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 The Middle

(July 12th, 2009.  Editor)                Particia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Eden Sher, Atticus Shaffer and Charlie McDermott star in the half hour situation comedy "The Middle" airing Wednesday on ABC this fall.

The Hecks are a middle class family living in the middle of Indiana, just trying to keep their heads above water. Frankie (Heaton) is a wife and mother of three who is challenged by the demands of her life and the thankless attitude of her children. In order to makes ends meet, she and her husband Mike (Flynn) both work full time jobs, leaving them little time for the day to day needs of oldest son Axel (McDermott), daughter Sue (Sher) and youngest son Brick (Shaffer). The stress and chaos involved with raising their family definitely has them lowering their expectations.

The pilot episode feels like more like a short film than a sitcom. The first-person narrative style, cut together with drama-style scenes, make this effort more of a dramatic comedy than a standard sitcom. While that style has seen some success recently, it is more difficult and more expensive than the usual sitcom method. For that reason, this series will be expected to find an audience quickly in order to stay on the air. That will put a lot of extra pressure on the writers, who must script 22 mini-movies a year in order to complete a season. The standard sitcom format is easier and faster, but the "One Camera" style of this comedy leaves more options for comedy.

I can't help but compare this effort to the former successful comedy series "Malcolm In The Middle". While they are not identical, this new series may not be different enough to carve out an identity of its own. "Malcolm" explored the dysfunctional family in just about every way possible. And by being so outrageous, they found comedy in the every day events of life. But what ultimately made that show such a success was the combination of great writing with actors who were not afraid to take their characters over the top. I don't see either the writing or those off the wall characters in this comedy.

The supporting cast are given larger roles and are utilized more to further the plot than is the norm is a sitcom. But unless the next episode takes us somewhere, these already cookie-cutter characters will become even bigger stereotypes. When it comes to the antics of an offbeat middle class family, there is very little new ground here and who wants to turn on the television and watch a middle-aged mother of three deal with the same troubles we turned on the TV to forget.

This comedy needs a direction. Just being middle class and from the middle of the country is not enough. "Roseanne" already did that. "Malcolm In The Middle" already did that. "Grace Under Fire" did that. And like those shows, the next successful "Everyman" comedy will report on the political and economic condition of the middle class. I don't see that happening here.

 

Editor

 

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