The Middle

NewsdayVerne Gay

The writers have great ears for "real" dialogue, and, in fact, not a single line here feels like a dead ball. The characters, too, arrive fully formed and believable. First impressions are absolutely vital in TV, and The Middle makes an excellent one.

Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser

The Middle isn't the kind of sitcom you laugh at; it's the kind you laugh with.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

The Middle is precisely the show ABC should be doing: a smart, amusing sitcom that understands the damage cutbacks have done to folks in the middle.

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

She's a genuine character in her own right and The Middle worth checking out as the lead-in to the season's best new comedy, ABC's "Modern Family."

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

A lively show with no canned laughter, where love has no chance to conquer all the family deficiencies but does make them not only bearable, but fun.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

The Middle is funny enough to merit a weekly visit.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

This one has more heart and is a better fit with its primetime neighbors.

Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith

What makes this a standout family show is not the absence of dirty words. Who needs those when there's an abundance of eccentric humor and bright writing?

Washington PostTom Shales

A smart and funny sitcom....Heaton is splendid as Heck, with a high-profile supporting cast.

Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker

The Middle has nothing to worry about: People from coast to coast are going to be laughing at this swift sitcom.

New York PostLinda Stasi

Even though Heaton is also reverting to type with the harried, jaded housewife bit, she somehow manages to get some freshness into the old girl.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

It’s a solid meat-and-potatoes family comedy; next to "Hank," it’s the next "Malcolm in the Middle."

Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik

I am not yet ready to say The Middle is a great sitcom, but it sure seems in synch with the mood of middle America today.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

Like "Hank," The Middle is no Next New Thing; indeed, both argue for the opposite, the pleasures of the known, of craft and of watching people who know what they're doing do it.

Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin

Until watching The Middle, I would have said it was time the sitcom concept of the madcap mom trying to balance kiddies and career got a decent burial, complete with a stake through the heart. But Heaton and producers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline give the idea new life.

TV GuideMatt Roush

The mayhem that ensues isn’t exactly unexpected, but it is pretty funny. On ABC, that’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

The Middle hits its comedic targets often enough, but its main problems is that it overdoes the quirkiness a bit.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

Ms. Heaton is less acerbic than she was on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but just as comical playing an overwhelmed Midwesterner who works at Orson’s only surviving car dealership.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

It’s hard to know where The Middle will go after tonight’s decent pilot. And that’s part of the sitcom’s promise, that it has the potential to blossom into a sweet if small celebration of a family of oddballs living distinctly unhip lives.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

ABC's The Middle, a comedy about living in the nondescript middle part of the country, resides somewhere in the nondescript middle of the pack of new fall comedies.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

It's traditional sitcom fodder. But what makes The Middle a pleasant surprise is that the series itself is eccentric and funny in unexpected ways, not just the kids.

VarietyBrian Lowry

The Middle appropriately falls somewhere in the middle, in a zone where the immediate challenge has less to do with being flown-over than flipped-away from.

Slant Magazine

The Middle is just a show about a quirky family, and their quirks simply aren't that interesting.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

The Middle feels like a sitcom version of standup comedy. "Three guys and two girls walk into Indiana..."It's not offensive. Just superfluous.