The Middle
ABC | Release Date: September 30, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: The writers have great ears for "real" dialogue, and, in fact, not a single line here feels like a dead ball. The characters, too, arrive fully formed and believable. First impressions are absolutely vital in TV, and The Middle makes an excellent one. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert BiancoOct 21, 2010
Season 2 Review: With each passing week, this series seems to more assuredly offer a first-class version of what so many viewers say they want: a humorous, heartfelt, realistic look at middle-class, middle-America family life. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Season 1 Review: The Middle isn't the kind of sitcom you laugh at; it's the kind you laugh with. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: The Middle is precisely the show ABC should be doing: a smart, amusing sitcom that understands the damage cutbacks have done to folks in the middle. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerJan 25, 2011
Season 2 Review: All the performances are skillful, with Heaton and Flynn especially adept at conveying an affection--for each other, for their kids (who also include Atticus Shaffer and Charlie McDermott)--undimmed by their weariness. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: This one has more heart and is a better fit with its primetime neighbors. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
Season 1 Review: What makes this a standout family show is not the absence of dirty words. Who needs those when there's an abundance of eccentric humor and bright writing? Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: She's a genuine character in her own right and The Middle worth checking out as the lead-in to the season's best new comedy, ABC's "Modern Family." Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: A lively show with no canned laughter, where love has no chance to conquer all the family deficiencies but does make them not only bearable, but fun. Read full review
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: The Middle is funny enough to merit a weekly visit. Read full review
80
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: A smart and funny sitcom....Heaton is splendid as Heck, with a high-profile supporting cast. Read full review
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoDec 21, 2010
Season 2 Review: The show has a very sure grip on how these minor events, accompanied by small satisfactions, play out in a household of two middle-aged parents, two teenage kids and one inscrutable 9-year-old. [13 Dec 2010, p.46]
75
People WeeklyTom GliattoDec 15, 2010
Season 1 Review: In its second season, Patricia Heaton's family sitcom seems to have found its natural resting point.
75
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: Even though Heaton is also reverting to type with the harried, jaded housewife bit, she somehow manages to get some freshness into the old girl. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: The Middle has nothing to worry about: People from coast to coast are going to be laughing at this swift sitcom. Read full review
70
Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
Season 1 Review: I am not yet ready to say The Middle is a great sitcom, but it sure seems in synch with the mood of middle America today. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: Like "Hank," The Middle is no Next New Thing; indeed, both argue for the opposite, the pleasures of the known, of craft and of watching people who know what they're doing do it. Read full review
70
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: Until watching The Middle, I would have said it was time the sitcom concept of the madcap mom trying to balance kiddies and career got a decent burial, complete with a stake through the heart. But Heaton and producers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline give the idea new life. Read full review
70
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: It’s a solid meat-and-potatoes family comedy; next to "Hank," it’s the next "Malcolm in the Middle." Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: The mayhem that ensues isn't exactly unexpected, but it is pretty funny. On ABC, that's definitely a step in the right direction. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The Middle hits its comedic targets often enough, but its main problems is that it overdoes the quirkiness a bit. Read full review
60
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: It's hard to know where The Middle will go after tonight's decent pilot. And that's part of the sitcom's promise, that it has the potential to blossom into a sweet if small celebration of a family of oddballs living distinctly unhip lives. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: Ms. Heaton is less acerbic than she was on "Everybody Loves Raymond," but just as comical playing an overwhelmed Midwesterner who works at Orson's only surviving car dealership. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: The Middle appropriately falls somewhere in the middle, in a zone where the immediate challenge has less to do with being flown-over than flipped-away from. Read full review
50
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: ABC's The Middle, a comedy about living in the nondescript middle part of the country, resides somewhere in the nondescript middle of the pack of new fall comedies. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: It's traditional sitcom fodder. But what makes The Middle a pleasant surprise is that the series itself is eccentric and funny in unexpected ways, not just the kids. Read full review
50
Slant Magazine
Season 1 Review: The Middle is just a show about a quirky family, and their quirks simply aren't that interesting. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: The Middle feels like a sitcom version of standup comedy. "Three guys and two girls walk into Indiana..."It's not offensive. Just superfluous. Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 92 The Pitt: Season 2
2 90 The Celebrity Traitors UK: Season 1
3 87 Hacks: Season 5
4 87 Industry: Season 4
5 87 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal:...
6 85 The Beatles Anthology
7 85 The Traitors [UK]: Season 4
8 85 Bait: Season 1
9 84 Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
10 83 Lord of the Flies
11 83 Riot Women: Season 1
12 83 For All Mankind: Season 5
13 81 The Muppet Show (2026)
14 80 Outlander (2014): Season 8
15 80 The Other Bennet Sister: Season 1
16 80 The Mighty Nein: Season 1
17 80 The Comeback: Season 3
18 80 The American Revolution
19 80 One Piece (2023): Season 2
20 80 Dark Winds: Season 4
SEE ALL