Thanksgiving is coming and for many of us it's time to eat, drink and watch football. It's also a time to reflect on the things you're grateful for and since TV Squad is all about television, here's what I'm grateful for this holiday season, with regard to the tube.
Mad Men season finale
There was really nothing as satisfying in the entire year for me. Matt Weiner promised a game-changing episode and he delivered it with a whopper of a wrap up. Actually, nothing was really wrapped; it was more like the cards have been dealt and we're still waiting to see how the hands are played.
(S01E07) Right from the beginning, The Middle had me in familiar territory. I remember rushing around the house gathering trash and trying to get it out to the curb before the trash truck finished at the neighbor's house. And I remember just missing it; what a horrible feeling that was.
From there, while I was still able to enjoy the episode for the laughs it offered, I was just as equally terrified. As a parent, I've often wondered just how close we are to having the state take our children away. How innocent a comment or statement would it take before these agencies swoop down on our lives with all their self-righteous glory and scare the living crap out of us that they're going to tear our families apart?
From the moment when the police officer told Mike he wasn't even allowed to touch Brick in the principal's office, to the social worker refusing to tell Frankie and Mike how the evaluation went until she filed her report, it just seems like way too much power for some outside entities to have over our families.
When you think of Brooke Shields, you think glamor and fashion and high style... Well, I do anyway. She's Suddenly Susan and one of the hot ladies on Lipstick Jungle. I do not think of her as a suburban mother of four in Orson, Indiana. However, that's exactly what she's going to be on an upcoming episode of ABC's sitcom The Middle.
As oxymoronic as it seems, I love the idea of Brooke on The Middle. She'll be going deep into the heart of the heartland to play a character who's supposed to be like Fran Heck, Patricia Heaton's character on The Middle. There's nothing as liberating for an actor as the chance to let loose and break the mold.
(S01E06) Something big is going to happen with Axl, and I can't wait for it. Yes, he's doing the same bored, sleeping, lazy teenager act that we've seen a million times before, but I like the way he works off of both Neil Flynn and Patricia Heaton. And I think there's real potential for him to break out into something unique; like when he put his clothes on for the bus in two seconds.
The writers have already crafted both Brick and Sue into wholly unique, and bizarre, children. By comparison the only thing odd about Axl so far is his name. He's just so ... ordinary! Ordinary was enough, though, for him to be part of a pretty funny storyline that pitted him at odds with his father.
It also makes me terrified of the upcoming teen years. Maybe I'll just ship mine out to some other family to deal with. Maybe he can move to Orson, Indiana and I'll just let Mike and Frankie take care of him. Better send him with an extra coat. You never know when a door might go missing.
(S01E05) Things are starting to settle into a familiar and comfortable pattern. There was nothing particularly groundbreaking in the presentation or even the subject matter of this episode, but it was still enjoyable. It's the love within the Heck family, even within Axl, that makes this a heartwarming comedy.
It doesn't have the sharp wit and cleverness of its follow-up Modern Family, but it's still leaps and bounds better than its lead-in -- Oh, that's right. ABC went with a re-airing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown instead of Hank. Didn't they air that last night, too. That's okay, Kelsey. It'll be just fine. You'll get that back nine order any day now.
This week, we focused on Brick. The more I see of the little whispering weirdo, the more I like him, and while I hate to keep bringing this up, the more I need the show to address his physical ailment. Commenter 'Jeremy' said he has found evidence pointing to it being osteogenesis imperfecta. This is the same thing Carnivale's Michael J. Anderson has.
(S01E04) Okay, there's clearly something going on with Atticus Shaffer's legs, or leg. It's not a big deal, but at the same time I can't help but notice it when he's limping around. I wish the show would just address whatever it is, so I can stop thinking they're trying to pull a fast one over on us and pretend there's nothing there. It's like when How I Met Your Mother was horribly trying to cover up two pregnant bellies all last season.
Brick can have a medical condition, and we'll still love him as much as ever. In fact, it would make the family even more "just like the rest of us." Regardless, Brick was hilarious this week with his new girlfriend. I remember when my son was getting his first little girlfriends, and it seemed to go down about the same way. Not the point where his new girlfriend gives me a verbal beat-down on my own front porch, but maybe we're just not to that point yet.
The other main plotline had us finally finding something that Sue is good at! I'm as shocked as you are.
I wasn't really prepared to like The Middle. I had no expectations, really, because aside from knowing that it was Patricia Heaton's latest sitcom, there had been very little scuttlebutt about it. So, when I tuned in, I expected the typical Patty Heaton I had seen for years on Everybody Loves Raymond or the upscale version I'd watched on Back to You.
Well, what a surprise when I saw her on The Middle. This is a Patty I had never seen before, and I not only liked her character, I admire her performance.
(S01E03) We already know that Sue Heck has no discernible talent, but a ton of enthusiasm. This week we learned that her cluelessness goes even beyond physical activities. She's as earnest in her social endeavors as ever. Unfortunately, she's also as oblivious to the reality of her actions and their consequences. I love everything about it.
The moral of this episode, I guess, is that a mother is never allowed even fifteen minutes of time alone. Granted, it appears that Frankie's fifteen minutes happened to coincide with the worst chain of events possible, but the moral remains the same. A mother's job is never done, and she's never off the clock. At least she has the love of her husband to help her when the time comes, and he came through in a big way for her.
There are still a couple of new shows that haven't premiered yet, including two I'm really looking forward to, ABC's new version of V and FOX's new version of The Human Target (I know, I'm actually looking forward to two remakes). But they're not going to premiere until November and January, respectively, so here are my picks for the three new shows that I'm truly enjoying so far this new season. And somehow, they're all on ABC.
FlashForward. I bet a lot of people are going to pick this as the best new show, but I was kinda worried about it. I thought it would be too Lost-ish, but would suffer in comparison because it didn't have the strong cast and "gravitas" that Lost has. But it's a great show beyond any comparisons (and Dominic Monaghan hasn't even shown up yet!).
(S01E02) I didn't realize it as much in the first episode, but the Hecks are living the exact Midwest life that I had growing up. Okay, not exactly, but our run of luck and struggle went about like theirs did. I even remember when our dryer leaped across the room and died, though it wasn't nearly as melodramatic as theirs was.
The Middle surprised me last week by premiering with a really strong debut episode. Maybe, I thought, it's because I just watched Hank. Watching my grandmother shave her armpits would be high entertainment compared to that.
Well, Hank was so horrible I managed to convince myself that ABC's comedy lineup didn't start until 8:30 on Wednesday, so I tuned in fresh and ready to see how The Middle came out of its pilot. And it actually got better. Just about everything that happened in this episode was funny, and it was absolutely packed with things happening.
Math was my worst subject in school, by far, but I still think I would have gotten this question that Patricia Heaton got on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire last night. This is something that Debra would dump on Raymond about.
The game show returns to ABC on August 9th for a special 10th anniversary run, with Regis Philbin returning to the host seat for the two weeks. The show is going to have a mix of celebrities, new contestants, and old contestants (including the first person to miss the first question!). Here are the celebrities:
Rachael Ray Sherri Shepherd Patricia Heaton Snoop Dogg
When the San Diego Comic-Con opened its doors to allow every corner of television onto their floors, they weren't kidding. After seeing the roster of panels, I'm surprised the original panel from PBS's Washington Week didn't field questions from guys dressed in Transformer cosplay.
Apparently, Warner Brothers set up a panel for just about every television show that have in development including Patricia Heaton's new ABC sitcom The Middle, making it the most "fish out of water" selection for a panel at the geek confab.
And so did the geeks in attendance. The panel only drew around 75 attendees and studio heads ordered Heaton not to introduce the panel because the crowd was too small.
Good news for all you Chris Kattan fans. The Saturday Night Live veteran has snagged a regular role in the new ABC single-camera comedy The Middle. He will play a car salesman alongside series star Patricia Heaton.
Based on what I've read, this sounds like one of those safe, non-controversial, family comedies that the networks love and I loathe, such as According To Jim and Two and a Half Men (nowadays I prefer sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory). As a result, I doubt we'll be seeing characters such as Mango make an appearance (that and the fact he's on a competing network to NBC and would likely be sued for doing so).
And here I thought Kattan would end up like one of those obscure SNL celebrities like Garrett Morris or Rich Hall. In a tough economy, he's got a job. More power to him.
ABC will make official pick up announcements Tuesday, but the trades are already reporting that the network has ordered a large number of new shows for the upcoming fall season.
Along with some dramas and mythology-laden shows, it looks like ABC is playing it safe by picking up four half-hour family comedies starring some well-known TV vets.
Joining the already renewed Scrubs and Better Off Ted will be Hank, a multi-camera family show starring Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and The Middle, a single-camera comedy with Grammer's former Back to You co-star Patricia Heaton. Both shows seem to have pretty tired concepts. Hank is about a washed-up Wall Street deal maker who moves back to his home town, and The Middle is about a middle-class mom who is approaching middle age. Hopefully the stars, and the jokes, will make these shows worth watching.
(S01E07) Right from the beginning, The Middle had me in familiar territory. I remember rushing around the house gathering trash and trying to get it out to the curb before the trash truck finished at the neighbor's house. And I remember just missing it; what a horrible feeling that was.
When you think of 
(S01E05) Things are starting to settle into a familiar and comfortable pattern. There was nothing particularly groundbreaking in the presentation or even the subject matter of this episode, but it was still enjoyable. It's the love within the Heck family, even within Axl, that makes this a heartwarming comedy.
(S01E04) Okay, there's clearly something going on with Atticus Shaffer's legs, or leg. It's not a big deal, but at the same time I can't help but notice it when he's limping around. I wish the show would just address whatever it is, so I can stop thinking they're trying to pull a fast one over on us and pretend there's nothing there. It's like when 
(S01E03) We already know that Sue Heck has no discernible talent, but a ton of enthusiasm. This week we learned that her cluelessness goes even beyond physical activities. She's as earnest in her social endeavors as ever. Unfortunately, she's also as oblivious to the reality of her actions and their consequences. I love everything about it.
(S01E02) I didn't realize it as much in the first episode, but the Hecks are living the exact Midwest life that I had growing up. Okay, not exactly, but our run of luck and struggle went about like theirs did. I even remember when our dryer leaped across the room and died, though it wasn't nearly as melodramatic as theirs was.
The game show returns to ABC on August 9th for a special 10th anniversary run, with Regis Philbin returning to the host seat for the two weeks. The show is going to have a mix of celebrities, new contestants, and old contestants (including the first person to miss the first question!). Here are the celebrities:
When the San Diego Comic-Con opened its doors to allow 
Good news for all you Chris Kattan fans. The Saturday Night Live veteran has 
ABC will make official pick up announcements Tuesday, but the trades are already reporting that the network has 
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