Without ‘The Middle,’ TV Is About To Get A Whole Lot Sadder

You can’t turn on your TV without running into another self-hating antihero determined to ruin their life. It makes for some compelling stories, but sometimes all you want is to grab some potato chips, curl up, and watch something where everyone is happy for once. That beautiful, bubble of optimistic bliss is what ABC’s The Middle has given us for the past nine years.

Created by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, The Middle is fairly by the books as far as family sitcoms go. There’s the flustered but happy mom Frankie (Patricia Heaton), the grumpy dad Mike (Neil Flynn), the rebellious son Axl (Charlie McDermott), the type-A sister Sue (Eden Sher), and the quirky and often hilariously forgotten youngest child Brick (Atticus Shaffer). However, what separates The Middle from its family sitcom peers like Modern Family and Black-ish was its authenticity. The Hecks never felt like a hyper-scripted sitcom family. They felt like a real family with members who were always slightly annoyed with each other but would always support another, just like real life. It was also one of the few shows that was unafraid to depict money problems on an episode to episode basis — a plot point that constricted the sitcom’s adventures just as it constricted the Heck family’s plans.

However, more than anything else, I’m going to miss The Middle because of Sue Heck. Eden Sher’s character is a highly excitable mess. She’s school obsessed to the point where a low grade can send her into a sad spiral but naive enough to constantly ask dumb questions. She’s geeky enough to clearly be the show’s nerd — especially in comparison to Axl — but confident enough to not let that bother her. But more than anything else, she’s something that’s sorely missing from television. Sue Heck is an aggressively kind and optimistic person.

Sue’s sincere empathy for everyone and everything around her has been a source of comedy and frustration for the Heck family since the show’s first episode. It’s led her to do everything from leave hundreds of notes on a stranger’s barely-scratched car to win a tennis match solely because her constant peppiness infuriated her opponent. In a sea full of angry, sad, terrified, somber, and serious characters, Sue is a ray of sunshine, no strings attached.

Of course there are other upbeat characters on TV. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s titular character (Ellie Kemper) could match Sue smile for smile, and New Girl’s Jess (Zooey Deschanel) can be pretty bubbly. But there’s something aggressively endearing that comes from Sue’s ever-happy adventures. There’s no dark evil she’s trying to escape by giving people presents, and no amount of sarcasm can beat her down. She’s just Sue.

A lot of this has to do with Sher’s sugar-coated performance. It would be easy for this character to be too much, but Sher plays channels the character’s aggressive bubbliness perfectly. It’s certainly a gift, as Sher has managed to transform Star in Star vs. The Forces of Evil into the same sort of manic bubblegum princess. However, what makes The Middle such a remarkable show is how it Frankie and Mike accept their insane children.

The Hecks know their children aren’t perfect. Axl is way too much of a slacker and he’s disrespectful. Sue is optimistic to a fault and inflexible. Until this last season Brick really needed friends. But these parents rarely try to “fix” their kids. Instead, Frankie and Mike adjust their children in an attempt to make them the best people possible while keeping their quirky personalities intact.

From its first episode, The Middle understood something that it takes most shows and families years to understand — you can’t change the people around you no matter how much you may want to. And that’s OK. There’s something deeply sweet about that little lesson this quiet show has communicated for almost a decade.

The Middle was a good thing during a time when television is dominated by morally bankrupt, but engaging, monsters. Earlier this year, it was announced the series would be coming to an end at the request of it’s creators. It makes sense. With Axl out of college, Sue halfway through, and Brick in high school, the show is approaching its natural end point. However, I’m really going to miss this bright, happy gem when it comes to an end next May. Keep being yourselves, Heck family.

New episodes of The Middle premiere on ABC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.

Where to stream The Middle