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SPECIAL COMMENTARY: An Appreciation of The Middle














The Middle ends tonight after nine seasons and 215 episodes.

This unassuming comedy premiered just one week after the heralded debut of Modern Family and as part of ABC's heavily hyped entirely new comedy block that also included Cougar Town and the quickly cancelled Kelsey Grammar comedy Hank. All eyes were on Modern Family at first and for many years with its five straight Emmy wins (at least two of those were very deserving) and huge popularity. But I firmly believe it is The Middle that had the better run. While Family's best days are years ago and it is a shell of what it was once, The Middle has continued in quality with remarkable consistency since day one and its ratings reflect that. It never reached the highs of a show like Modern Family but also didn't suffer a huge erosion of audience over the years comparatively.

What is the reason for that? First of all, the show managed what very few family sitcoms in history have been able to do. The kids actually aged well. Axl, Sue, and Brick are just as enjoyable as they were in season one it not moreso. That feat is something that even classics like Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Cosby Show, and The Brady Bunch struggled to do. It is a testament to the writing and the performances of Charlie McDermott, Eden Sher, and Atticus Shaffer. They grew up in a way that real families do: the relationships evolved, but the personalities didn't dramatically change. Axl may have gone from barely out of middle school to out of college, but he's still cocky, still sarcastic, and still a softie deep down. Brick is the same lovable weirdo as a high schooler as he was as in elementary school. And Sue, perhaps the show's MVP, has always been a sunny optimist who sees the best in everything even when almost anyone else wouldn't. The kids have been through relationships, school troubles, triumphs, and failures, but they have always remained true to their well defined characters.

The kids are just part of the equation though. As parents Frankie and Mike, Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn brought their sitcom expertise to a new level. Patricia Heaton played frazzled well on Everybody Loves Raymond, but she brought it to a new level as Frankie Heck, a mom who always had the best intentions but frequently didn't know how to reach her goals. She was funny and provided a great narration throughout the entire series (I don't always like that used in a sitcom, but it worked great here). As dad Mike Heck, Neil Flynn offered some of the show's sweetest moments because he was so often buttoned up and unwilling or unable to show much emotion. But when he did, it really packed a punch. The relationship between Mike and Frankie was very authentic and felt natural.

Perhaps that's one of the greatest strengths of the show as a whole: everything felt so real. Even with Brick's eccentricities or some supporting characters (Brad, Edie & Ginny, Reverend Tim Tom, Rita Glossner, Weird Ashley, the think alike cheerleaders Courtney and Debbie to name a few) that seemed straight out of a modern day Mayberry, the show amazingly never lost its authenticity. There has been a lot of talk about how shows like Roseanne and Last Man Standing are appealing to middle America but The Middle is really a love letter to the midwest, to small towns everywhere, and to the middle class. I don't know that I could name 10 singular episodes off the top of my head right now because it just felt like we were watching life and not plots. That was the beauty of The Middle. Maybe it never soared as high as certain shows, but it certainly didn't sink as low as some of those same shows. It just sweetly plugged along for nine seasons always sure of itself and always entertaining. It's rather fitting that a show called The Middle was one of my favorite middle of the road comfort shows since 2009. And it sure is sad to see The Middle reach the end. As tonight's episode implies, it's been one Heck of a ride.
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