The Middle - US [**Spoilers**]

Tranceypoo

_Whimsical_ wrote:

They're definitely working class I would say. They go to pains to illustrate it, how long is their sink broken now? They still manage to send two kids to college which isn't very typical of working class families in the US.

Axl got a sports scholarship and Sue worked loads and got financial aid, there was a whole episode where they were delighted that they were poor enough to qualify for it

Lorelli!

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I doubt very much if we will ever see Mike dressed in lycra and doing a flamboyant roller skating routine a la Hal. I actually know someone just like Mike! I don't know anyone like Hal.

Oh I know and I agree that all the character's are far more eccentric in MITM but fundamentally they are similar. They are both very laid back and likeable family men living similar lives.

Tranceypoo

Jellybaby1 wrote:

Yes, we often wonder if a family is so skint, how can they afford a ride-on lawnmower!!

And a pool (albeit a mobile one!)

Jellybaby1

Like Frankie, I can cast my eyes up when it comes to Mike, but Hal.....well, there were days when I just wept for him, he always tried so hard. Maybe I should stop about MITM!

rubadub

Lorelli! wrote: »

I like both shows and think they are unique from one another but i can see the comparison.

I can certainly see comparisons "on paper", even both small kids had big ears and were very odd. I still think Malcolm is very cartoonish, it could have done well as an animated series -just like King of the Hill could have done well as a real life program. So in that way I think they are very different besides the textbook comparisons.

Hal is one of my favourite characters of all time, Cranston was perfect. I remember hearing about breaking bad in the beginning, but holding off watching it until I knew it actually was going to finish.

This is from malcolm (getting lois fat) but could be mistake for BB! the eyes darting about!:D

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I doubt very much if we will ever see Mike dressed in lycra and doing a flamboyant roller skating routine a la Hal. .

haha, yeah, I do not think the dads were very alike, I just could not imagine the oddball scenarios you see in Malcom or the simpsons, where you have this crazy occurance/event/skill etc which is never ever made reference to again in other episodes -or it might be a wink-wink nod reference. Like homer being an astronaut, or the bomb shelter under the house, or Reese being an amazing cook (maybe that did come up later?)

The older you get the older these programs really make you feel, especially as older repeats are so frequent. I still think of modern family as "new" and am watching it right now and Lily, the "adopted baby", was going on about wearing her first bra!

The actor playing Brick from the middle is 18!

Lorelli!

rubadub wrote: »

I can certainly see comparisons "on paper", even both small kids had big ears and were very odd. I still think Malcolm is very cartoonish, it could have done well as an animated series -just like King of the Hill could have done well as a real life program. So in that way I think they are very different besides the textbook comparisons.

Hal is one of my favourite characters of all time, Cranston was perfect. I remember hearing about breaking bad in the beginning, but holding off watching it until I knew it actually was going to finish.!

Awh King Of The Hill was great. I don't think it would have worked as a real life programme though. I think it was the voices that were so realistic and matched with the cartoon images that really made it so funny. How funny was Bobby

I also love Hal as a character. I still think the comparison to Mike is valid. They are different characters but have similar roles. Hal, I would say is more in touch with his feminine side and that's why himself and Lois are such a good pair and Mike is a bit more masculine which works with Frankie. Still both are in very good, overall happy relationships. I'd say the main difference, as you pointed out is that MITM is just more outlandish and cartoonish in general.

I don't think it would have worked as a cartoon though. The funny thing about it and Hal is that he is real (well fictional but real, you know) as with King Of The Hill, the realistic side of it in cartoon was a big part of what made it funny.

Guy:Incognito

Tranceypoo wrote: »

And a pool (albeit a mobile one!)

Above ground pools are a symbol of the poor .:)

Tranceypoo

Guy:Incognito wrote:

Above ground pools are a symbol of the poor .

Ah ok, I didn't know that!

Jellybaby1

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Above ground pools are a symbol of the poor .:)

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Ah ok, I didn't know that!

Indeed! How would one?

Save

LLMMLL

I do find it a laugh out loud show. It's had me in stitches on multiple occasions. A lot of its comedy comes from extremely low key situations though. Like constantly forgetting the youngest kids birthday, coupled with some of the more out there situations like bringing the wrong baby home from the hospital. The running gags are great. The characters are painfully realistic. Sue giving Mike a video about himself with him hating it is exactly the kind of thing that would happen in my family.

AMKC

I love it. Its a nice easy show to watch and always funny. Sue and Brick are the best two characters and I could easily see a show on just Sue or Brick doing well. AXL is ok but sometimes he gets silly parts and does really need to grow up. The recent trip to Europe seems to have put some sense into him do and he has changed a bit.

budhabob

Just watched the last episode. Really gonna miss this show, quite a nice look at disfunctional family life, with a quirky twist.

Jellybaby1

I enjoyed most of the series but over the last two I noticed the writing was very weak. It was time to go I'm afraid.

LLMMLL

It was time to go. I don’t think the writing was weak. But there were a few less than stellar episodes. Still many episodes per season had me laughing which most comedies can’t in their 8th season.

Thought it was a great series finale, and I hate finales in general. They did it really well.

Jellybaby1

I really did warm to that family. Don't know how they could have continued to write as the kids were getting older. In the last episode I wondered where Axl's pals were.

TheDavester

Kenny got married and the other fella is in another state -

AMKC

Finally watched the last episode. Awe that was nice. Ok the episode itself was not that great but the last 5 minutes was just brilliant. I agree the last season or two had some terrible episode's more so than good ones but there was the odd good one still. All good things must end.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Just finished the final series myself. Thought it was a good send off. I will miss this show and the Hecks, but think they were right to end it when they did.

I see they're planning a spin-off with Sue, with a time jump of a few years. Hope it ends up being more of a Frasier than a Joey, but I think for it to work it'd need to have quite a different feel to it than The Middle did. I'm imagining something with Sue managing a hotel and more of a workplace comedy than a family comedy.

TheDavester

Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »

Just finished the final series myself. Thought it was a good send off. I will miss this show and the Hecks, but think they were right to end it when they did.

I see they're planning a spin-off with Sue, with a time jump of a few years. Hope it ends up being more of a Frasier than a Joey, but I think for it to work it'd need to have quite a different feel to it than The Middle did. I'm imagining something with Sue managing a hotel and more of a workplace comedy than a family comedy.

ugh, while I liked the show, the daughter annoyed the hell out of me, having a dress sense of a colour-blind 6 year old, and not socially smart....I get that she's not the typical daughter in a sitcom, but yikes her character was flanderdized

AMKC

Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »

Just finished the final series myself. Thought it was a good send off. I will miss this show and the Hecks, but think they were right to end it when they did.

I see they're planning a spin-off with Sue, with a time jump of a few years. Hope it ends up being more of a Frasier than a Joey, but I think for it to work it'd need to have quite a different feel to it than The Middle did. I'm imagining something with Sue managing a hotel and more of a workplace comedy than a family comedy.

I think a spin off on Brick or Axle would be much better.

There was some good episodes with Sue mostly when she was trying to get into a group or a club but mostly people never even noticed that Sue was there. She was the invisible person because she was always so good.

Maybe the show on her will turn out to be good but if it was me it would have been one of the other two.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

She wouldn't have been my first choice character for a spin-off either, but it could end up working. Eden Sher is a good actress and if they're time jumping a few years they can make Sue a bit more mature as a character which would help.

It kinda worked when they gave Zoe was given a spin-off from Black-ish because the character evolved and you were starting to see the world from her perspective on Grown-ish, whereas on Black-ish the world is seen through Dré eyes, so we were kinda seeing Zoe through a lens, and that actually there was a lot more to her once we actually saw things from her PoV.

I feel The Middle is kinda similar in that I've always seen the show is shown through Frankie's viewpoint - she's the narrator and we're seeing the kids and Mike in the way Frankie sees them. Even though the characters have moments independent of Frankie, I still always felt there was a Frankie Filter across everything - she was telling these stories about them so the audience could only ever see them as Frankie did. It's be interesting if the version we got of Sue in the spin-off is more three dimensional than that - that there's more layers to the character than what Frankie saw. And if Mike, Frankie, Axl and Brick guest starred at any point we'd see slightly different versions of their characters too, because we'd now be seeing them through Sue's filter. Perhaps I'm rambling and none of that makes any sense, but hopefully you get what I mean.

JP Liz V1

Eden Sher (Sue) spin off not happening

https://tvline.com/2018/11/21/the-middle-spinoff-cancelled-sue-heck-eden-sher-abc/