Patricia Heaton is yet another Back to You alum heard from on ABC’s new Wednesday night (joining Kelsey Grammer on Hank, and Ty Burrell on Modern Family). Luckily for her, her new series, The Middle, has a lot more in common with Burrell’s than Grammer’s … as in, it’s great.
Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Potential it’s definitely got, and good it is; great will come a bit later. But it still beats Hank!
I was actually pleasantly surprised at enjoying the pilot — the ad with Heaton in a superhero costume convinced me that this was going to be a slapstick. Instead, The Middle joins other strong family sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle (thanks, Keith!), and even Heaton’s own Everybody Loves Raymond, in a genre that is scarce on TV today (and I’m not referring to the rarest of all genres known as “enjoyable”): fun for the whole family.
The difference with The Middle is that Heaton is the focus. Sure, Ray Romano headlined Ray, same as Frankie Muniz did Malcolm, but the shows weren’t all about the stars, just the paychecks. I’m not predicting doom here, just saying: to succeed as a family show, there needs to be a balance. Just something to think about.
Heaton (as Frankie) traded in Ray for Janitor (Neil Flynn as Mike) … unclear yet how good a deal she made there (just a joke, folks, not a comment about Flynn — he’s great, and great casting!) I think the role calls for a lot less quirky than his Scrubs character, but what’s overlooked about Flynn as a result is that he’s a funny guy. I think he and Patricia Heaton can do a lot of good together.
The kids are another story. Axl (Charlie McDermott) is weird, to be sure, and he apparently isn’t a fan of pants. But so far he’s basically a non-entity, not a bad thing even were it to continue, but I have a feeling that there are kid stories in here, too. Sue (Eden Sher) is the untalented, accident-prone, mess of a daughter — kind of annoying, but also funny in her own way.
And then there’s Brick (Atticus Shaffer, easily recognizable from his insignificant role in Hancock). Yes, Brick, yes! This kid is awesome in a “Dewey’s special class on Malcolm” sort of way. He repeats things in a scary undertone because “it soothes me.” His best friend is his knapsack. Hell, even his teacher refers to him as “clinically quirky.” The brilliance with the character is that, it’s never the kids who are good. It’s never the kids who are funny, or get the good lines (although Nolan Gould, as Luke on Modern Family, challenged that theory in the pilot with the BB gun bit). Brick is who we’ve been waiting for … okay, that sounds kind of creepy. I just really liked the character. And the actor.
It was weird to see Chris Kattan on a family show, but, okay. Another interesting Malcolm parallel here? No last name for the family. Unlike with Malcolm we know where they live (Orson, Indiana), but no last name. Huh.
Anyway, good show, good material, great potential. I’ll definitely be tuning in next week.
Oh, and a couple of funnies:
“Between 8 and 3, he’s your problem.” – Mike to Brick’s teacher, referring to Brick
“I just hope he’s weird enough that our insurance covers it.” – Mike to Frankie, about Brick
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Oct 01, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Loved Brick.
I thought they showed the Dad’s name plate and her Driver’s license with their last name as Heck.
I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this show.
*POST AUTHOR*
Crap – I think you’re right. Sorry! I was going by IMDb, and remembering having never heard it. Thanks for the correction! :)
this was really funny, a good start. a lot like malcolm for sure, though. Frankie Muniz should guest star at some point so they can promote Malcolm in ‘the middle’.
Brick was hilarious!
*POST AUTHOR*
Cute. :)
that’s two new sitcoms that have made me actually laugh out loud, and both are on ABC!! Add in TED, which I always forget is on (when it’s on) and they’re doing pretty well.