ABC’s The Middle is about to wrap up its season, and they will have acting icon Betty White in their season finale. The cast and creators of the show say they were thrilled to work with such a legend.

The Middle follows the Heck family as they struggle with life in the Midwest. Brick is the youngest, and then there is Sue the middle child played by Eden Sher and their sibling Axl played by Charlie McDermott. These crazy kids cause all types of problems and who better to solve them than their parents? Patricia Heaton plays supermom Frankie Heck and Neil Flynn plays her husband Mike Heck.

Patricia told On The Red Carpet that she loves working with the cast but pointed out Eden as the one to watch.

“I predict that she will be the first Emmy winner of our show,” said Patricia.

Source: On the red carpet

The hardest role we had to cast on “The Middle” was Sue, the daughter, and that had to do with the fact that “The Middle” was a pilot that had already been shot two years before with a different cast. It didn’t quite come together as ABC had wanted it to, but they really liked the story. It was a situation where the writers kept thinking about the girl they had from the first pilot, and it was hard for them to get her out of their heads. Eden Sher came in and pre-read for me. She was one of the very first girls we saw for the role. Brought her to producers and she went through that process, but at that time, I think the producers still had in their minds the performance from the previous actress, so they kind of dismissed everybody. I ended up bringing Eden back in again at the end. By that time, they had seen so many actresses for the part, they really started to look at her with new eyes. Eden was the only actress who came in and played that character with exuberance and zeal. Everybody else played her more goth, kind of down and mopey. Eden makes you remember and root for a character that nobody ever roots for.

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Source: AOL TV.

“The Final Four” – Mr. Ehlert takes a liking to Mike and presents him with two tickets to the Final Four – Mike’s dream come true! But when Frankie’s uncle passes away and the funeral is set for the day of the game, a battle begins to brew as Frankie forces Mike to choose which life event is most important to him. Meanwhile, Sue tries to help Brick get out of going to a birthday party by impersonating Frankie over the phone, but panics when she realizes that Frankie is going to make a call for real in order to get him out because of the funeral, on “The Middle,” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“The Middle” stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob.

Guest starring are Brian Doyle Murray as Mr. Ehlert, Jeanette Miller as Aunt Edie, Frances Bay as Aunt Ginny, Dierk Torsek as Reverend Hayver, Phillip Wilburn as paramedic, Margarita Franco as anesthesiologist and Adam Pilver as surgeon.

“The Final Four” was written by Rob Ulin and directed by Alex Reid.

Then there are the Heck kids.

Axl, portrayed by Charlie McDermott (Frozen River), is the teenage son, a jockey, semi-nudist (seriously) and often rebel who occasionally has a soft spot; Eden Sher (Weeds) plays the socially awkward teenage daughter Sue who has tried out for every sport and extracurricular at school known to man without ever being accepted into any of them; and Atticus Shaffer (The Unborn) plays Brick, the bookwork and youngest child who often whispers to himself and considers his backpack his best friend. Oh yeah.

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FRANKIE AND MIKE FOCUS ON TAKING THE FAMILY ON A ROAD TRIP TO CHICAGO FOR BRICK’S COMPETITION IN A REGIONAL SPELLING BEE, BUT ARE GOBSMACKED WHEN THEY REALIZE THEY FORGOT ABOUT SUE’S BIRTHDAY, ON ABC’S “THE MIDDLE”

“The Bee” When Mike discovers that Brick is a spelling wiz and won the school spelling bee, he puts all his efforts into training him to win the regional bee, which could ultimately lead to competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee. But as the family gets set for their road trip to Chicago for the regional bee, Frankie and Mike are horrified when they realize they forgot one thing — Sue’s birthday — on “The Middle,” WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“The Middle” stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob.

Guest starring are Brian Doyle-Murray as Mr. Ehlert, Kiva Jump as Mrs. Thomas, Duane Shepard, Sr. as judge, Keith Gerchak as announcer, Jill E. Alexander as Penny, Ryan Agahee as Sanjit, Noelani Bailey as girl contestant, Harrison Boxley as boy contestant, Gregory Kasyan as kid #1 and Aidan Miner as kid #2.

“The Bee” was written by Eileen Heisler & DeAnn Heline and directed by Ken Whittingham.

“The Middle” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format with a 5.1 channel surround sound and Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to the airdate.

Source: The Futon Critic

In the episode, Frankie and Mike (Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn) are excited to discover that Axl (Charlie McDermott) has found the perfect girlfriend, Morgan (Vega), and that he’s in love. But just as they start to get used to his new, sunny outlook on life, Morgan does the unthinkable and breaks up with him, leaving Axl completely heartbroken.

“The Break Up” premieres on March 10th @ 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC.

Read more: Buzz

Of course, much is changed on “The Middle,” her freshman ABC domestic comedy, after “Everybody Loves Raymond,” where for nine hit seasons she played a frazzled hausfrau opposite Ray Romano.

“It’s not normally a great choice, to repeat yourself,” says Heaton, acknowledging her knee-jerk reluctance to go home again, sitcom-wise.

But “The Middle,” which airs Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. EST, offered her a different place to settle.

“It’s from the mom’s point of view, and it’s not with a bumbling dad who can never do anything right,” she says. “It’s about trying to keep the marriage lively and raise the kids right, but not having enough time and energy to do any of those things.”

It’s also far removed from the Barones’ testy Long Island homestead.

“The Middle” – presided over by its middle-class, nearing-midlife couple, the Hecks – is rooted firmly in the Midwest. There, home is more loving and hopeful than on “Raymond,” if no less challenging, frantic and funny.

And frumpy. At 51, Heaton is a looker, but as pushed-to-the-limit housewife Frankie, she looks authentically dressed down.

“The plainer I am, the better,” says Heaton. “I have these bangs that I clip on. The bangs are the last thing to go on. Then, I can really do the character.”

In their small Indiana town, husband Mike (Neil Flynn) is a manager at a local quarry while Frankie supplements her household duties by trying to sell cars at the town’s lone, struggling auto dealership. Adding to the mix are their kids: sullen high-school jock Axl (Charlie McDermott), insecure preteen wallflower Sue (Eden Shur) and quirky, brilliant 8-year-old Brick (Atticus Shaffer).

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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.