Tuesday, May 22, 2012

TV Tuesday: Stuck in the Middle With Sue

Few sitcoms on TV today capture life's little embarrassments with as much humor and cringe-worthy accuracy as ABC's "The Middle."  Featuring the down-to-earth and often down-and-out Heck family, the heartwarming half-hour show serves up a slice of middle class Middle Americana that undoubtedly has viewers from coast to coast nodding in recognition.  Most often at the heart of the Heck family's upheaval is middle child Sue (Eden Sher). Constantly forgotten and overlooked, sweetly awkward Sue is the poster child for being last picked.  Nevertheless, this season has marked many milestones for the high school freshman (or as Sue likes to say, "frosh").  She got her first period, founded a motley crew of wrestling team cheerleaders called the wrestlerettes, and landed her first real boyfriend (not surprisingly, an intense and pint-sized wrestler.)  Of course, being Sue, she lost said boyfriend when his family moved.  Then she was nearly left out of the school yearbook, an injustice that sent her knocking on the unsympathetic door of every school official only to land her in the guidance counselor's office (or rather basement, a la "Office Space's" red stapler guy) of Whoopi Goldberg, a crazy sweater-wearing fellow misunderstood soul with a mutual fondness for inspirational posters ("Do you have the Believe in Yourself one with the rainbow? Me too!).  Whoopi managed to score Sue a full-page yearbook photograph - albeit beneath an "in memoriam" banner.  No stranger to adversity, Sue kept on smiling and was duly rewarded just one episode later with a prom invitation from older brother Axl's doofy but kind-hearted friend, Darrin.  "She has a sunny disposition," Darrin explained to the horrified and dumbfounded Axl, adding,  "You should get to know her." 

Well said, Darrin, well said.   

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