© RICHARD FOREMAN/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
This fall ABC is trying to bring comedies back to the network after some lackluster results the last couple of years. Modern Family already should be a comedy hit as long as America actually shows up to watch it. Another comedy that ABC is launching this fall is The Middle. The Middle might look your generic family comedy and for the most part you would be right. The family comedy has had a rough time recently especially since there hasn’t been a great family comedy in years. While The Middle might not be the most original comedy, it is arguably the best family comedy on television.
Plot
Some families strive for the best. Others just prefer to stay in the middle. The later describes the Heck family. They live in the middle of the country (Orson, Indiana) and they are your very typical middle-class family. The Heck’s might just be average but they have no problem with average.
Cast
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Frankie Heck is your typical working mother. While she doesn’t really have a successful career (she is the worst car salesman at the car lot), she works full time while also having to take care of her three children who all have their own problems. Not to mention she has a laid back husband that really doesn’t help around the house very much.
Frankie Heck is played by Patricia Heaton who is most known for her role on “Everybody Loves Raymond”. Not surprisingly Frankie is the lead character on the show especially since she is the head of the household.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Mike Heck is mostly your laid back but very caring father. He works as the manager at the local quarry. At home he is a man of few words but is always willing to bring a zinger into the conversation. Mike Heck is played by Neil Flynn who is most known for his role as the Janitor on “Scrubs”. While the characters of Mike and the Janitor are different, I can notice some similarities. Mike is pretty much a more laid back “Janitor” who actually has a family.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Axl is Frankie and Mike’s oldest son. He is your typical laid back teenager. He doesn’t really care much about anything especially clothes since he regularly only wears his underwear around the house.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Sue is the middle child and tries almost everything to try and stand out and be successful. It’s too bad that she fails miserably at everything she tries. Her parents try to encourage her but at times they wish she would just give up instead of embarrassing herself.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
The final Heck is Brick. Brick is the oddball of the family. Known to whisper to himself for no reason and having his backpack be his best friend, Brick is far from your normal young child. If the pilot is any indication of the series, most of the laughs will probably come from Brick. Atticus Shaffer does s great job in the role especially for his age.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Finally The Middle’s cast of characters isn’t complete without mentioning Bob. Bob is a family friend and one of Frankie’s fellow car salesmen that is actually successful at his job.
Review
Looking at The Middle without seeing the pilot I am going to guess that quite a few people don’t have very high expectations for the show. It does look like a typical family comedy after all. The Middle actually is a very typical family comedy but that doesn’t mean that it is a bad show. I found the pilot to be pretty funny. It is not going to be the best new comedy of the year but it is still a very solid comedy as long as you don’t have a hatred for family comedies.
The Middle doesn’t stray too far from the basis of most family comedies. It mostly follows the lives of a family. The Heck’s are a little quirkier than most families on television which leads to most of the shows humor. If I had to compare the show to another comedy I would probably have to say that it looks most like Malcolm in the Middle. I have never seen an episode of Malcolm in the Middle before though so my analysis is based of what I know of the show.
As far as humor the pilot is pretty funny. It doesn’t have a lot of laugh out loud moments but it does have its fair share of laughs. After seeing all the comedy pilots on the networks except for Accidentally on Purpose, The Middle appears to be the third funniest comedy this season. Obviously Modern Family is first and Community is a close second. The Middle rounds out the top 3 pretty well. I don’t have high expectations that Accidentally on Purpose is going to be able to take its spot as the third best new comedy.
If you hate family comedies The Middle is probably not for you since it doesn’t stray too far from the generic formula of family comedies. That said The Middle is probably the best pure family comedy on television today. Some might say Modern Family is a family comedy but I would consider it a blend. If you are interested in laughing on Wednesday nights this fall you should check out The Middle on ABC on September 30th at 8:30/7:30 C.
Other Fall 2009 Previews
The Middle is the second fall preview in a week long group of reviews that will feature the new shows that ABC has to offer this fall. Tomorrow comes a look at the witches of Eastwick and on Thursday I will take a look at Cougar Town. If you have missed my other fall previews/reviews here is what you have missed:
FlashForward (ABC)
Modern Family (ABC)
Melrose Place (The CW)
White Collar (USA)
Are you kidding me? The Middle is a tragic effort. Especially when you consider the comic perfection of it’s scheduling neighbor, Modern Family. The Middle is trying to be Rosanne/Malcom in the Middle for the 21st century but falls well short with cliches and stereotypes about middle America. I can smell the urbanista east coast writers from here. I’m not from the midwest but rather a snooty Left Coaster and even I’m offended by the tacky home decor, clothing and so on that supposed to be funny. “look at those silly, tacky people. Aren’t they cute and stupid”. Yeah. It’s not.
This review reeks of corporate blogging.
You say: “If I had to compare the show to another comedy I would probably have to say that it looks most like Malcolm in the Middle. I have never seen an episode of Malcolm in the Middle before though so my analysis is based of what I know of the show.”
It is VERY HEAVILY influenced by MinM!!! To start: the general look-alike / act alike-ness of the parents. The youngest kid is a carbon copy of and obviously coached to act like Dewey on MinM. Even The Mom’s name “Frankie”? Frankie Muniz played Malcolm. Could go on, but personally, had to turn it off because I couldn’t get past the recycled content. Though, for kids who have never seen the shows that influenced this one, could be OK.
Brick is the funniest kid ever…I sit around the office and ‘whisper’ when I want to chuckle….cast of characters is quite the cast of characters, love em