The only reason I tuned into this show was for Neil Flynn. I was a huge fan of his character as Janitor on Scrubs. I had little hopes because I was not a huge Patricia Heaton fan. I have found now that was not her fault, but the fault of the writers of Everybody Loves Raymond. They made her such a hard to like character that you could not help but dislike her. I mean who would have stayed married to her? Anyway, I digress, The Middle is rather charming. I find myself constantly rolling my eyes (in a good way) at Axl, cheering for Sue and trying to guess what Brick will do next. The Middle is a great example of the average American family trying to stay afloat in today's economy. They portray the way most of us in my age demographic grew up in the Midwest. I am astounded as someone who spent Jr. High and High School in Iowa at just how accurate they are. I will be around watching for as long as they keep the show on the air.