98 Fun Facts About The Middle

Which TV legend guest-starred as Brick's school librarian in The Middle's season 1 finale?

Betty White plays Mrs. Nethercott, who has it in for Brick over 31 unreturned library books and threatens to stop him moving up to third grade until he hands them back.

What does Sue Heck finally have removed in The Middle's season 6 opener?

Her braces come off for good after five seasons on screen, and from then on Sue only has to wear a retainer.

In The Middle's pilot, Brick asks Frankie to come to his class dressed as what?

A superhero is what Brick wants as a visual aid for his school presentation, and Frankie obliges in full costume, only to discover she has turned up on the wrong day.

Neil Flynn, who plays Mike Heck, was previously best known as which Scrubs character?

The Janitor was Neil Flynn's consolation prize after he auditioned for Dr. Cox; written in for a single episode, he stayed for eight seasons.

What is Mike Heck's job on The Middle?

Manager of a limestone quarry is Mike's job for nearly the whole run; only in the final season does his long-delayed promotion to regional manager come through.

When The Middle begins, where does Frankie Heck work?

Ehlert Motors is the used-car lot where Frankie can barely sell a car; after she is let go in season 4 she retrains as a dental assistant and keeps that job to the end of the run.

What stops the Hecks at the gate of Walt Disney World in season 5?

Tickets for the wrong park: Sue's contest prize was for Disneyland in California, a detail Frankie had never read on the tickets, but Disney World let the family in anyway.

Why are Sue Heck's first and middle names both 'Sue'?

A mistake on her birth certificate made her Sue Sue Heck; in season 4 she queues up to change it, then keeps it when the clerk calls it the most unusual name in 40 years on the job.

Which motto does Frankie Heck repeat throughout The Middle?

You do for family is how Frankie explains giving up every Saturday to her great-aunts Edie and Ginny, and it is the line she uses to push that job onto Axl once he can drive.

What does Brick Heck habitually do right after finishing a sentence?

Whisper a word of it again: the tic even supplies the show's last line, when Brick complains about his seat in the car and then whispers 'the middle'.

Which fictional book series is Brick obsessed with?

Planet Nowhere matters so much to Brick that he goes silent with shock when Axl spoils the final book's ending, and Axl writes him a new ending to make amends.

Which long-kept family secret about Brick's birth do the Hecks finally confess in season 2?

Switched with another baby: Mike, who had been watching a game, wheeled out the wrong newborn, and the Hecks raised Blake Ferguson for a month before anyone noticed.

On which day was Sue Heck born, an awkward birthday that drives a season 3 episode of The Middle?

Leap Day: in 'Leap Year', first shown on February 29, 2012, Sue is sure a surprise party is coming, but her parents forget the date and wake her for a scrambled party that night.

What is the name of the cheer squad Sue Heck founds at school in season 3?

The Wrestlerettes are Sue's own invention: she persuades the wrestling coach that his team deserves cheerleaders, then appoints herself captain.

What is Sue's tell when she is lying?

She adds 'and so on, and so forth' (and usually 'and what have you') to a lie, so when the kids blame a broken window on the neighbours her parents see through it at once.

What does Sue Heck constantly consult for tips on surviving teenage life?

An advice website for teens settles everything for Sue, from a fair curfew to a boyfriend's bad kissing, and when she leaves for college she simply switches to its college edition.

Which film did Frankie only pretend to love when she and Mike began dating?

Reservoir Dogs: 'Likes Reservoir Dogs' sat on Mike's list of reasons to marry her, so he is stunned to learn, 18 years and three kids later, that she hated it.

What does the Heck family always forget when they set off on a trip?

The blue bag of food gets left behind one last time in the closing seconds of the finale, when the family realises Sue put it down at the roadside.

Which comedian played Mike's unreliable brother Rusty Heck?

Norm Macdonald's Rusty is so unreliable that the Hecks learn he is getting married from an invitation that names their own house as the venue.

Which co-worker and friend of Frankie Heck is played by Chris Kattan?

Bob Weaver moonlights on a night shift delivering snack cakes, and when the seat beside him falls empty he gets Mike hired to fill it.

Which 30 Rock actor plays Dr. Ted Goodwin, the dentist who hires Frankie?

Jack McBrayer's Dr. Goodwin is so short of friends that a reluctant Frankie ends up keeping him company at his after-work outings as well.

Which model and actress plays the Hecks' rough neighbour Rita Glossner?

Brooke Shields kept returning as Rita until the final season, when several Glossner boys are locked up in juvenile detention and Rita turns almost neighbourly.

Which of Axl's best friends proposes to Sue in season 6, only for her to end the engagement days later?

Darrin proposes at the end of a Valentine's scavenger hunt, at a tiny house he says he has bought for them; Sue says yes in a panic, then admits she is only 17 and not ready.

Whom does Axl marry in the flash-forward that closes The Middle?

Lexie, Sue's wealthy college roommate, becomes his wife once he moves back to Orson, and their three sons behave just as he did, which Frankie calls the greatest revenge.

Which sweet but dim girlfriend does Axl secretly marry in season 8, mainly to defy his parents?

April's marriage to Axl is short-lived: once both families find out, his parents' Christmas present to him that year is an annulment.

Which pair of Axl's girlfriends were inseparable cheerleaders who dated him 'as one'?

Courtney and Debbie were so inseparable that Axl could not work out which of them he was dating; when he finally guessed and kissed one, both slapped him and broke it off.

Which actor played Sue's friend Brad Bottig on The Middle and later co-hosted a rewatch podcast with Eden Sher?

Brock Ciarlelli's Brad began as Sue's boyfriend in season 1 and became her best friend, and the planned spin-off about Sue would have promoted him to series regular.

What is the name of the baked-potato fast-food restaurant where Sue works from season 5?

Spudsy's, short for Spudsy Malone's, hires Sue as its 'Potato Girl' so she can earn a car of her own, and by the final season both of her brothers have worked its counter too.

Brick's girlfriend Cindy always wears what?

A safari hat stays on Cindy's head until the season 9 prom, where she turns up without it because her mother said no, and complains that her ears are freezing.

Which youth minister at the Hecks' church, adored by Sue, turns everything into a song?

Reverend Tim-Tom wins over the forever-overlooked Sue by remembering her name after barely meeting her, and she starts raising money when budget cuts threaten his job.

Which sitcom legend played Frankie's father, Tag Spence?

Jerry Van Dyke's Tag carries on a long feud with his brother Dutch, and for the episode that tries to end it the show cast his real brother, Dick Van Dyke.

Which Oscar-nominated actress played Frankie's mother, Pat Spence?

Marsha Mason first appears in 'Mother's Day', when Frankie escapes her own family for a few hours at her mother's house and ends up letting Pat wait on her hand and foot.

The Middle was created by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, former writers on which two shows?

Roseanne and Murphy Brown were stops in a partnership that began when Heisler and Heline were college roommates in the Midwest, the region they later chose for their own sitcom.

Who played Frankie in the first pilot of The Middle, which never aired?

Ricki Lake shot that pilot, but it narrowly missed a series order; when the show was remade, every Heck except the youngest, played by Atticus Shaffer, had been recast.

What are the sports teams of Orson High School called in The Middle?

The Thundering Hens give Sue her stint as school mascot, which sours when Axl steals the costume's head and she has to perform in an embarrassing chicken head instead.

Which float do Frankie and Mike drive in The Middle's 100th episode?

A giant cow float: the show marked its own 100th episode by giving Orson a 100th birthday, the 'Orsontennial', in a town that boasts of the world's largest polyurethane cow.

Which small pet do the Hecks get Brick on a school therapist's advice, only to find it vicious?

A rabbit: Dr. Fulton says bonding with a pet will teach Brick to bond with people, but the bunny bites, escapes its cage and takes over the bathroom until the family is afraid of it.

What was the title of The Middle's one-hour series finale in May 2018?

A Heck of a Ride ended the show on its makers' own terms: they chose to stop after nine seasons and told the cast a year ahead so that everyone had time to say goodbye.

To which city does Axl move for a job at the end of The Middle?

Denver is a long way from Orson, so before the drive Mike gives Axl his grandfather's old watch, engraved with the latitude and longitude of the Heck house.

What gets Sean stopped by airport security in The Middle's finale?

A snow globe Sue put in his bag sends Sean racing after the Hecks: he had bought it for her a year earlier and thrown it away, believing she was seeing someone else.

Eden Sher won which prize in 2013 for playing Sue Heck?

A Critics' Choice TV Award for best supporting actress in a comedy came in 2013, when the vote ended in a tie and she shared the prize with Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory.

Eden Sher also voiced the lead of which Disney animated series, from 2015 to 2019?

Star vs. the Forces of Evil cast her as Star Butterfly, a reckless teenage princess from another dimension whose royal parents pack her off to Earth with a magic wand.

Atticus Shaffer, who plays Brick, has which medical condition?

Osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, meant the show sometimes adjusted its camera work for him; as he put it, Brick was never going to be an athlete anyway.

Which Tim Burton film did Atticus Shaffer voice a character in during his Middle years?

Frankenweenie gave him the voice of Edgar 'E' Gore in 2012 and a taste for voice acting, which he has called a passion; he went on to voice Ono in Disney's The Lion Guard.

Frankie's actress won two Emmys before The Middle for playing which character?

Debra Barone, Ray's wife on Everybody Loves Raymond, is the role behind both Emmys; years later the network's second pilot order for The Middle was reportedly tied to landing her as Frankie.

Where does Sue Heck land a summer job singing and dancing with her friend Brad?

Dollywood hires the pair after they audition together, and a summer on its stage leaves Sue so stage-struck that she wants to switch her college major to theatre.

What title was announced for the planned spin-off of The Middle about Sue Heck?

Sue Sue in the City would have followed Sue from Orson to a career in Chicago; a pilot was ordered and cast in 2018, but the network passed that November.

Which organisation admits Brick Heck in season 8, as his parents learn only from a school voicemail?

National Honor Society: Brick had not mentioned it because, he says, his parents roll their eyes at every school event, so a voicemail about the induction ceremony is how they find out.

What business do Mike and Rusty start together in season 7?

Sports-logo diapers, sold as Li'l Rivals, put a baby's own team on the outside and a rival's logo inside; Mike later sells his half of the business to keep Sue in college.

Frankie's Aunt Edie and Aunt Ginny own a sickly Basset Hound named what?

Doris outlasts both of her owners: when Aunt Edie dies in season 6, the Hecks take her body across country by train and come home as the sickly dog's new keepers.

What is Brick's other unusual passion, besides reading, which even gets him a school club?

Fonts fascinate Brick enough for him to run a Font Club at high school; out-fonted by a rival called Gibson, he solemnly resigns in his favour, only to learn Gibson is an eighth-grader who cannot take over.

At which college do Axl, and later Sue and Brad, study?

East Indiana State sends a recruiter after watching Axl run on the football field, and Sue and Brad later enrol there too; Notre Dame is where his friend Sean studies.

Where was the small-town Midwestern sitcom The Middle actually filmed?

The Los Angeles area: the Heck house stood on a studio backlot in Burbank, and the show's two creators, Midwesterners working in Hollywood, said they chose its setting out of nostalgia for home.

Which hit comedy launched in the same Wednesday-night block as The Middle in autumn 2009?

Modern Family became the block's runaway hit; the network gave it and The Middle full seasons within weeks, while Hank, the sitcom airing just before The Middle, vanished after five episodes.

Which NFL team does Mike Heck follow with a passion he shows for little else?

The Colts get the one jersey Mike insists on wearing for every game, and Brick once swotted up on football purely to have something to talk to his father about.

In The Middle's first season, what does Frankie accidentally hit Brick with, prompting a social worker's visit?

A beer bottle: Frankie tossed it while racing to catch the garbage truck, Brick told a hall monitor his mother had hit him with it, and the social worker sent to the house was a woman Mike once dated and never called back.

Which 2011 television event does Frankie Heck treat like the Super Bowl?

The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has Frankie buying a huge new television she means to take back under the shop's returns policy afterwards, which she insists is only borrowing.

What is the name of the rewatch podcast that Eden Sher launched with a former castmate in July 2024?

Middling sets out to revisit every episode in order with behind-the-scenes stories and guests from the cast, among them the actor who played Axl's college roommate Kenny.

Frankie Heck takes in a stray dog in season 5 of The Middle and names it after which British actor?

Colin Firth the dog arrives after the family keeps teasing Frankie, but she has to give him up just as Mike finally starts to bond with him.

Which makeshift seat is Brick Heck made to use at the family dinner table for years on The Middle?

A lawn chair is Brick's place at dinner, and in the final season he buys a huge batch of new ones to replace the fraying original.

Which pop star's Indianapolis concert sends Sue and Frankie Heck hunting for tickets in season 3 of The Middle?

Justin Bieber tickets finally come through after a trip to Indianapolis, but Sue takes her friend Carly to the show instead of the mother who stood in line with her.

Which comedy legend guest-starred in season 3 of The Middle as an awkward guidance counselor who bonds with Sue Heck?

Whoopi Goldberg plays Ms. Marsh, whom Sue visits to talk about how invisible and overlooked she feels at Orson High.

Atticus Shaffer, who plays bookworm Brick Heck on The Middle, was named after a character in which classic novel?

To Kill a Mockingbird gave him its lawyer hero Atticus Finch as a namesake, a fitting start for an actor who calls himself a big reader too.

Neil Flynn, The Middle's Mike Heck, played the father of Lindsay Lohan's character in which hit teen comedy?

Mean Girls gave him only a minor role, and he also died on screen as a police officer in the Harrison Ford thriller The Fugitive.

Which household fixture do the Hecks lose down a hole in the ground in season 6 of The Middle?

The kitchen sink drops into a sinkhole and stays out of action for so long that the family eats Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant.

In the flash-forward that ends The Middle, what has book-loving Brick Heck grown up to become?

A famous author is his fate: he writes a popular book series for teens, loosely based on his own childhood habit of treating his backpack like a friend.

Kirstie Alley plays Pam Staggs on The Middle, an old classmate of Frankie who won $1 million on which game show?

Wheel of Fortune made Pam rich enough to leave for St. Louis, and she admits she only looked Frankie up because all her real friends had left Orson.

Which US broadcast network aired The Middle for all nine seasons, right up to its one-hour finale in 2018?

ABC picked the sitcom up for a full season after airing just two episodes, and it ended only when its creators asked to bow out.

The fictional town of Orson in The Middle is based on which real Indiana town, the show's original setting?

Jasper was where the sitcom was first meant to take place, until attorneys advised the writers to invent a town instead.

The Hecks host a serious, unimpressed exchange student in season 2 of The Middle who has flown in from which nation?

Japan sends them a guest who ignores the family until their car breaks down on a road trip and he turns out to love fixing things.

Sue Heck wins the family plane tickets to which city in season 2 of The Middle, sparking a fight over first class?

New York is the destination in the episode Hecks on a Plane, where the journey itself turns into a comedy of errors.

Which school team does Sue Heck finally make in The Middle's first-season finale, despite being hit by a deer?

Cross country has a no-cut policy, yet Sue has to hobble five laps on crutches after a deer runs into her and hurts her legs.

Axl Heck's accidental prom date Weird Ashley loves wizardry on The Middle, yet has never heard of which franchise?

Harry Potter means nothing to her, and she is trailing Axl even in the series finale, when she turns up to wish him luck.

Which well-known Indiana university does Axl Heck's straight-A friend Sean Donahue attend on The Middle?

Notre Dame is several hours' drive away, yet Sean keeps racing back to help the Hecks in a crisis, only to find it solved by the time he arrives.

What do Axl Heck and roommate Hutch buy at a police auction in season 7 of The Middle, then move into?

A motor home becomes their address, though they find few places to park it legally and later sell grilled cheese sandwiches from it on campus.

Frankie and Sue Heck are both cast in a community theater production of which classic story in season 3 of The Middle?

The Wizard of Oz soon loses Sue, because the director asks Frankie to break the news that her daughter is out of the show.

Which appliance does Mike Heck secretly buy as Frankie's Christmas gift in season 3 of The Middle?

A dishwasher is hard to keep secret, because Frankie wants him to install a new one before her Christmas Eve party.

Which sitcom star plays Nicky on The Middle, the old schoolmate who ruined Mike and Frankie's camping honeymoon?

Ray Romano appears in the third-season opener, when a miserable family camping trip reminds Frankie of the honeymoon Nicky spoiled.

Which Saturday Night Live alumna plays Frankie Heck's sister Janet, who crashes Thanksgiving in season 3 of The Middle?

Molly Shannon returns as Janet a season later, offering to help around the Heck house while Frankie studies for her finals.

Which Kids in the Hall comedian plays Dr. Fulton on The Middle, the school therapist obsessed with his ex-wife?

Dave Foley's Dr. Fulton is meant to help Brick bond with his classmates, yet he brings up his ex-wife Shelly in nearly every session.

Which TV veteran guest-starred on The Middle as the town newsman who gives Brick Heck a paper route?

Ed Asner hands Brick the job so he can save for night-vision goggles, but Frankie and Mike end up delivering the papers themselves.

Which sitcom star guest-starred on The Middle as Frankie Heck's no-nonsense dental assisting teacher?

Jane Kaczmarek, the mother from Malcolm in the Middle, plays the instructor Frankie must impress to land a prime dental rotation in season 4.

Which sketch comedy star plays Reverend Deveaux, the guest preacher who delays the Hecks' buffet trip on The Middle?

Keegan-Michael Key's reverend senses trouble in the family and holds the Hecks back one by one, just as they try to slip out of church to use a buffet coupon.

Which Ferris Bueller's Day Off actor plays Axl Heck's boss at snack-cake maker Little Betty on The Middle?

Alan Ruck's boss keeps intern Axl on grunt work such as collecting dry cleaning, then burdens him with a secret about the regular staff.

Which Glee star guest-starred on The Middle as the fourth grade teacher Mike Heck visits when Brick skips gym?

Chord Overstreet plays Mr. Wilkerson, the teacher Mike has to face after learning that his son has been dodging gym class.

In which big city was the planned Sue Heck spin-off of The Middle set, with Sue working at a hotel?

Chicago was to be the backdrop for her twentysomething adventures, and a pilot was filmed in 2018 before the network decided not to go ahead.

Which reality show's disappointing finale leaves Frankie Heck moping for days in season 4 of The Middle?

The Bachelor wrecks her week, until she finds an unlikely fellow fan to talk it over with: her youngest son, Brick.

Which New Year's Day outing do the Hecks tackle in season 8 of The Middle, bent on beating the Donahues' record time?

An escape room needs more players than the Hecks can muster, so a stranger named Milt joins them, and his presence earns the extra time they need to win.

Frankie and Mike Heck try to cure young Brick of an irrational fear of crossing what in season 2 of The Middle?

Bridges are Brick's phobia, known formally as gephyrophobia from the Greek word for a bridge, and one more quirk for a boy who reads compulsively.

On The Middle, which John Steinbeck novel does young Brick Heck read aloud so brother Axl can write a book report?

Of Mice and Men is read from the back seat while Axl drives Sue around town in search of her lost coat.

What discovery at Mike Heck's workplace in season 1 of The Middle shuts the site and leaves him temporarily jobless?

Dinosaur bones stop work while they are analyzed, sending Mike to job interviews for the first time in 20 years.

Sue Heck and friend Carly take on the Glossner boys on The Middle with a dance routine set to which 1970s hit?

Kung Fu Fighting is their soundtrack in the first season, when the pair try to settle things with the older Glossner brothers through dance.

What is the real first name of Mike Heck's brother Rusty, revealed in the third-season finale of The Middle?

Orville comes out in the episode where Rusty marries Marlene, with the Hecks learning that the wedding will be at their own house in under a week.

To which state do the Hecks escort Aunt Edie's body by train for burial in season 6 of The Middle?

South Dakota is her final resting place, and Axl spends the journey convinced he caused her death by so often using it as an excuse for late schoolwork.

Before playing Axl Heck, Charlie McDermott earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for which crime drama?

Frozen River cast him as T.J. Eddy in 2008, a breakout that came a year before his nine seasons as the Hecks' eldest child.

Which natural landmark do the Hecks visit on a season 7 vacation with the neighboring Donahue family on The Middle?

Mammoth Cave is Mike's treat after a big sale in his side business, and Frankie insists that the neighbors come along.

Which outdated device does Brick Heck buy at a library sale in season 8 of The Middle?

A microfiche machine lets him turn up a scandalous local news article about his mother from 1983.

What does Mike Heck buy in season 7 of The Middle after trading his usual plaid for a Hawaiian shirt?

A motorcycle follows the shirt as a sign of a new side to Mike, and Axl soon campaigns to be trusted with riding it.