The soundtrack for the last week in TV — and virtually every other medium — was provided by the late and lavishly lamented Whitney Houston. Her sudden, untimely death on the eve of the Grammys helped boost that annual spectacular to its highest ratings since the peak of the Thriller furor (a statistic reminding us of the equally resounding loss of Michael Jackson in 2009). LL Cool J, the Grammys' engaging host, opened the show with a prayer — when's the last time that happened? — as the proceedings took on the feel of a celebration and memorial, when they weren't busy crowning Adele the new Queen of Pop. (And how much fun was she on 60 Minutes?)
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There may be sitcoms that are flashier, edgier or more ironic than The Middle, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any that are funnier. Since premiering in 2009, ABC's hit comedy about the Hecks, a working-class Midwestern family of misfits, has proven that it doesn't take a right- or left-coast sensibility to produce laughter — thanks in no small part to the performances of Charlie McDermott (Axl), 21, Eden Sher (Sue), 20, and Atticus Shaffer (Brick), 13. TV Guide Magazine played hooky with the trio for an afternoon of mini-golf at Castle Park in Sherman Oaks to find out if they're equally entertaining off duty.
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"Keep TV out of this. We need TV. We got nothing else." Why do I relate to the Hecks of ABC's rollicking The Middle? This is why.
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Knock knock. Who's there? Chelsea. Chelsea who?
No, make that Chelsea why? The answer to the question posed in NBC's squalid new sitcom Are You There, Chelsea? (8:30/7:30c) is "not really." Based on late-night spitfire Chelsea Handler's potty-mouthed party-girl memoirs — but dropping the Vodka from the title because that might be, you know, offensive — this smutty but toothless misfire puzzlingly reduces Handler to a supporting role: that of a mousy, whiny born-again sister to the fictional Chelsea, played by That '70s Show's Laura Prepon with a one-note husky-voiced crassness that grows stale long before the first scene (in a women's jail cell) ends with Glee's Dot Marie Jones leering at Chelsea. Which is maybe the only sexual advance Chelsea spurns. As long as she can be on top. Which she mentions a lot.
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Whoopi Goldberg will guest-star on an upcoming episode of ABC's The Middle, the show's executive producer announced Wednesday at the winter TV previews.
Get more scoop on your favorite shows in our Winter TV preview
Goldberg will appear on the 21st episode as the guidance counselor of Sue (Eden Shur), executive producer Eileen Heisler said during a panel that also featured the showrunners of ABC's other Wednesday night comedies, Suburgatory, Modern Family and Happy Endings.
Also coming soon to visit the Heck family...
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