Event: An Evening with "The Middle" at the Paley Center
WHERE The Paley Center in Beverly Hills
WHEN May 5, 2010
STORY & PHOTOS
I'll have to make a confession before I start this story: I had never seen an episode of "The Middle" before I attended the show's event at the Paley Center last night. But I love the Paley Center, and when I saw that Neil Flynn (who played the amazing Janitor on "Scrubs" and Cady's dad in "Mean Girls") and Chris Kattan (a friggin' Butabi brother from "A Night at the Roxbury") would be there, I thought, why not?
The event was held in one of the auditoriums at the Paley Center, so it was nice and intimate. First things first, there was a screening of the first-season finale, "Average Rules", in which a determined Sue Heck (Eden Sher) runs track despite being on crutches. I totally loved the episode (see the clip above) and the show itself. It feels like a real show about family - warts and all - with a sarcastic but ultimately optimistic tone. The entire cast is fantastic. I'm going to have to catch up on the whole thing!
After the screening, they brought the cast and executive producers out to discuss the show. The EPs, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, have written for "Roseanne" and "Murphy Brown" in the past and you can hear those voices and tones coming through in "The Middle", in a good way! The whole conversation with the cast and EPs was really fun. And after the panel, the cast members were nice enough to snap a few photos with me:
I wasn't able to flag down Eden Sher, which is now one of my biggest life regrets because Sue Heck is such a great character. But she was super lovely, smart, and funny in person. I'm sure we'll be seeing big things from her in the future.
STORY & PHOTO CREDITS
Written by Christina LeBlanc
Photos by Christina LeBlanc
