The ABC comedy “The Middle” will end its run with the 2017-18 season because its executive producers decided the ninth season would be the best one to conclude the story of the Heck family, the network announced Wednesday.
“Last year we sat down with our cast and made the bittersweet decision together that in this ninth season it is time to bring the Heck’s story to a close,” executive producers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline said in a statement.
“It’s been an amazing run, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we’re looking forward to having an entire year to say goodbye.”
“The Middle” stars Patricia Heaton as harried wife and mother of three Frankie Heck, who lives in the middle of the country in the fictional town of Orson, Indiana. The series won a Humanitas Prize — which honors work that affirms human dignity, probes the meaning of life and champions freedom — in 2016 and was nominated three other times.
The cast also includes Neil Flynn as Frankie’s husband Mike and Charlie McDermott, Eden Sher and Atticus Shaffer as their children.
“For eight remarkable seasons, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline have crafted a wonderfully relatable, honest, funny and authentic world of middle class life in the heartland of America,” said Peter Roth, president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Television Group, which produces the series.
“The writing, acting and craftsmanship have been superb, and the show has been vividly brought to life each week by the incomparable Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Charlie McDermott, Eden Sher, Atticus Shaffer and a creative team that has poured its heart and soul into each and every episode.”
