I’ll admit that maybe the East Coast is rougher geography than some, but how in the world do you get a deer (and not a thief) in your house, when you don’t have a front door?

That’s just one of the many quant side-points that The Middle employs in creating its off-beat, and very likable feel. This week it was Axl’s (and Mike’s) turn to take center stage, as maybe Atticus Shaffer (Brick) was hitting his federally mandated child labor law hours limit. Oh sure, he still built a pyramid out of sugar cubes — for fun — but last night’s episode was missing its traditional Brick-ness. It was still quite good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s telling that I have no quotes that I feel I must share. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, so not the sport as much as the three syllables in the word, putting it in the ranks of all of the other three syllable words that Brick went off to list before bed. He may do well in a country club setting; there’s archery, badminton….

When’s the last time such a distinctively unusual character was crafted from nothing on TV? And I find it unfathomable that anyone scripted all of that for Atticus Shaffer. This has got to be of his creation. Can you imagine that from an unseasoned, kid actor? Read the rest of this entry »

Well, more like Olivia pushing Brick out of a tree. But Brick being Brick, I suppose it makes sense that he wouldn’t have wooed this young lady, or even been the active participant in instigating their relationship. And it makes sense, too, that Mike would ask, “So, this Olivia, is she here right now?” when Brick told his parents that he was dating someone.

But did you see it going where it did? Or doing so as well as it did? The relationship was only minimally mined for the interaction between the two kids — the best parts involved Brick and his family. Read the rest of this entry »

In the sitcom world, there are shows that deal with the funny that can happen in a closed environment, and there are those open to any possibility. That’s better known as workplace versus family. Neil Flynn is a veteran of workplace hilarity, having spent years toiling as Janitor on Scrubs. Patricia Heaton, on the other hand, has the majority of her experience in the family genre, albeit as a stay-at-home mom. So both are exploring new territory, to an extent.

What’s my point? It’s always fun to see comedy in mundane things, laughing at situations you yourself were in just this morning. Making lunch, juggling a sick kid and work, getting time with your spouse, caring for a dog with emphysema … who didn’t deal with one of those yesterday? Read the rest of this entry »

The Middle held up upon a second look, and Patricia Heaton is proving that she’s no one hit wonder — although, personally I learned that with Back to You, but whatever.

It’s interesting how a simple thing like making ends meet can have the tentacles to touch so many funny stories on one episode. No money leads to an inability to pay a library fine, leads to no book for Brick (Atticus Shaffer), leads to his terrifying his family with his daily socializing, leads to him reading romance novels, leads to him getting his library book, meets Sue (Eden Sher) and her swimming head-on. Simple, farcical, and very amusing. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

ABC is definitely keeping the costs down. Last week, Turk was nowhere to be found in either episode, and this week the first episode went down with no janitor and J.D. only heard over a cell phone. But Percival Ulysses was in da house!

I liked the idea of Dr. Grumpy aka Denise hooking up with Dr. Giddy AKA Sunny. It’s a good dynamic. We’re finding out that Denise works as a character on this show; it’s too bad that it’s too late. I guess we could always root for a spin-off with the new interns and some of the principal cast members. Call it Sacred Heart and everything can essentially be the same. Or better yet, have Elliott get her own building and call it Private Practice. Then there’s a good reason to take that other Private Practice off the air!

Read the rest of this entry »