Hitting a Series High Opposite “Idol,” ABC’s “Modern Family” is Wednesday’s No. 1 Scripted TV Show for its 11th Straight Original Telecast in Adults 18-49.

Growing Week to Week, “Cougar Town” Ranks as the No. 1 Scripted Show Against its Network Rivals in Adults 18-34 for its 6th Straight First-Run Airing.

Surging over its lead-in by 1.8 million viewers and by 50% with young adults at 8:30 p.m., self-starter “The Middle” was the No. 1 show its half-hour for its 4th straight original telecast in Total Viewers (7.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7-tie). In fact among Adults 18-49, it finished as the highest-rated scripted show in its half-hour for the 6th time in its last 7 first-run airings. The ABC freshman comedy also delivered the No. 1 position in the half-hour with Adults 25-54, Men 18-49 and Men 25-54.

“The Middle” drew its biggest overall audience in 3 months and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number since March – since 2/10 and 3/24/10, respectively.

Source: RBR

Growing Over its Most-Recent Original, ABC’s “The Middle” Finishes No. 1 at 8:30pm in Adults 18-49, Beating Fox’s Finale of “Human Target”

“The Middle” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Surging from its lead-in by 38% at 8:30 p.m., ABC’s “The Middle” won its half-hour among Adults 18-49 (2.2/7), beating competition including the second half-hour of Fox’s season finale of “Human Target” (2.1/7). ABC freshman “The Middle” also beat out its comedy competition in the slot, defeating CBS’ freshman “Accidentally On Purpose” by 16% (1.9/6). In fact among young Adults, the ABC freshman comedy has been the highest-rated scripted show in its half-hour on 3 of its last 4 original telecasts.

· “The Middle” was up from its most recent original telecast by 8% in Total Viewers (6.7 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/7 vs. 2.0/6).

Source: The Futon Critic

Betty plays a librarian who threatens to keep little Atticus Shaffer from graduating to the third grade on the ABC comedy, airing Wednesdays.

Source: KGET

“Middle” (8.2 million, 3.0 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) was up 11%, aided by a stronger-than-usual lead-in from one of ABC’s ubiquitous Charlie Brown specials — “A Charlie Brown Valentine” (7.5 million, 2.5).

Source: THR

Malavika: To be honest, family-centric sitcoms always made me a bit uncomfortable. As much as I loved “The Cosby Show” and, yes, even “Growing Pains,” I grew out of that phase pretty quickly. If I wanted to laugh at someone’s family, well, I’d laugh at my own. So, I was pretty surprised at how much I liked “The Middle.” Patricia Heaton has always been good at playing the harried mom type and Neil Flynn pretty much shines in anything he does. But, truly, it’s their kooky kids — teenage son Axl, almost always wandering the house in nothing but boxers; the eager but perennial failure at whatever she does Susan; and the totally weird youngest child Brick — that pushes this past “Malcolm in the Middle” territory.

Adam: I totally agree. The Hecks are the most realistic, relatable family on TV right now; in fact, I’m having trouble thinking of any family in all of TV history that could give them a run for their money.

“The Middle” has obvious forebearers, like “Malcolm in the Middle,” as you mentioned (although it is thankfully far less wacky), but especially the mother of all blue-collar comedies, “Roseanne.” Whereas that undoubtedly classic sitcom served as a showcase for Roseanne Barr’s standup routines, with her children little more than window dressing, “The Middle” is much more of an ensemble effort. Heaton is obviously the main character, but unlike Roseanne, she doesn’t get the lion’s share of laughs. In other words, she doesn’t sit around the kitchen all day spitting wisecracks; on the contrary, Frankie Heck is almost constantly in motion, running from one family emergency to the next, and that’s where the humor is derived from. That’s what we can all relate to.

Patricia Heaton was chosen as part of TV Squad eight wonderful stars shining in the TV pantheon for 2009:

8. Patricia Heaton. I wasn’t expecting to see Patricia Heaton being anything other than Deborah on Everybody Loves Raymond. Instead, as Francis Heck on The Middle, she’s a completely different person. That, my friends, is why she’s a great actress. Superficially, a housewife, mother of three, would seem to be a stereotype, but not when Patricia’s interpreting the role. She’s been a revelation on The Middle.

ABC get a B+ from The TV Addict:
The Good: ABC took a fairly substantial leap of faith with their brand-new Wednesday night comedy block, and as luck would have it, the leap paid off. What could have been an epic disaster of HANK-esque proportions single-handedly transformed ABC’s once troubled Wednesday night into a ratings force to be reckoned with thanks to the success of freshman newcomers THE MIDDLE, MODERN FAMILY and COUGAR TOWN.

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Frankie observes what she thinks are the perfect siblings, and it becomes her mission in life to make her kids stop fighting with one another and interact as a loving family. Meanwhile, Mike contemplates firing Aunt Edie after she makes a costly mistake at the quarry.

“no door – no food?”

“A dog suit”