They’re not precocious. They’re not the brightest kids in class. They’re not smart alecks. And they’re sort of shockingly real, in a somewhat exaggerated sort of way.

“We really set out to … not make them cliches,” said executive producer DeAnn Heline. “And I honestly think part of being a parent is you would do anything for your children. You love them so much. Of course, you think they are perfect.

“Yet there’s always something where you are going, ‘Really? Did you have to do that?’ They also sometimes have quirks that can drive a parent crazy.”
…
Having been Axl’s age just a couple of years ago, McDermott said he can relate to his character.

“I think we try to keep it as grounded and realistic in as humorous a way as possible,” said McDermott, 19. “There’s some stuff that is exaggerated, but like they said, there’s a lot of stuff that is taken from … people that you’ve met.”

Sher said she has no complaints about her character.

“She’s always happy. And even when she’s not happy, it’s always an extreme emotion with Sue, pretty much,” the 18-year-old said. “And to play anything to the extreme all the time … it’s awesome.”

Eleven-year-old Shaffer said he’s not even really acting.

“For me, playing Brick is actually playing me, only with a different family and a different name,” he said in total sincerity. “Because I love almost everything that Brick loves to do — read, talk to myself. So I like thinking of Brick as me, which he is.”

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.

The Middle: Eden Sher

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For show-runners Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, the early pickup is validation of a gentle and genuinely sweet take on raising kids in an increasingly frantic world.

“It allows us to go forward without the fear hanging over our heads of not being back,” Heisler told reporters at this week’s meeting of the TV Critics Association in Pasadena, Calif. “We get to invest more, as we hope the audience will as well.”

That middle-American setting is crucial to The Middle’s success, Heisler believes.

“DeAnn and I are both from the Midwest, and it started from our yearning for the life we came from. The location is a very important part of the show. We wanted to show regular people in the middle of the country, living more-or-less ordinary lives.”

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The Middle (ABC) – Forgive me if I’m forgetting one, but I don’t think there has been a genuinely funny, down-to-earth, timely broadcast sitcom that dared to focus on a cash-strapped working class American family since Roseanne at its peak. (No, I haven’t spaced on Malcolm in the Middle, a personal favorite of mine. Malcolm was a bit “out there” and made no claim to realism.) So here’s three cheers for the harried Hecks of small-town Indiana: Car-salesperson mom Frankie (Patricia Heaton), quarry manager dad Mike (Neil Flynn), dim teen jock and horn dog Axl (Charlie McDermott), socially awkward outcast Sue (Eden Sher) and bizarre little Brick (Atticus Shaffer, an instant scene-stealer). I hope they stay with us for years.

The next time someone suggests the half-hour sitcom is “dead,” tell them to check out ABC on Wednesday for a glimpse of Modern Family, which I think will give NBC’s overrated 30 Rock a run at the Emmys. Family love and dysfunction have never been this perfectly portrayed, including the comic high point of the series, gay couple Cameron and Mitchell.

As long as you’re watching Modern Family, make it a point to get to ABC at 8:30 p.m. for lead-in The Middle, which is happily reminiscent of recent classic Malcolm in the Middle. Although Patricia Heaton as frustrated mom Frankie is less cantankerous than Jane Kaczmarek as equally frazzled Mom Lois, 11-year-old Atticus Shaffer is the new Dewey. The resemblance is eerie.

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ABC’s The Middle
Yes, I’m surprised to be including this in my list, but I’ve come to look forward to this little Patricia Heaton sitcom. It doesn’t have the hype of other shows, but there’s something very loving and endearing about this dysfunctional, middle American tableau. It’s kind of wholesome, kind of normal, kind of old fashioned. I kind of love it.

A rerun of “Modern Family” performed much better than “Hank’s” final episode in the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot, and the original “The Middle” that followed soared compared to its most recent outing without the dumpy lead-in dragging it down.

“Middle” averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating at 8:30 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, its second-best rating ever and up 26 percent over its Nov. 4 episode. (ABC aired the “CMA Awards” in the timeslot last week.)

That’s not a spectacular rating, but in a timeslot that lacks a standout show on the Big Four, it was enough to finish second, just 0.1 behind winner “Gary Unmarried” on CBS.

Undoubtedly “Middle” got a boost from airing behind the “Family” rerun, which averaged a 1.9 rating, up 46 percent from the 1.3 that “Hank’s” final episode averaged two weeks ago.

ABC has already given a full-season order to “Middle,” as well as its other two new sitcoms on the night, “Modern Family” and “Cougar Town,” both of which also rose compared to their Nov. 4 outings.

[Source: Media Life Magazine]