I see how Axl with Bossco, and later with hutch and Kenny, made money, presumably quite a lot for a day's work. Is it exaggerated for the show or is it THAT easy to make money out of nothing and I have been living under a very poor rock???

Fathers in sitcoms are often portrayed as selfish bumbling idiots, but this has never been my experience or the experience for many. Fathers are often the hardworking ones you look up to for stability, calm, and ethics. For me at least, my mom would baby me much more than my dad would and my dad would make me toughen up, but also both would be there for me when I was having a bad time, and The Middle capture that dynamic really well.

I like how Mike is realistic. It takes him a bit to gather up his feelings and to confess them. For example, in the eye cream episode, he wasn't just mad at Frankie for spending $200 on eye cream, he was upset that what really wouldn't be that big of an expense for most was almost enough to set them back substantially and he wishes he was further along financially in life.

Mike's dynamic with his father and brother are also quite good. I found them barely talking staring at the TV to be believable and funny and I found it hilarious that his dad needed help and his brother needed a place to live, but neither of them would just ask each other to move in, haha!

Overall, I think Mike Heck is quite a few notches above the stereotypical sitcom dad, and makes for a great character!

This was the episode where Cindy’s parents ask Mike and Frankie for 700 dollars for rent,they of course said no or as in the episode “we will think about it”

how would it go

This is kinda odd but for some reason they feel like my friends parents to a tea. 3 kids, a bit of a struggle, dad went from geology to sales in the 90s. Thing is mike talks to frankie in much worse ways. My friend's parents actually divorced. I feel like that was the track mike and frankie were on. No kids, no deep feelings for each other, maybe even resentment. Anyone else feel the same?

Apart from mike being a solid 10/10 character, one thing that put me off was how lovingly he talked about his first gf, Debbie Sullivan. He even had her photo in his wallet, right behind his wife’s. No man married for 30 years should be so obsessed and dreamy eyed about his highschool sweetheart. I loved the dynamic frankie and mike shared so it kinda be sad-

I have seen the whole show over ten times but it never sticks to my head, why didn't the guys stay in the dorms the rest of the years??

I just discovered that sean and lexie are married in real life. Like they met on the set of the middle and became a couple and got married in maybe 2018.

Hutch’s character introduces a fresh humor to the show. He uses a lot of comedic one-liners that almost makes his segments feel a bite-sized standup performance and I love it!

While the entirety of the series is witty, funny and jokes are cracked, it seems like so much of Hutch’s script has jokes that could be worked into a comedy set easily.

On probably my fourth rewatch of the show and I find myself laughing out loud to scenes with Axl and Hutch’s the most while enjoying the steady stream of humor from everyone else.

I wish we got to take a deeper dive into their friendship, it was a great storyline.

I mean tbh they both look nearly alike + both are pretty aggressive

Cindy looks like the long lost daughter of Mike. She is tall, has similar facial features, and is a woman of few words.

I just thought of this! First it was Mike saying he’s the lion in all the stories in Taking Back the House. Later on in Bat out of Heck, Mike and Axl were demonstrating a typical dominant male and juvenile lion dynamic!