It's not the most popular sitcom on the air, and it didn't win any Emmys last Sunday. Heck, it wasn't even nominated. But for my wife and me, "The Middle" is the funniest, most truthful show on television.
Our own children are grown and gone now, and most of them have children of their own. But when we watch "The Middle," we see something of ourselves and our kids (and grandkids) every single week.
We identify with many of the quirky character traits and each episode's varied situations, which are often built around the compromises families have to make when money is tight and schedules are way too hectic.
For the uninitiated, "The Middle" is about struggling Middle America. What could be more timely than that?
The focus is on a harried wife and husband and their three kids, all trying to make things work even when the world seems to be conspiring against them.
Consider this show an antidote to the "O.C."/"Dawson's Creek"/"Gossip Girl" TV families that depict parents having affairs and kids who are rich, popular, beautiful and excelling in classwork and sports.
That's not the Hecks. They're just getting by, a blue-collar family living in a depressed Indiana town.
Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton), who narrates each show, is the mom. She tries to put her family first but is often pushed beyond her limits by the pressures of everyday life, to include the car lot where she is the lowest-ranking sales person during a time when car sales are at an all-time low.
Her husband Mike (Neil Flynn) works at the local quarry, loves sports and is blunt to a fault. He loves his wife and kids though he's not always crazy about a lot of the things that go along with family life. But when push comes to shove he comes through.
The teens are surly Axl (Charlie McDermott), who lounges around in his boxers all day and sighs and whines when asked to do the slightest thing, and Sue (Eden Sher), an improbably upbeat loser who fails spectacularly at everything she tries, but who keeps trying new things all the same. And the youngest is Brick (Atticus Shaffer), who just wants to read and doesn't care that he has no social skills.
Heaton, who co-starred in "Everybody Loves Raymond," is perfect as a different kind of harried mom from Debra Barone, and Flynn, who played the janitor on "Scrubs," is an equally perfect foil. And best of all, the kids here seem like real kids, not smart-mouthed sitcom caricatures.
The plots are simple, though some go a little over the top, hilariously exaggerated for comic effect, but reality is never far behind and the atmosphere is ultimately warm and loving.
Some of our favorite episodes include the road trip (planned by Sue!) for Brick's spelling bee, which lands the family in the worst motel ever (been there); Frankie's idea to fill a car with jelly beans and have customers guess how many it holds, only to discover how hot weather can foil even the best sales gimmick; Mike suggesting family football games, which do help bring the family together, but maybe a little too much; and many more.
And each episode is replete with riotous gags, as when Sue keeps asking her mother to throw a ball for her as if she's a dog, then it's revealed that she's trying out to be the tennis team's ball girl; Brick being threatened by the school librarian (guest Betty White) because he has 30 overdue books; the running joke that none of Sue's teachers know who she is; Axl's reaction when he loses Brick in a corn maze; all three kids at home watching the same TV program but on different televisions; and so it goes.
In addition to White, other guests include Brooke Shields, playing wayyy against type as a trailer-trash single mom; Amy Sedaris as a motivational consultant with unusual methods at Frankie's workplace; and Marsha Mason, as Frankie's less-than-maternal mother.
We started watching "The Middle" halfway through its first season and tried to pick up a few reruns during the summer, but we kept catching the same shows we'd already seen. Although we found that we really enjoyed watching them again.
So when "The Middle": The Complete First Season" (Warner, 2009-10, three discs, $44.98) arrived for review, we devoured the episodes we hadn't yet seen.
The show begins its second season on ABC-Ch. 4 on Sept. 22.
If you haven't yet given it a chance, trust me, "The Middle" is a hoot. But it also strikes home. Mostly in a good way.
e-mail: hicks@desnews.com