Question: What is your reaction to the upcoming season being the last for ABC’s The Middle? It has been so consistent for a show this long running: warm and quirky and funny and relatable. I’ll miss it—but what a really good run it has had! It’s a shame that apart from you it didn’t get a lot of critical buzz, or Emmy nominations for the show, the writing, or the amazing cast. And especially more of a shame that Eden Sher never got any awards love for Sue. Maybe she’ll get a yearbook signed by everybody! —ML
Matt Roush: I know I’d sign that. My feelings about this are bittersweet, as they always are when a show I’ve treasured comes to its natural end. Which I do believe is the case with The Middle, heading into a pre-conceived (by its creators) farewell season. I look forward to seeing the Hecks go out with dignity next spring, but I am sorry the show rarely got the respect critically, and certainly from the industry, that it deserved for shining a light on a funny family in middle America struggling with good humor to make ends meet as so many American families do. It’s an underappreciated classic, and much as I’ll miss it, I’m at peace with nine seasons of great comedy. (Interesting to note that Patricia Heaton’s last comedy classic, Everybody Loves Raymond, also went out after nine seasons with the creative energy still strong.)
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