The Middle is in it’s fourth season and the Wednesday night show that airs at 8p on ABC is going through some changes. We have already started to see and hear some of the changes, but some are yet to come.
The first change happened before the show even debuted this season. Atticus Shaffer is getting older and part of maturing for a boy is his voice will change. That is exactly what is happening to Brick in real life, and now the show is wondering what they will do with the 5th grader who has the manliest voice in his class. When Show EP Eileen Heisler was asked about that at the ABC TCA press day, she said “He might have to skip a grade from being so smart. Then she added, “It’s so funny because we honestly at the beginning of the year, (we’re) like, ‘Oh, Atticus had a voice change.’ And now we’re really used to it, and as we were backstage, we were walking in, and we’re hearing the clip, and we’re, like, ‘Who’s that? Oh, my God,’ you know.”
The second change happened a little later on in the season and that is when Frankie (Patricia Heaton) lost her job. Since the pink slip, she has been trying to figure out what to do next with her life. The mother of three has recently decided to be a dental hygienist. Show EP DeAnn Heline explained that choice by saying that they have a writer who is a former dental hygienist. Then she explained, “It just seemed like something that she could go to school for and not spend years in school.” She also said that there is another advantage about it, “And that sort of seemed quirky and fun, you know.” I can already see all the interesting scenarios that will happen once she start working for a dentist.
The third change will also involve one of the character’s schooling. Axl is graduating from high school this season and now the show has to figure out what they will do with him in the fall. Does that mean that Charlie McDermott will be graduating from the sitcom too? Heline said, “He will be going to college next year, and we do have a way that he’ll still be, obviously, very integral, very a part of the show. Don’t want to give away too much, but he will still be a huge part of the show.” We have to wait until then to find out.
And the fourth change that is also coming this fall is The Middle will be airing in syndication. So if you are like me and started watching it mid-way through its run, then you will be able to catch up with the episodes you missed then! I can’t wait to be watching it from the beginning and as it happens.
So don’t be afraid to watch the very funny The Middle every Wednesday at 8p on ABC because you missed the first 100+ episodes. In a few months you will be able to see it from the start and you don’t want miss out on Sue Heck!
