-level restraint.
If he ever launches a podcast called *Third Banana*, though, we’ll know the jig is up.
The real takeaway here isn’t that Michael Fishman is inspiring.
Final Thoughts
It’s that we’re so starved for celebrities who don’t behave like walking cautionary tales that we’ll crown a guy for the radical act of being fine.