Charlie McDermott and Atticus Shaffer
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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Emily Vancamp
Leave it to oddball Brick Heck (Atticus Shaffer) to stumble across the reason for the season: "Mom, you never told me church was based on a book." The Middle (ABC, 8/7c) leads off a night of holiday-themed sitcom episodes with an instant classic in which Brick's incessant questions about the Good Book lead sister Sue to enlist pied-piper roving Reverend ...
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Patricia Heaton, Julie Brown
The Middle's Frankie is in for a big surprise on Wednesday's Christmas episode.
In our exclusive clip, Frankie (Patricia Heaton) jokes — and eventually sings — to her friends that her husband (Neil Flynn) never gets her anything for the holiday. But this year is different. Mike, who has enough of her mockery, reveals his secret gift in the middle of Frankie's trash-talking, much to her shock.
Check it out:
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Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton
Turns out, not everybody loves Raymond. Or at least The Middle's Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton) doesn't.
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And viewers will learn why on the one-hour season premiere of the ABC comedy, which reunites Heaton with her Everybody Loves Raymond husband Ray Romano.
"We hadn't gone to him before," co-creator and executive producer DeAnn Heline tells TVGuide.com. "As a new show, you want to give it time to develop. Plus he was busy with his show — he's a busy guy. But, now, all the stars aligned."
Romano appears via flashbacks that are brought on by a Heck Family camping trip. As Frankie and Mike (Neil Flynn) take the kids into the woods, the couple reflects on the last time they went camping — on their honeymoon.
"Ray plays a friend of Mike's who happens to stumble upon them during their honeymoon and causes problems," Heline says...
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The Middle
Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter!
Question: I love that you constantly champion The Middle every time you mention Modern Family. Both shows are must-see TV in our house. Modern Family has great characters that make us laugh, and though most of the situations are unlikely to happen in real life, they pull it off and make it all seem almost normal. Lately, though, The Middle has been creeping into first place for the most laughs in one episode in our house. Unlike Modern Family, The Middle makes us laugh because we see ourselves in that family. I think every parent could relate to...
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Atticus Shaffer
Atticus Shaffer is having Lego flashbacks. "It was a Star Wars set," he says with a groan that makes him sound 70, not 12. "Something like 1,035 pieces. It took me three days to put together." Shaffer only had a few last bricks to click when... Crash! Meowww! "My cat jumped on it and destroyed everything." Shaffer scrunches up his shoulders, tosses up his hands. "So you just start rebuilding."
The adorable young star of The Middle is tenacious like that. At a Lego store near where the ABC sitcom shoots in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, Shaffer is recalling his most memorable projects:
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Doris Roberts
Fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will be happy to hear that TV universes will once again collide on the Season 2 finale of The Middle. TV Guide Magazine has learned from the creators of the show, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, that Doris Roberts will return to the ABC sitcom as Brick's confrontational teacher, who last September went head to head with Patricia Heaton's Frankie, and intends to do the same again.
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The Middle
Even when the cast of The Middle is away from the set, they can't stop acting like a family. Patricia Heaton (Frankie Heck) gabs with her TV daughter, Eden Sher (Sue), about shopping. Neil Flynn (Mike) bonds with TV sons Charlie McDermott (Axl) and Atticus Shaffer (Brick) over who's the best shot during their on-set basketball games. We sat the close-knit crew down to swap stories about everything from the first time they met to their favorite Mexican veggie.
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The Middle
Sophomore sitcom The Middle has received an order for two more episodes this season, bringing the total to 24, a rep for ABC tells TVGuide.com.
Averaging 8.7 million weekly viewers, The Middle kicks off ABC's Wednesday comedy block that includes Modern Family and Cougar Town.
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Norm Macdonald
Guess who's coming to dinner? Norm MacDonald joins the Hecks at their Thanksgiving feast, bringing a little snark to the table as Mike's tent-dwelling brother, Rusty. The wonderfully deadpan Saturday Night Live vet gives us a little taste of what to expect from tonight's episode of The Middle. ...
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