The Middle.

The Middle (displayed in the title credits as "the middle.") is an American comedy television series that premiered onABC on September 30, 2009.^[1] The show features Frances "Frankie" Heck (née Spence, Patricia Heaton), a middle-class,Midwestern woman married to Mike Heck (Neil Flynn) who reside in the small fictional town of Orson, Indiana. They are the parents of three children, Axl, Sue, and Brick.^[2] The show was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes after airing just two episodes.^[3] On January 10, 2011, the show was renewed for a third season by ABC.^[4]

Frankie and her husband Mike, a manager at a quarry, have lived their whole lives in Orson, a fictitious small town inIndiana. Frankie is so far the least successful salesperson at the local car dealership, a job she explains she took only after the dentist office she worked in closed down.

Axl, the oldest, is her rebellious teenage son and was conceived with Guns N' Roses playing a significant role. He usually appears at home wearing only boxer shorts and regards any task or chore asked of him to be an enormous imposition. A handsome and confident teen, he is a school star athlete but struggles academically. Sue, the middle child and only daughter, wears braces, part of the reason for her almost neurotic self-consciousness. She attempts to cure this by frequently trying to join school organizations, but consistently fails. Because of this she has developed formidable resilience. Brick, the youngest child, is a very bright but socially awkward and quirky nine-year-old, who was given an unusual name in the vain hope that he would develop into an equally cool kid.