The Middle (found pitch pilot of ABC sitcom; 2007)

The final show's title card.

Status: Found

Date found: 12 Aug 2023

Found by: Vincent Dawn's Pilot Showcase

The Middle (stylized as the middle.) is a sitcom that ran on ABC from 2009-2018. The series features the mother Frances "Frankie" Heck (Patricia Heaton) and her husband Mike Heck (Neil Flynn) along with their 3 children Axl (Charlie McDermott), Sue (Eden Sher) and Brick (Atticus Shaffer) all set in the town of Orson, Indiana, where they go through the daily struggles of life.

Pitch Pilot

In 2007 a pilot was made to pitch the show to the ABC network. The pilot takes place in the town of Jasper, Indiana and featured different cast compared to the final show such as Ricki Lake playing Frankie Heck, Lex Medlin as Mike Heck, Michael Mitchell as Axl Heck (name Elvis in the pilot) and Brenna O'Brien as Sue Heck.^[1]

Status

For years information on the pitch pilot remained scarce as no footage or any screenshots from it had resurfaced online until August 12th, 2023 when YouTuber Vincent Dawn's Pilot Showcase uploaded the pitch pilot to their channel.