Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Netflix and Getty Images
I started watching ABC’s The Middle when I was 13. The show was on its fourth season, and I excitedly caught up in time for the fifth season premiere. I remained a devoted viewer until the series’ end in 2018, eagerly catching it on Wednesday nights, and then Tuesdays once ABC made the risky—and ultimately effective—move to have it spearhead a second comedy block.
The Middle was never a ratings crown jewel. It wasn’t an awards magnet, nor was it at the epicenter of cultural conversations. Still, it ran for nine seasons and 215 episodes, wrapping with a pre-announced final season that cemented the show as a charming slice-of-life sitcom.
That was just five years ago, but the television world that The Middle benefited from has fast evaporated in the streaming era. Instead, in the decade since Netflix launched its first original series, the TV industry has catapulted in a direction even less hospitable than the conditions that led to the last writers strike.