‘The Middle’s Patricia Heaton Spills on What It’s Like Being the Queen of Family Sitcoms

This year will mark the ending of one of the longest running comedies currently on television. For nine seasons and over 200 episodes now, The Middle has been on ABC’s roster, entertaining audeinces through its near-perfect portrayal of middle class (and sometimes lower middle class) life. Standing at the center of the Heck family’s financial foes and weekly antics is one of the most consistently successful actresses in sitcom history — Patricia Heaton.

The Middle now marks the second comedy she’s starred in that has lasted more than 200 episodes, the first being Everybody Loves Raymond. At the Television Critics Association’s 2018 winter tour, Decider had a chance to talk to Heaton about what it was like being on two long-running family sitcoms and why The Middle has resonated with audeinces for so long.

“I moved to L.A. with no agent, no manager, and no car. So the fact I am standing here talking to you now on my second for long-running sitcom is a miracle. God is good,” Heaton said during a group interview. The actress said that when she initially started on Everybody Loves Raymond her biggest goal was to get some more closet space. She has since won two Emmys for the beloved comedy.

“At our 200th episode party, one of our producers — Eileen Heisler — got up and said there have only been 15 comedy shows in the history of American television that have gone more than 200 episodes, and The Middle is one of them and Raymond is the other one,” she said. “And I thought ‘I’m in two of them!'”

Though the series has never been a ratings smash hit, The Middle has been a consistently charming show with a loyal audience. When asked why she thought the show was still so popular, Heaton pointed to the way it portrays families. “I think it’s the same thing as Raymond; we show an American family. The Barones were Italian [with] the in-laws always interfering, and then we have this nice Midwestern family with a very Midwestern kind of vibe about everything,” she said. “I think those people have been overlooked occasionally. Roseanne did it for a while, and now she’s coming back. I think Hollywood has realized there’s an enormous amount of people living between New York and L.A. [who are] underrepresented.”

“Also, the quality of the writing was superb,” Heaton added. “It’s always, always, always about the writing.”

There’s something about these shows’ portrayal of families that resonates deeply with audiences. According to Heaton, it’s not uncommon for fans to get personal when they see her. “How many people, with both Raymond and The Middle, have come up to me and said ‘Our family was going through a really tough time, and the one half-hour a week where we got some respite, my dad who had cancer would laugh,'” she said. “It’s either Raymond or The Middle.”

Part of what makes these shows relatable likely has to do with how authentic they feel, especially when it comes to The Middle‘s portrayal of money. The Heck family continually struggles with their finances in a way that feels far-removed from the bougie problems of similar shows like Modern Family. But much like shows like Roseanne and Raising Hope, The Middle never works to make the Heck family seem lesser because of their financial struggles. “I think it’s interesting because both myself and Neil Flynn who plays Mike on the show, we have a long history of struggling to make ends meet as we were pursuing our acting careers,” Heaton said when asked about what it was like portraying a money-conscious character.

As for what the legacy of The Middle will be, Heaton thinks the show will go down as a classic. “It’s a little more difficult for single-camera shows because there’s a different immediacy with multi-camera. You’re right in there with it, you hear the laughter, you’re part of an audience,” she said. “But I think if anyone is going to do that it’s going to be The Middle because the writing is superb.”

New episodes of The Middle: The Farewell Season premiere on Tuesdays at 8/7c.