The Middle » Sue http://the-middle-abc.com A fansite for the TV show 'The Middle' on ABC Thu, 13 May 2010 23:54:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Review: ‘The Middle’ – ‘The Yelling’ http://the-middle-abc.com/review-the-middle-the-yelling http://the-middle-abc.com/review-the-middle-the-yelling#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:36:47 +0000 admin http://the-middle-abc.com/?p=150 TV Squad has a review of last night’s The Middle; here are the highlights:
I kind of like the relationship developing between Bob and Mike. When Mike threw him out of the house a few weeks back, I was actually a bit taken aback. Sure, Bob’s a bit — okay, a lot awkward, but he has a good heart and he’s a decent guy. And he’s good friends with Frankie.
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I think with this episode, ‘The Middle’ strayed further into surreality than we’re used to seeing. I’ve always thought of the show as a surprisingly realistic take on middle class families in middle America, but everything about this episode had reality amped up to the proverbial “eleven.”
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And it’s not even that the episode didn’t have plenty of laughs, because it did. I loved when Sue yelled at Axl that he was the most irresponsible person she’d ever met, and then handed him a baby to take care of. But the same laughs could have been achieved without having to sacrifice that carefully crafted third dimension for our characters.

There were some authentic moments in the episode, though, like the scene with Mike and Frankie in bed when she realized that she’d become a yelling mom, and she didn’t want to be that. It was pure Mike when he said, “Well, it’s too late now.” And the video Frankie made to show them how horrible their behavior was backfired on her so masterfully, that I couldn’t help myself laughing by the end of it.

As long as the heart of the show remains strong, it’ll be fine. Just keep an eye on that reality check light, please.

The Middle

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]]> http://the-middle-abc.com/review-the-middle-the-yelling/feed 0 Heaton in ‘The Middle’ http://the-middle-abc.com/heaton-the-middle http://the-middle-abc.com/heaton-the-middle#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:26:51 +0000 admin http://the-middle-abc.com/?p=139 There’s a rookie TV show we’ve been watching that airs in the middle of the week, in the middle of other sitcoms.

The Middle doesn’t get a lot of attention, but we’d like to change that, now that we’ve hit the middle of The Middle’s first season.

So if you like to laugh, really, you should check out The Middle, which stars Patricia Heaton and airs Wednesdays on ABC and A.

The Middle isn’t hip and edgy, like Modern Family.

The Middle isn’t rife with sophomoric sexual situations, like Cougar Town.

But that doesn’t mean The Middle is bland, which often is the quick conclusion when hearing the term “family comedy.”

Yes, The Middle focuses on an Indiana family: Mom Frankie Heck (Heaton), dad Mike (Neil Flynn) and kids Axl (Charlie McDermott), Sue (Eden Sher) and Brick (Atticus Shaffer).

But The Middle is surprisingly cynical in its portrayal of an average clan living in “the middle” of the United States.

Heaton is a TV-comedy veteran from her nine seasons as Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. In fact, Heaton probably can watch reruns of herself 50 times a day if she just clicks around.

“That’s all I’ve been doing for years, sitting in front of the TV, watching old reruns, crying and eating ice cream,” said Heaton, 51.

That’s not true, of course. Last season Heaton was part of a much-publicized but hastily cancelled sitcom with Kelsey Grammer called Back to You.

Heaton seems much more comfortable playing underpaid, overworked and overwhelmed matriarch Frankie Heck. And the great side-benefit of The Middle is that all three of Frankie’s kids are funny in their own right.

Axl is a teenage boy who has entered the stage where everything is “lame.” Sue’s enthusiasm is infectious even though she fails horribly at everything she tries.

Read the full story on Toronto Sun

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